By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

BAY ST. LOUIS — After five seasons at the helm of the Bay High football team, Jeremy Turcotte has decided to step down as head coach of the Tigers.
The Bay High alumnus, who went 20-31 leading his alma mater, confirmed the news in an exclusive interview with SouthMiss6 Sports Monday night.
He guided the Tigers to four state playoff appearances in his five seasons in charge, including this year. Bay High ended its season last week with a 49-7 loss on the road to Forest in the opening round of the Class 4A South State playoffs.
“It’s just time for a change. When you know you know,” Turcotte said. “Bay High is home. I played here; I was blessed to begin my coaching career here; and I was blessed to receive the opportunity to be head coach here for the last five years. It has truly been a dream come true. I cannot thank all the players and coaches enough. It’s just time for a change.”

Turcotte replaced Eric Collins as BHS head coach in January of 2020, just before the COVID pandemic broke out. As he stated, he has deep roots in the Hancock County community.
The 1996 graduate of Bay High received his first coaching job with the Tigers and worked there seven years in his first stint. He returned to Bay High ahead of the 2018 season, working under then head coach Benji Foreman. After Foreman was let go, Turcotte was the lone holdover on the staff under Collins in 2019. This was Turcotte’s first prep head coaching job.
During his 25-year coaching career, Tucotte also coached junior high football in the Gulfport School District following his first stint at Bay High. He then worked as a defensive coordinator at Long Beach High before moving over to Hancock High, where he served as both offensive and defensive coordinators during his time under the legendary Rocky Gaudin. Before returning to Bay High, he served as an assistant at West Harrison for a season.

Before Turcotte arrived, Bay High hadn’t qualified for the state football playoffs since 2012. In fact, his span of making the state playoffs four times in five years is the best ever in Tigers program history. Bay High was 1-4 in that streak with a first round win over Quitman in 2021, and BHS is just 3-13 in 16 all-time postseason games since the implementation of a state-wide football playoff system 41 years ago.
“I began thinking about it after last season and about a month ago, the week after we played Moss Point, I met with (Superintendent) Dr. (Sandra) Reed and told her I was going to resign when the season was over.” Turcotte continued. “I told the team after our game Friday night.

Now the Tigers go back to the drawing board once again. Whoever takes Turcotte’s place to begin the 2025 season will be the fifth head football coach at BHS in the past decade. A search for the new mentor is expected to begin immediately.
“I’m proud of how hard we have worked,” Turcotte conculded. “When I came back as an assistant in 2018 the program was really down. I think we have improved things. We’ve won some ballgames and made the playoffs four out of five years after an eight year drought. We’ve signed over a dozen kids to play college ball, had a couple of All-State guys, and an All-American. I know we have raised the floor, we just haven’t broken through the ceiling like I want to as far as winning more consistently.”