School Spotlight: Bay High School (Bay St. Louis, MS)

Our newest school spotlight is covering Bay High School out of Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. The Bay Tigers play in the 6A Division out of region 8. The Tigers have made the playoffs in 2 of the last 3 seasons under Head Coach Jeremy Turcotte. Before Turcotte had showed up at Bay High 6 years ago they had not reached the playoffs since 2012. Turcotte believes the Tigers are on the up and up especially with around 13 returning starters for the upcoming season. 

Coach Turcotte grew up and graduated from Bay High in 1996 and started his coaching career there. He worked for Bay High for 7 years before venturing on to other Gulf Coast schools including Gulfport, Long Beach, Hancock, and West Harrison. He returned to Bay High in 2018 and became the Head Coach in 2020. He believes a good culture has been built for the Tigers and that started with the work that the team put in during the Pandemic, utilizing Google Classroom and taking videos of workouts from home. 

What is your philosophy with the Bay High Program?

“Our philosophy really started with our first slogan “Better Me, Better We” we are a blue-collar area, and we have blue-collar players. We do everything together. I want to make sure we build our kids mentally and physically and good things will come from that. If we can instill that they need to put their best effort forward in all that they do everything will fall into place.”

Offensively the Tigers go from year to year if they can run the ball they are going to do so and they try to widen out as much as possible and sling it using the weapons they have on offense. Turcotte states, “we use the players we have to our advantage and that may change each season.” Defensively they want to win the war up front and work back from there in their sets depending on the offensive look.

A notable player is Class of 2024 Offensive and Defensive Lineman Ziron Brown. Ziron is 6’4 250 LBS, he has 8 division 1 offers with more to come. Ziron is a 3-year varsity starter and has played every position on the o-line during his time. He will be playing Tackle this year although he will more than likely play on the interior line in college. Ziron will get a good number of plays at defensive tackle this season as well. 

A Linebacker/ Running back to keep an eye out for is class of 2024 Benny Williams. Benny is a multitalented athlete who is on the powerlifting team and runs track. Benny is entering his 3^rd year of football and is really starting to impress. He is 6’2 175 LBS and has great speed for his size. 

Defensive Back Kelvin Laneaux is another key returning player for the Tigers. Kelvin does a lot playing Strong Safety, Outside Linebacker, returning kicks, and even getting some snaps in the backfield. Kelvin is 5’8 155 LBS and runs track and lifts on the powerlifting team when he isn’t playing football. 

Brandon Russell is another class of 2024 player looking to make some plays on the field. Brandon is a 6’6 280 LBS Offensive Tackle who is entering in only his second season ever. He started every game last year in his first season of football and should be in store for a big leap this next year.