By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director
STARKVILLE — As Pascagoula head coach Lewis Sims officially steps down, there are currently just two open head football coaching posts in the “Southern Six”.
But, could that number that currently just includes Pascagoula and St. Stanislaus grow?
As always, as we head into the week of the state football championship games, the rumor mill begins to grind concerning other openings that may or may not be a part of a ‘”domino effect” if you will in the days and months to come.
Again, the rumor mill…remember.
Sources indicate that both Gulfport head coach Blake Pennock as well as Ocean Springs head coach Jake Bramlett have surfaced as possibilities for the same post at Brandon High.

Pennock, who is in his third year at the helm of the Admirals after serving as the head coach at OSHS for three years also. saw hs Admirals trample the Bulldogs last week 40-7 to end Brandon’s season, along with interim head coach Eugene Clinton’s tenure leading BHS it appears.
Gulfport takes on Tupelo at 7 p.m, Saturday night in the Class 7A state championship game.
In addition, with Sims officially out, two names that have surfaced there as well are current Hattiesburg head coach Kendall Lacey as well as former Theodore (Ala.) head coach Steve Mask.
Lacey came from Georgia, and is in his first year directing the Tigers and has gotten HHS back to the Class 6A state title tilt for the second straight season.

Lacey replaced longtime Tiger head coach Tony Vance, who stepped down after Hattiesburg fell to Grenada in the battle for the Gold Ball one year ago.
Vance served this past season as Mask’s offensive coordinator at Theodore. He is also good friends with Sims, so there has been speculation that he may be in the mix at Pascagoula also. However, his son Deuce Vance, just completed his freshman season at South Alabama which is one reason Vance left HHS in order to be closer to his son.
Mask indicated to reporters that he could be done with coaching, but that remains to be seen. He went 20-13 in three years at Theodore. His final team finished 8-4 and placed second in the Region 1-6A. The Bobcats lost at Benjamin Russell in the second round of the playoffs two weeks ago.
Mask is 231-120 and a head coach overall, including 43-18 in playoff games.
In addition to his three years at Theodore, he spent five years each at Bradshaw, Buckhorn and Colbert County, a decade at St. Paul’s – his most successful stop – and a year at Pell City. He collected nearly half of his victories (110) and all four of his state titles during a dominating decade run at St. Paul’s Episcopal where he led the Saints to 5A titles in 2014, 2015, 2017 and 2020.

Mask left St. Paul’s after the 2021 season and spent one year at Pell City before returning to South Alabama and replacing Eric Collier at Theodore.
Collier followed Biloxi head coach Jamey Dubose to the Mississippi Gulf Coast last year as his defensive coordinator. Both Dubose and Collier, who just concludxd their second seasons with the Indians, have both been mentioned as possible candidates to replace Sims at the helm of the Panthers also.
Collier accepted the head coaching job at George County back in January of this year, but returned to Biloxi the next week when then George County School Superintendent Wade Whitney suddenly resigned under some shady circumstances.
Collier followed Dubose across the state line after a long coaching career in the Alabama prep circles. He spent one season on then head coach Kane Wommack’s staff at the University of South Alabama as Director of Football Development.
Before that, Collier was a successful head coach at Theodore High where he went 71-41 as the Bobcats head coach over a 10-year span. The Bobcats were especially successful in his last three seasons, winning 33 of the last 38 games under Collier. The 2022 team went 13-1 and reached the Class 6A state semifinals before losing a rematch to eventual state champion Saraland. Theodore won three region titles in his last six years.

He also spent five years with the program as an assistant coach, and was also the head coach at Alma Bryant for four seasons as well going 10-30.
So stay tuned. The “Rumor Mill” is just starting to turn.
Family Affair
It will be a family affair for the Morgan family in Starkville at state championship week this year.
Warren Central is back in the state finals for the first time in 31 years as the Vikings prepare to meet Lacey and Hattiesburg Friday night for the Class 6A crown.
And Viking head coach Josh Morgan, a former WCHS standout player, and his family will have their footprints all over Davis-Wade Stadium this week.
Josh Morgan’s brother Rob Morgan is the Vikings’ offensive coordinator. Nash Morgan, the son of Josh is the starting quarterback for Warren Central also.
In addition, Brett Morgan, the brother of Josh and Rob, is the head coach at perennial state power West Point, which is playing in its 10th straight state championship game and second consecutive under Morgan. The Green Wave, which slipped past Gautier 28-21 in last year’s Class 5A state championship game, face Brookhaven for the same crown Thursday night.
All three Morgan brothers played for the Vikings under the direction of their father, legendary Warren Central head coach Robert Morgan, who is the all-time leader in wins at WCHS with 168 in 19 seasons from 1985-2003.
Also, all three Morgan brothers went on to play college ball at Mississippi State on the playing surface at Davis-Wade Stadium, where all seven state championship games take place this week.