News 25’s 25 Teams in 25 Days: Gulfport Admirals

GULFPORT, Miss. (WXXV) — Gulfport football has been one of the most dominant regular season programs in the state for well over a decade now. But the Admirals don’t have much postseason success to show for it, and that’s what their new coaching staff is out to change in 2023.

“The biggest thing is probably changing everybody’s mindset,” said Gulfport senior quarterback Nico Williams. “Last year, I mean years past, our mindsets have been weak. We’ve expected nothing high, and this year his mindset has changed everybody. We’re thinking elite. We have to be elite. If we’re not, we’re losing.”

“I think it’s just the attention to detail and what it takes to actually be a champion,” said Gulfport head football coach Blake Pennock. “A lot of people want to talk about it. A lot of people want to tweet about it and things of that nature, but to actually put the work in that it takes to be a champion. You can do all of those things and still not be a champion.”

Gulfport knows a thing or two about being a district champion, having won four of those titles from 2015-19, resulting in just one playoff win during that stretch.

“It’s very different,” said Gulfport senior cornerback/wide receiver Prince Cottonham. “Last year, we just wanted to win district. This year, we’re not even worried about district. We’re trying to get to South State and State, and the expectations for ourselves – last year it was here, and this year it’s up here, and we’re really chasing greatness.”

More recently, Pennock – who was an assistant for the 2016 state champion Clinton Arrows – has won two district crowns of his own over at Ocean Springs in a pair of undefeated regular seasons. In fact, his three playoff wins over the last two years are more than Gulfport’s two playoff wins over the last two decades.

“The possibilities are endless,” said Williams. “We have a big roof.”

“Definitely after watching them go undefeated two years in a row, that definitely inspired us,” said Cottonham. “We’ve got their head coach now, so we’re like we can really do this thing. If they can do it, we can do it. We’ve got the athletes to do it. We’ve got the team to do it, so I really think we’re the team to beat this year.”

“For a long time before I got down here, it was all about being kings of the Coast and whatnot, and I did it over there across the bridge, but also doing the same thing here is thinking a bigger scope, a broader scope about what the state really means and being a champion of the state of Mississippi, and ultimately being kings of the Coast doesn’t matter,” said Pennock.

Gulfport is still trending in the right direction, coming off its best season since 2019 with an overall record of 9-3 and a Region 4-6A mark of 6-1. But history repeating itself in the first round by way of a 38-3 home loss to Warren Central.

“Going into that game we were the higher seed, so we should’ve won, and then we had home field advantage,” said Cottonham. “That showed us that maybe we weren’t the dogs that we thought we were.”

“We all think about it,” said Williams. “We can’t lie to ourselves, we’re thinking about it at the end of the day, and there’s some changes coming.”

One of those changes is Williams starting under center for his senior season, running an offense similar to the one that now Alabama freshman Bray Hubbard mastered for the Greyhounds, en route to winning back-to-back6A Mr. Football awards.

“He said he wants to do pretty much the same thing with me, so I know what to expect,” said Williams.

“I’m really excited about him,” said Pennock. “He’s got a really good supporting cast around him so they’re going to need to step up early in the season, and once he gets his feet wet I think sky’s the limit.”

Perhaps his biggest weapon, senior running back Gavin Brown, fresh off his eight-touchdown campaign in 2022.

“Gavin is just a jitterbug kind of guy just getting around there,” said Pennock. “He’s just a playmaker when you get the ball in his hands, and we need him to do that a lot for us this season, kind of to take that next step in being kind of a 20-touch per game kind of guy.”

Other big time game-breakers on the outside are last year’s leading receiver Cam Joseph speedster Bishop McGruder.

“We can beat you down the field, and we can also punch you in the throat at the line,” said Williams.

On defense, 10 of Gulfport’s 11 starters are seniors, including the team’s leading tackler Landon Pettis at linebacker, Kai McClendon at defensive tackle, and then Damon Felder II and Cottonham at the corner spots.

“I don’t think there’s a better defense on the Coast, or even in the state,” said Cottonham.

Overall, the Admirals return 25 seniors and about 15 starters for their first run through the 7A gauntlet. When Pennock was introduced as the team’s new coach back in January, h said he was coming for a “revolution,” starting with a simple motto at the core of his program.

“One thing he’s said a lot is Above the Line,” said Williams. “Last year’s team, we were just average. We were the line. This year, we are above the line. We will be more than just average.”

“Be the best you can be with no regrets, and just push yourself harder than you’ve ever pushed yourself,” said Cottonham.

“We’ve got the talent,” said Pennock. “We have the potential. But it’s about doing the little things that are going to be the separators between being a first round exit or making a run in the State playoffs to try to hopefully hold the gold ball up.”

The Admirals kick off their 2023 season at home as the nightcap to the Port City Bowl against Gautier on August 25.