Gulfport has found its next athletic director.
The Gulfport Board of Trustees on Tuesday hired Pass Christian athletic director and baseball coach Ricky Smith to lead the school’s athletic department beginning in the 2026-27 school year. The move comes two months after former athletic director Matt Walters stepped down.
“I’m very excited for the opportunity to be part of the Gulfport School District, and I appreciate the leadership of Gulfport for entrusting me to lead this successful athletic department,” Smith said. “Additionally, I want to thank the Pass Christian School District for a wonderful eight years.”
Smith has spent the past eight years at Pass Christian, where he served as head baseball coach for the entirety of his tenure. Five years ago, he was named athletic director – marking his first administrative role.
A Lucedale native, Smith is a 2000 graduate of George County High School and brings 14 years of head coaching experience with him to Gulfport. He coached six seasons at Bay High before taking over at Pass Christian, where he guided the Pirates to the second round of the MHSAA 4A South State playoffs in each of the past five seasons. Earlier in his career, Smith held assistant coaching roles at various schools throughout the region.
Smith said he does not plan to coach at Gulfport and will instead focus solely on overseeing the MHSAA 7A school’s athletic department.
He will become Gulfport’s third athletic director in the past five years. Longtime basketball coach Bryan Caldwell retired after a decade in the role, and Walters was hired three years ago before stepping down earlier this year.
