Ocean Springs hires Blake Pennock as next head football coach

After going five years without a playoff victory at Ocean Springs High School, the football program was in need of a shot in the arm. And who better to give such an injection than the coach who just led Pass Christian to its first post-season win in school history?

This evening, Blake Pennock was unanimously approved by the Ocean Springs School Board of Trustees to serve as the next head man of the Greyhounds.

Pennock steps in for Ryan Ross, who stepped down last month after a successful nine-year run at OS.

In 2019, Pennock made quick work of an improbable comeback story at Pass Christian where he led the Pirates to an overall record of 8-4, a seven win improvement from the year before.

The team’s 35-20 win over Purvis in the first round of the 4A playoffs was history in the making.

Pennock is now taking point for a 6A program with back-to-back post-season appearances, an opportunity he says he simply couldn’t pass up. “Honestly, Ocean Springs is to me one of the top five jobs in the state of Mississippi and the community support, the school, the district, the city itself. And then the football program is just to me, when you put all that packaged together, they have what it takes to really I feel like be able to make a run with the right direction to a 6A title. And I mean to any coach, that’s my goal at least just to try to get to the top of the mountain.”

Pennock will officially be introduced on Friday at the Ocean Springs School District Central Office board room, an event that’s open to the general public.