Northeast Mississippi Community College Athletics

THE OFFICIAL HOME OF THE NORTHEAST MISSISSIPPI COMMUNITY COLLEGE TIGERS

Sat, 04/27 | Baseball at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College W, 12-6 (Final) BX
Sat, 04/27 | Baseball at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College L, 5-4 (Final) BX
Sat, 04/27 | Softball vs. Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College W, 4-0 (Final) BX | V
Sat, 04/27 | Softball vs. Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College W, 10-5 (Final) BX | V
Tue, 04/30 | Softball at Itawamba Community College W, 5-3 (Final) BX | V
Fri, 05/03 | Softball at Copiah-Lincoln Community College L, 6-0 (Final) BX | V
Sat, 05/04 | Baseball at East Central Community College L, 6-4 (Final) BX | V
Sat, 05/04 | Softball vs. Hinds Community College W, 6-2 (Final) BX | V
Sat, 05/04 | Softball vs. Louisiana State University Eunice L, 2-1 (Final) BX | V
Sun, 05/05 | Baseball at East Central Community College W, 3-2 (Final) BX | V
Mon, 05/06 | Baseball at East Central Community College L, 12-7 (Final) BX | V

William "Billy" Southward

Years at Northeast:

1974-95

Sports:

Baseball/Football

Occupation:

Head Coach/Assistant Coach

William "Billy" Southward was tasked with multiple responsibilities over a distinguished coaching and teaching career that spanned across parts of four decades at Northeast Mississippi Community College.

He originally arrived on the Booneville campus in 1974 to assist legendary Northeast headman W.B. "Bill" Ward as a defensive coach. Southward worked with the linebackers, defensive backs and defensive ends in his inaugural season with the Tigers.

Southward worked under five different head coaches at Northeast, including Ward from 1974-82, David Carnell from 1983-85, Johnny Plummer from 1986-89, Hubert Tucker from 1990-94 and Gunter Brewer in 1995.

His 22 seasons with the Tigers make him the second longest tenured football coach in school history. Only Carnell's 23 combined years as an assistant and head coach rank longer than Southward's service.

Five National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) All-Americans played for Northeast during Southward's time with the team, including defensive backs Barry Todd in 1977 and Maury Hill in 1979 plus defensive lineman Paul Rhodes in 1980.

Southward was on the sidelines for several of the most successful campaigns in program history. He saw the Tigers rise to No. 1 in the entire country in the J.C. Gridwire poll and No. 2 in the NJCAA rankings during the 1980 season.

Northeast captured its inaugural Mississippi Association of Community and Junior Colleges (MACJC) North Division championship that year after winning nine straight outings. The Tigers also hosted a playoff game for the first time ever.

The Tishomingo native helped Northeast return to the state playoffs twice more in 1983 and 1987 after finishing as the MACJC North Division runner-up during both of those seasons.

The Tigers captured one of their biggest marquee wins ever during Southward's next-to-last campaign on the gridiron. Northeast upset defending national champion Mississippi Delta Community College by a score of 14-12 on October 20, 1994.

He joined his colleagues Carnell and Ward in earning MACJC Coaching Staff of the Year laurels following the successful 1980 season. Southward was selected to coach in the 1977 MACJC All-Star Classic as well.

Southward took control of the baseball team from Carnell in the spring of 1975. He gave the program some needed stability after the Tigers featured seven different head coaches in the previous 14 years.

He also guided Northeast through a period of transition on the diamond. The Tigers expanded their schedule from playing fewer than 15 games before Southward's arrival to competing in more than 30 contests in his final season of 1985.

Several of his former Northeast student-athletes signed scholarships with four-year institutions, including Tim Kent, Jerry Long and David Wilkerson with the University of North Alabama.

Southward spent 11 total seasons at the helm of the baseball team. He is one of only two men to serve as head coach of the Tigers for more than a decade along with Ray Scott, who holds the school record at 15 years.

He remained at Northeast for an additional nine years as a physical education instructor after transitioning out of the athletic department. Southward officially retired from the college in 2005.

Southward starred on the gridiron himself at Mississippi State University from 1969-72. He was a three-year letter winner that started at both linebacker and defensive back for the Bulldogs.

Mississippi State went 6-5 during Southward's sophomore campaign, which included big victories over the University of Georgia, Oklahoma State University and Texas Tech University all at Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium in Jackson.

Southward and the Bulldogs, who were under the watch of coach Charley Shira, remained competitive during his junior and senior seasons with wins over the University of Florida in the state capital and the University of Houston (Texas).

He stayed in Starkville to open his coaching career as a graduate assistant for Mississippi State in 1973. The Bulldogs compiled a 4-5-2 overall record in Southward's lone year on the staff.

The Tishomingo High School alumnus was previously inducted into the Northeast Mississippi Coaches Association for Better Baseball (NEMCABB) Hall of Fame in 2000.