Bio

Chris Handy will spend his 13^th season in charge of the Gulf Coast men’s soccer team defending the MACCC championship. The Bulldogs lost only one conference game on the way to their second title in three years.

Handy’s teams are also top performers in the classroom. They have won MACCC Academic Team of the Year, given to the men’s soccer program with the highest GPA, four of the last five years.

He’s also been a big contributor on the national scene. In 2024, he was presented a Letter of Commendation from the United Soccer Coaches. Handy, who has been a member since 2007, has been the Junior College Men's Scholar All-America National Chair since its inception in 2013. Under his guidance, the program has risen to prominence and has grown exponentially each year. Gulf Coast has had 12 players earn that award

Gulf Coast went 10-1 in MACCC play in 2023, finishing 13-3-2 overall. His teams have won 10 or more games in nine of the last 11 seasons, compiling a 134-64-14 record during his tenure in Perkinston. The Bulldogs have had seven NJCAA All-Americans since he’s been the head coach.

The 2022 team advanced to the NJCAA Region 23 semifinals before falling in overtime. That was a year after the Bulldogs won the MACCC/Region 23 championship.

The Bulldogs were MACCC South Division runners-up, then won three matches on the way to the title. In the championship, Gulf Coast tied archrival Pearl River, which was ranked third in the country, 2-2 after regulation and two overtime periods. The Bulldogs won a penalty shootout that stretched to eight rounds to earn the program’s first trip to the NJCAA National Championship tournament. Gulf Coast lost a pair of one-goal matches in pool play in Wichita, Kansas. Handy earned MACCC, NJCAA Region 23, and NJCAA South District Coach of the Year after his team’s sensational season, and he and his staff were named United Soccer Coaches South Region Staff of the Year.

Gulf Coast had previously made trips to four MACJC championship games, including the 2016 and 2017 seasons which saw the Bulldog blitz the MACJC South Division undefeated with an 18-0 record. 

Handy wore both men’s and women’s coaching hats in taking the teams to the 2013 postseason and was named 2014 South Region Men’s Coach of the Year by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America.

Handy was the assistant men’s coach at Tyler Junior College from 2007-11, where the teams went 89-9-6 with back-to-back NJCAA titles in 2009-10. He played and interned at Florida International University in 2005-6, where he graduated with a degree in strength and conditioning. Handy also has a master’s in education in kinesiology from the University of Texas at Tyler.

The Austin, Texas, native played at Tyler Junior College, where he was an All-Region and two-time Academic All-Region selection. He has three children: Jazzlyn, 11, and Jaxon, 9, and Jayce, 5.