Bio

Former Gulf Coast captain Windham Whatley returns in 2023 for his fourth season on the coaching staff at his alma mater. He helped prepare and steer 10 Bulldogs from last year’s team to sign with four-year schools, and he helped lead Gulf Coast to its first national tournament appearance two seasons ago.

The Bulldogs are 31-16-4 in his three seasons as a coach, and he was part of the United Soccer Coaches South Region Staff of the Year in 2021. That was the year Gulf Coast won its first MACCC/NJCAA Region 23 title in a decade on the way to to the school’s first NJCAA Men’s Soccer Championship in Wichita, Kansas, where they lost a pair of tight, one-goal matches.

In his first season, he was part of a coaching staff that saw the men win the MACCC South championship. The women’s team advanced to the MACCC semifinals, where the Bulldogs lost to eventual national runner-up Holmes.

Whatley was a defensive midfielder for the Bulldogs in the 2016 and 2017 seasons, and he was a rare two-year captain. He played in the MACJC All-Star Game following his sophomore season.

He earned United Soccer Coaches Scholar All-American honors as a sophomore, along with NJCAA Academic Student-Athlete honors. Whatley was twice on the Academic All-MACJC list.

Whatley went on to play at William Carey, where he graduated with a bachelor’s in physical education.

He coaches for the South Mississippi Soccer Club and was an assistant at Sumrall in 2019-20, while he was also coaching for the Hattiesburg Futbal Club. Whatley holds a USSF D License.