A former Union native may have one of the toughest high school football jobs in the state of Mississippi.
Former Yellowjacket Quincy Patrick was recently named as the new head football coach at West Harrison High School in Gulfport.
Patrick takes over a program that has had little success in football. In the school’s nine years, the Hurricanes have yet to have a winning season. Last year, the team went 1-10, playing in one of the roughest Class 5A divisions in the state with Stone County, Picayune, Gautier, Pearl River Central, Long Beach, Wayne County and Hattiesburg.
But that doesn’t scare Patrick.
“I’m a man of faith and this job was an answered prayer honestly,” Patrick said. “It has been down since its inception. We are approaching the 10-year anniversary of the school and they have never had a winning season. We are going to have to learn to outwork our opponent. I learned that from my mother, hard work and discipline. Those two things always travel. You can always work hard and have discipline.”
Patrick, who played on the first teams under Brad Breland, sees many similarities in the two programs.
“People say that you can’t win here,” Patrick said. “But they said the same thing about Pearl River Central and we won there. I remember when Brad Breland got hired at Union, it was a laughing stock. They said you couldn’t win there. But we played for the South State title in just a few years and Union is now one of the most respected programs in the state. So I don’t listen when people say you can’t win somewhere. You can win anywhere if you are willing to work.”
Patrick comes to West Harrison after serving as offensive coordinator at D’Iberville the past two seasons. The Warriors were 5-7 last year and averaged more than 300 yards a game last year with 255 rushing and 58 passing. The previous year, the Warriors were 8-4 and had two 1,000-yard rushers as they averaged 346 yards a game on offense.
Despite the program’s struggles, Patrick said there is plenty of excitement.
“There has been a lot of excitement,” Patrick said. “The community has welcomed us with open arms. We had a booster club meeting and a ton of folks showed up. We had our first summer workout and had fans show up just to watch conditioning. They can see and feel the excitement.”
Patrick was hired late in the school year, putting him behind most schools.
“Our biggest challenge is putting in the offense and defense,” Patrick said. “Because I got the job so late, we didn’t have a spring. And I still have some coaches to hire. Some of the coaches left so I still have to get a staff together. The kids have already bought in so now I have to get a coaching staff in here and get them to buy in.”
