11/6/2022 2 Comments Buddy stephens![]() ![]() During Stephens’ stint at PRCC, the Wildcats posted a composite record of 60‐12 (.833), including an NJCAA championship in 2004 and four consecutive MACJC state titles (2003-06).īefore his community college coaching career began in 2001, Stephens spent eight years at the high school level in Alabama and Louisiana.įollowing an initial stop at Pearl River CC as a two‐year offensive lineman, Stephens continued his playing career at Delta State University. Stephens arrived at East Mississippi after spending the previous seven seasons as an assistant coach at Pearl River Community College in Poplarville, Miss. BUDDY STEPHENS PROFESSIONALOn the professional level, the EMCC Lions have had eight players selected in the NFL Draft under Stephens’ guidance, while 11 of his former players were on NFL rosters this past offseason. In addition, 50 former EMCC players on the average annually compete at the university level during the college football season. While an average of around 25 EMCC football players annually move on to compete at the four-year level, Stephens has coached a total of 34 NJCAA All-Americans during his tenure, including eight All-America quarterbacks. Stephens’ coaching success at East Mississippi goes hand in hand with the individual accomplishments that his players continue to achieve beyond the Scooba campus. The seven-time Region 23 Coach of the Year also received the George Sekul Award from the All-American Football Foundation in 2011. East Mississippi currently trails only Butler (Kan.) and Northeastern Oklahoma A&M for most national football championships (six apiece) in NJCAA history.įor his outstanding coaching efforts throughout his EMCC career, Stephens is a three-time NJCAA Football Coach of the Year recipient along with having received national honors twice by the American Community College Football Coaches Association and the American Football Monthly magazine. With their five national championships having come in the last 10 years, Stephens’ EMCC Lions became just the second NJCAA member school to claim back-to-back national football titles twice (2013-14 & 2017-18). Grading college football's new coaching hires: Can Lance Leipold help Kansas get on track?.Additionally, Stephens’ EMCC teams are undefeated in a combined 12 national/conference championship contests, while the Lions also put together a streak of 118 consecutive weeks of being ranked in the NJCAA polls during a nine-year span (2011-19) that came to a halt only when EMCC opted out of the 2020-21 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Including separate winning streaks of 25, 20 and 17 consecutive games (twice), the Lions are 92-9 (.911) collectively with six double-digit win seasons dating back to the start of the 2011 campaign. He also currently ranks 31st on the NJCAA’s all-time wins list and is fifth in Mississippi junior college football history.ĭating back to the 2008 season, Stephens owns a 13-year head coaching overall record of 116-17 (.872) at East Mississippi, including composite marks of 66-6 (.917) in regular-season division play and 14-4 (.778) in MACCC playoff contests. Presently sitting second on the NJCAA’s all-time list for career winning percentage among coaches with 100 or more career games coached, Stephens enters the 2021 campaign ranked fifth among the NJCAA’s winningest active head football coaches. Having taken over a program that hadn’t managed a winning football season during the decade prior to his arrival and had only made one previous state playoff appearance in school history, Stephens has won 87 percent of his games as EMCC’s head football coach, including five NJCAA national championships, seven Mississippi Association of Community College Conference/NJCAA Region 23 titles, nine MACCC North Division crowns and seven postseason bowl game victories. ![]() Since his arrival on the Scooba campus in December 2007, Stephens has completely transformed EMCC’s football program into a perennial powerhouse currently unrivaled in the NJCAA gridiron ranks. Stephens emerged as LSU's leading candidate on Sunday and replaces Ed Orgeron, who will vacate the position at the end of the 2021 season.īeginning his 14th year as head coach, Buddy Stephens is the architect behind East Mississippi Community College’s 13 years of championship football. LSU hired former East Mississippi football coach Buddy Stephens on Tuesday, signing him to a five-year, $11.5 million contract and banking on the offensive background and name recognition he brings with him.Īthletic director Scott Woodward described Stephens as a "national brand coach," whose arrival will only help LSU continue to emerge as an SEC football powerhouse. ![]()
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