Bio

Brad Thornton entered uncharted territory for a Gulf Coast coach in 2025 after he became the first in school history to win back-to-back national championships. In his fourth season, the Bulldogs won the program’s third team national championship, and Stanley Campbell became the second to win an individual NJCAA title.

The Bulldogs defeated Illinois Central by one shot in May at Swan Lake Golf Resort in Plymouth, Ind. Thornton joined legendary football coach George Sekul as the only one in MGCCC history to win two titles.

The Bulldogs once again swept through the MACCC, winning all five regular-season events they participated in, as well as the conference championship tournament. They won the NJCAA Gulf District title in Corinth to punch the ticket for the national tournament. The Bulldogs have won five straight district/region titles and 16 out of the last 17.

For the season, they won 10 of the 13 tournaments they played, losing to only two teams in their division all year. Gulf Coast went wire-to-wire in the Bushnell Golfweek NJCAA Division II Coaches Poll and Clippd National Collegiate Golf Rankings. Four Bulldogs finished in the top 14.

Campbell, John Mark Mills (So., Pontotoc/Mike Bender Golf Academy) and Peyton Russell (So., Gautier/Gautier) were named to the PING All-American Team, with Ludvig Behring (So., Sollentuna, Sweden/Osterakers Gymnasium) finishing sixth at the national tournament to join Campbell and Mills as NJCAA All-Americans. Thornton repeated as Dave Williams Award winner as national coach of the year in NJCAA Division II.

In 2024, the Gulf Coast golf program was one of the greatest in school history for any sport. The Bulldogs won their last 12 tournaments on the way to the school’s second NJCAA championship.

The team beat Kirkwood by three shots at Twin Hills Golf Club in Joplin, Mo., to claim the trophy. In addition to breaking the school record for tournament wins, the Bulldogs shot the lowest score in the third round of the NJCAA Gulf District Championship (263) which also set a mark for score to par (25-under). Five different players won medalist honors in that winning streak.

Those five golfers also earned spots on the PING All-American teams. Will Burnham and Andrew Zielinski were named to the First Team, with Peyton Russell on the Second Team. Jackson Wise and Stanley Campbell earned Honorable Mention. Campbell and Russell were named to the five-man All-Freshman Team.

Burnham, who was named a CSC Academic All-American, signed to play at Southern Miss. Zielinski, who was named the CSC Academic All-American of the Year, will continue his career at NCAA DII Lee University. Kyle Davidson will play at NAIA Point University, while Mateo Jiminez will continue his career at NAIA William Carey.

The 2022-23 team swept all six MACCC events before winning the MACCC and NJCAA Gulf District tournaments. Chase Kaiser, who won a record-tying five tournaments as well as the CSC Academic All-American of the Year, signed with NCAA Division I North Alabama, and Alessio Graziani signed with NAIA William Carey.

Kaiser earned PING All-American First Team honors, with Will Burnham on the Second Team. Burnham and Andrew Zielinski were on the All-Freshman squad. Kaiser, Burnham and Graziani won NJCAA All-American honors.

In his first season in charge, Thornton led Gulf Coast to a national runner-up finish in his first season in charge. He took over the Bulldogs is 2021 after five seasons as an assistant coach. The former NJCAA All-American has now been a Bulldog as a student-athlete, assistant coach and head coach.

Gulf Coast battled back from a slow start on Day 1 in Joplin, Mo., to win a sudden-death playoff with Tyler to claim second place at the 2022 NJCAA Division II Men's Golf Championship.

Thornton was the MACJC Championship medalist in 2012, the year he made the NJCAA All-American Honorable Mention list. He participated in two national championships at Gulf Coast, then another while playing for NCAA Division II Delta State.

In 2023, Thornton came within three shots of qualifying for the US Open. He and assistant coach Jackson Wedgeworth made it through Local Qualifying, and Thornton was within three shots of earning a spot in Final Qualifying near Atlanta.

He was a key part of Gulf Coast’s two national championships. In 2017, he walked all 72 holes at the NJCAA Championship as an assistant coach with Colin Troxler. Troxler topped the individual leaderboard to win medalist, and the Bulldogs nearly won the team title.

The next year, he spent the final two rounds of the national championship in Foley, Ala., with Carter Nicholson. His splendid play helped Gulf Coast close out its first team title. Gulf Coast won that national title with five Mississippians who beat the best teams in the country.

Thornton earned a bachelor’s degree at Delta State and a master’s at William Carey. He taught at Stone High, and his golf team there qualified for the state tournament both years.

Thornton still plays golf as a pro, and made it to the final round of US Open Qualifying in 2023 and 2024.

He and his wife Krystyn have a 6-year-old daughter named Lily Kate and a 4-year-old son named Todd.