1995

/- .. '

WEEK OF

ECCC names Coats as new football coach From Special Reports

ingback." Coats said he planned to meet \\;th the Warrior players Thursday afternoon and had already begun making recruit– ing contacts His 1992 squad at Pearl River posted a 10-0 regular sea– son mark and won tbe South Division Title. The Wildcats set several records and were ranked fourth in the nation before falling to Itawamba for the state championship. Coats, who has received "Coach of the Year" honors six times, began his career as an assistant at Clara High School in 1960. By 1962, he became the head coach and also led the girli'' and boys' basketball pro– grams and the track t~>am. In 1962, he was named "Coach of the Year" for girls' basketball in the Rebel Conference and in 1964 earned the same honor for the boys' team. Coats was later tapped by Semmary High School to serve as head football coach, baseball coach and athletic director. In 1964, he was selected ''Coach of the Year" in football. From 1966-70 he took over a similar position at Lumberton High. During his seven seasons at ECCC, the Warriors compiled a 35-33-3 record. Coats left East Central in 1976 to become head coach and athletic director at Decatur High. His 1978 team went 11-0, won the East ~lississippi bowl game and was the top rated team in the small school rank– ings in the state. He was named Choctaw Conference "Coach of the Year" that same season. In 1978, Coats left to become· head football coach and athletic director at Quitman High School and then joined the Delta State University football staff in 1981, serving as defen– sive coordinator. Coats took over the head coaching position at Hattiesburg High in 1984, where he went 49-27-1, includ– ing a perfect 10-0 mark in 1987.

DECATUR - The Ea't Central Community College football team will have an old familiar face on the sidelines next season. The school announced Tuesday the Willie .J. "Tenny" Coats would take over as head coach of the Warriors, replacing former coach Reese Bridgman, who resigned after the 1994 sea– son The former ECCC assistant football coach was the unani– mous choice of a five-person search committee which inter– viewed nine of the 27 candi– dates who applied for the posi– tion. In all, more than 40 seri– ous inquiries were made con– cerning the post. Coats guided Pearl River Community College to a 28-13 record during the past four sea– sons, including a South Division Championship. In announcing the selection, college president Dr. Eddie Smith said Coats was "highly experienced" in building and m intaining successful pro– grams at the high school, com– munity college and university levels. "He was the onlv candidate interviewed who· had head coaching experience beyond the high school level," Smith said. "Coach Coats know.-, has coached or is familiar ,,;th high school coaches within the col– lege's district." Coats, who served at East Central from 1970-76 as an assistant and was also the head baseball coach, said he was looking forward to coming back to the area. "I love Decatur and East Central and will work a~ hard as I can to make the football program competitive.'' Coats said. "It was a hard decision to leave Pearl River; the people at PRC have been great to me. But I really wanted to come to East Central. I have a lot of friends and family in the Decatur area. We are real excited about com-

APPE CA NE NE CL

SCOTT COUNTY TIMES UNION APPEAL WINSTON COUNTY JOURKAL MERIDIAN STAR /