Bio

Donald Massengale Jr.

Perkinston Agricultural High School & Junior College (1953-1955) / Football
Pascagoula, Mississippi

Don Massengale Jr. believes the toughest two years of his life occurred while he was at Perkinston Junior College playing football from 1953-1955 under coach Harold "War Daddy" White.

"It was the hardest thing I've ever had to do in my life," says the Pascagoula native. "Playing for Harold White was much rougher than going through Officer Candidate School. You didn't have a tough time with other things in life thanks to that experience. If you went through his program, you could handle anything."

Massengale was on the 1953 team that earned a 7-3-1 record, including a 6-6 tie against Co-Lin at the Laurel Lions Bowl. "Earlier that season, we beat Co-Lin 14-0, so the team wasn't that excited about playing them again in Laurel," he says. "But Coach White wanted us to go to the bowl game, and we did. The field was muddy, and I remember warming up in ankle-deep mud. It rained the entire game, and we managed a 6-6 tie."

The following season, Massengale switched from playing fullback to center after a conversation with Coach White. "I gained about 25 pounds before the 1954 season.

Coach White told me he always wanted a big center who could move, and I told him, 'Good luck with that, Coach.' He then informed me that I was going to be his center, and I played every minute of every game in the ’54 season."

After college, Massengale began working at Ingalls Shipbuilding (now Northrop Grumman Ship Systems). He retired in 1994 as director of Industrial Relations Services. He joined the Mississippi National Guard in 1953 and rose to the rank of major before retiring in 1974. He is an active member of the Bulldog Club and has served as a member of the college's Board of Trustees since 1989. He served the board as president in 2000 and 2001. He currently serves as president of the Mississippi Association of Community and Junior College Trustees.

"I was the first president of the college's Jackson County Campus Alumni Association in 1965," Massengale says." I've always enjoyed going to ballgames and being involved with the college. I feel if you're going to be involved, you ought to go all the way with it I try to do everything I can to help the college."

Massengale adds that he sees his induction into the Athletic Hall of Fame as an award that should be shared with many others who've participated in athletics over the years at Gulf Coast.

"I want to accept this honor on behalf of everybody who has ever stepped on a court, a course, or a field for Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College. There are a lot of other people who practiced a lot but didn’t play any, or practiced a lot but played a little. I think regardless of how much you played or how much you achieved, just representing the college is a huge accomplishment. I played with several guys who went through the same punishment I did but never played in games. They're the ones for whom I accept this honor."