Kershaw Makes Additions to Coaching Staff

Credit: Mississippi College Athletic Communications

New Mississippi College Head Football Coach Mike Kershaw has added a trio of names to his new coaching staff.

Joel Williams will serve as Assistant Head Coach, Offensive Coordinator, and Offensive Line Coach for the Choctaws as he returns to his alma mater for the first time in his long coaching career.

“I am really excited to be at MC,” WIlliams said. “I played here on the first GSC Championship team in 1979 and look forward to working at turning this program around. Coach Kershaw and I are reuniting here and it’s going to be a fun ride!”

Williams, a 1981 MC graduate, was the long snapper on a 1979 Choctaw team that went 10-3, winning the GSC title and reaching the Division II semifinals. Following his playing career, Williams was a successful coach at the high school level, coaching across the Deep South.

He moved into the college ranks in 1991, coaching outside linebackers at Ole Miss. After a brief stint with the Birmingham Fire of the WLAF in 1992, Williams continued coaching at the high school and college levels, including a stop at Delta State from 2002-2005 where he was the Offensive Coordinator.

Williams joins the Choctaws after a stint at Fairhope High School, where he served as the assistant head coach and offensive coordinator.

Gunner Hudspeth will also join Kershaw’s new staff, coaching Special Teams and Safeties.

“I am very thankful for the opportunity to join Coach Kershaw’s staff back in my home state at MC,” said Hudspeth. “Can’t wait to help Coach Kershaw and the great staff he has put together lead and develop the outstanding young men we have here. Go Choctaws!”

A 2019 graduate of Mississippi State University and a 2021 graduate of Troy University, Hudspeth comes to Clinton after a one-year stint as the Running Backs Coach at Stetson University.

Before joining the Stetson coaching staff, Hudspeth was a Special Teams Graduate Assistant with the 2022 Sun Belt Champion Troy Trojans. In 2019 Hudspeth was a part of another conference championship-winning team, this time as a Defensive Backs Coach with the Southland Champions, the University of Central Arkansas.

From 2018-2019 Hudspeth served as a student assistant under Joe Moorhead at Mississippi State, coaching tight ends and working as an offensive signal caller, and was a student assistant at the University of Louisiana in 2017, coaching wide receivers.

Miguel Black will remain part of the Choctaw’s coaching staff after returning to his alma mater in 2023.

“I’m blessed to be a part of the new Mississippi College football staff. I thank Coach Kershaw for believing in me and trusting me to carry on his vision for our program,” said Black. “There’s a different vibe here in our facility, and everyone’s focused on what’s important right now. This is a new era in Choctaw football and I’m proud to be part of my alma mater’s future success!”

Following his playing career as a defensive back here at MC, Black joined the coaching staff as a Graduate Assistant in 2019. Following his 2021 graduation with a Master’s degree in athletic administration, Black joined the coaching staff at Southwest Minnesota State University and served as Running Backs coach in 2021.

In 2022 he returned to Mississippi College, coaching running backs, and will continue to do so in 2024. He will also serve as Recruiting coordinator.