Buddy Stephens
 |
| Current position | |
|---|---|
| Title | Head coach |
| Team | East Mississippi |
| Conference | MACJC |
| Record | 155–31 |
| Biographical details | |
| Born | September 6, 1966 Huntsville, Alabama, U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| 1986–1987 | Pearl River |
| 1988–1989 | Delta State |
| Position | Center |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 2001–2007 | Pearl River (assistant) |
| 2008–present | East Mississippi |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 155–31 |
| Bowls | 7–0 |
| Tournaments | 1–1 (NJCAA Division I playoffs) |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| 5 NJCAA National (2011, 2013–2014, 2017–2018) 9 MACJC/MACCC (2009, 2011, 2013–2014, 2016–2018, 2022–2023) 14 MACJC/MACCC North Division (2008–2009, 2011–2019, 2021, 2023, 2025) | |
Wofford Oran "Buddy" Stephens Jr. is an American junior college football coach. He is the head football coach at East Mississippi Community College,[1] where he has won five NJCAA National Football Championships and coached future National Football League (NFL) players such as Chad Kelly, Jarran Reed and Dakota Allen.
Stephens is known as the head coach from the first two seasons of the Netflix series Last Chance U. He has won more games at EMCC than any other coach in history. He is also well known for the implementing of the informal "Buddy Stephens rule", the running clock rule of the Mississippi Association of Community College Conference where the clock will run continuously in the second half if a team is leading by 38 or more points.
Stephens played college football for Pearl River and Delta State, both as a center and guard.[2][3] After serving as an assistant football and girls' soccer coach at Central High School in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, he was hired at Pearl River in 2001.[4]
Head coaching record
[edit]| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | NJCAA# | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| East Mississippi Lions (Mississippi Association of Community & Junior Colleges / Community Colleges Conference) (2008–present) | |||||||||
| 2008 | East Mississippi | 8–2 | 6–0 | 1st (North) | |||||
| 2009 | East Mississippi | 11–1 | 6–0 | 1st (North) | W Mississippi Bowl | 4 | |||
| 2010 | East Mississippi | 5–5 | 4–2 | 2nd (North) | |||||
| 2011 | East Mississippi | 12–0 | 6–0 | 1st (North) | W El Toro Bowl | 1 | |||
| 2012 | East Mississippi | 8–2 | 5–1 | 1st (North) | 15 | ||||
| 2013 | East Mississippi | 12–0 | 6–0 | 1st (North) | W Mississippi Bowl | 1 | |||
| 2014 | East Mississippi | 12–0 | 6–0 | 1st (North) | W Mississippi Bowl | 1 | |||
| 2015 | East Mississippi | 8–1 | 6–0 | 1st (North) | 7 | ||||
| 2016 | East Mississippi | 11–1 | 6–0 | 1st (North) | W Mississippi Bowl | 2 | |||
| 2017 | East Mississippi | 11–1 | 8–1 | 1st (North) | W Mississippi Bowl | 1 | |||
| 2018 | East Mississippi | 12–0 | 6–0 | 1st (North) | W NJCAA Championship Game | 1 | |||
| 2019 | East Mississippi | 6–4 | 4–2 | T–1st (North) | 14 | ||||
| 2020–21 | No team—COVID-19 | ||||||||
| 2021 | East Mississippi | 9–1 | 6–0 | 1st (North) | 6 | ||||
| 2022 | East Mississippi | 8–3 | 4–2 | 2nd (North) | 6 | ||||
| 2023 | East Mississippi | 10–3 | 6–0 | 1st (North) | L NJCAA Division I Championship Game | 2 | |||
| 2024 | East Mississippi | 5–4 | 4–2 | T–2nd (North) | 14 | ||||
| 2025 | East Mississippi | 7–3 | 5–1 | T–1st (North) | 12 | ||||
| East Mississippi: | 155–31 | 94–11 | |||||||
| Total: | 155–31 | ||||||||
| National championship Conference title Conference division title or championship game berth | |||||||||
| |||||||||
References
[edit]- ↑ "East Mississippi Athletics". Buddy Stephens. EMCC Athletics.
- ↑ "Dozen Wildcat gridders head for major colleges". Hattiesburg American. February 8, 1988. p. 3B. Retrieved January 26, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
- ↑ "Delta State could be better". The Clarksdale Press Register. August 24, 1989. p. 13C. Retrieved January 26, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
- ↑ "Architects center renovation presented". The Poplarville Democrat. March 1, 2001. p. 7. Retrieved January 26, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
External links
[edit] | This biographical article relating to a college football coach first appointed in the 2000s is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by adding missing information. |
- 1966 births
- Living people
- American football offensive linemen
- Pearl River Wildcats football players
- Delta State Statesmen football players
- East Mississippi Lions football coaches
- Pearl River Wildcats football coaches
- Players of American football from Huntsville, Alabama
- Coaches of American football from Alabama
- College football coaches first appointed in the 2000s stubs