Thigpen, Knight added to MGCCC staff
PERKINSTON — Mississippi Gulf Coast has completed its football coaching staff, with head coach Jack Wright adding Bobby Thigpen and Randan Knight to the fold.
Thigpen will handle the Bulldogs' cornerbacks. The former East Central Community College player is also an active duty reservist in the Army and returns to the college coaching ranks for the first time since 2014.
"This is a great place," he said. "It's a stepping stone for me to get into collegiate sports. The campus is very impressive, and the staff is very impressive and professional. When you come to Gulf Coast it's a big family. Nobody's a stranger."
Thigpen starred at Forest High before playing two seasons at defensive back at East Central. He played the 2011 and 2012 seasons at Belhaven, where he played switched to receiver as a senior and was second on the team in receptions.
He graduated from Belhaven with a bachelor's in history and a minor in education in 2013, then was a coaching intern there for a season. He finished his master's in education from the school in 2017 and added a master's in sports administration from Arkansas State in 2020.
"Like any good young coach, he relates to the players well," Wright said. "He's able to speak to them on their level. He's played a lot of football and understands the daily struggle of the student-athlete. He recently lived it, so he can empathize with our players. He's got a positive attitude and a positive approach."
Thigpen taught history at Forrest County High from 2014-16, where he was also an assistant coach. He coached and taught at Clinton from 2016-2018, then was an assistant and the history department coordinator at W.H. Adamson High in Dallas from 2018-19.
He joined the U.S. Army Reserves in 2016 and has been accepted to Officer Candidate School.
Thigpen and his wife Lauren have a daughter, Taylor, 8. He also has twin daughters Da'Kiyah and Da'Miyah, 18.
Knight is no stranger to A.L. May Memorial Stadium, the same place he started his collegiate playing career. He'll be the tight end/fullbacks coach on the same field he played on in 2015-16.
"It feels good to be back," he said. "I'm trying to touch as many lives as possible. One of my favorite quotes is, 'Life is unimportant except for the impact you have on other lives.' The opportunity I have here, I just want to see everybody reach their fullest potential."
Knight started all 11 games during his freshman season for the Bulldogs in 2015 that saw the Bulldogs reach the state championship game. Gulf Coast piled up nearly 380 yards per game in total offense, and more than 200 on the ground.
His sophomore season saw him start 10 games as the offense gained 194.1 yards on the ground per game and 368.0 total yards. Knight started all 21 games during his Bulldog career.
"He has a good relationship with (offensive line) Coach (Les) George," Wright said. "He's working extremely hard to make those tight ends and fullbacks a bigger part of our offense. He's a young coach the players all feel comfortable with."
It was the same story at Mississippi College, where Knight started all 10 games each season. The MC offense ran for nearly 200 yards per game and 19 touchdowns during his junior year and 223.4 yards and 25 touchdowns during 2019.
Knight, who is a descendant of Newton Knight who helped found the Free State of Jones, played high school football at Oak Grove. He was a first-team Class 6A All-State selection as a senior and played in the Mississippi-Alabama All-Star Game. The Warriors won the 2013 Class 6A state champion during his junior season.
"I'm looking forward to seeing both of these guys grow," Wright said. "As we start game-planning more and more, we'll start leaning on those guys more and more as we get better."
For more information on MGCCC's 10 intercollegiate athletic teams, follow @MGCCCBulldogs on Twitter and MGCCCBulldogs on Facebook, and go to mgcccbulldogs.com.
