East Mississippi Community College has announced that its football offensive coordinator has been promoted to an even higher post within the university’s athletic department.
After spending the last four years drawing up plays for the Lions on the gridiron under head coach Buddy Stephens, Cade Wilkerson, a Booneville native, has been named athletic director. He takes over the role after Sharon Thompson was recently appointed Dean of the Scoba Campus in addition to staying at her post as Dean of Students. Thompson has served as athletic director since 2020.
“Serving as an Athletic Director has always been a goal of mine, and I’m honored to now live that dream at East Mississippi Community College,” Wilkerson said in a release. “Leaving the coaching world, something that’s been ingrained in me since birth through my family, is bittersweet, but I’m ready to impact our student-athletes in a new way.”
With Wilkerson dialing up plays the Lions captured the 2023 MACCC Championship and finished the year as the NJCAA championship runner-ups. During Wilkerson’s four successful seasons serving as EMCC’s offensive coordinator, the Lions maintained a high-powered offense under his guidance with top five national statistical rankings among NJCAA Division I teams in scoring offense, total offense and passing offense.
Wilkerson has been with the team for a total of 11 years, starting out as a graduate assistant football coach during the 2012 season. His primary responsibilities for the past decade with the Lions included coordinating the program’s recruiting efforts as well as assisting with the team’s offensive game plan and special teams play. Wilkerson was also responsible for the Lions’ overall football operations.
Throughout Wilkerson’s tenure on EMCC’s football coaching staff, the Lions captured the NJCAA championship in 2014 along with their runner-up finish in 2023 to go with four conference titles. EMCC also grabbed seven division championships and made nine conference playoff appearances.
“Stepping into the athletic director position at EMCC is a blessing I don’t take lightly,” Wilkerson said. “I’m incredibly grateful to EMCC president Dr. Scott Alsobrooks, Dr. James Rush, Sharon Thompson, Tony Montgomery and Coach Buddy Stephens for believing in me and guiding me along the way. I’m ready to get to work and continue pushing EMCC athletics to new heights.”
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