Thornton repeats as Dave Williams Award winner

By Editor | June 5, 2025 |

It should come as no surprise that when you put together back-to-back national champions, awards will come your way.

That’s the case for Mississippi Gulf Coast’s Brad Thornton, who was named the 2025 Dave Williams National Coach of the Year presented by Golf Pride Grips for the second-straight season.

His Bulldogs won the NJCAA Division II Men’s Golf Championship last month in Plymouth, Ind., defending their title.

“It’s hard to put into words how much that award means,” he said. “It’s great recognition, but I’m so thankful for the players that we’ve had to allow us to be successful. Those guys trust me and the plan we had. It’s nice to see all these awards stacking up, but really, it was the hard work that was put in throughout the entire year that led to it.”

The Bulldogs once again swept through the MACCC this season, 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.

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, with Stanley Campbell (So., London, England/Essex Golf College) winning NJCAA medalist and finishing atop the computer rankings. He was one of four Bulldogs 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. Garner Seymour (So., Biloxi/Biloxi) provided three counting scores in Plymouth to get the Bulldogs across the finish line for their repeat.

“They committed to the process and stayed focused through all those events from the time they started in August as freshmen and all the way through this May,” Thornton said. “It wasn’t always perfect golf, but at the end of the day, I never had a question about one of those guys putting forth the effort that was needed to be successful. Hard work pays off, and I’m really proud of them.”

Thornton will pick up his award during a banquet at the Golf Coaches Association of America Convention in Las Vegas in December.

For more information on MGCCC’s 12 intercollegiate athletic teams, follow @MGCCCBulldogs on Twitter and MGCCCBulldogs on Facebook, and go to mgcccbulldogs.com.