Walker returns to Gulf Coast

PERKINSTON — Quintin Walker felt the urge again to come back to Mississippi Gulf Coast, and he's rejoined the men's soccer staff at his alma mater.

Coach Chris Handy has hired Walker as his assistant ahead of the 2026-27 season.

"This is home for me," Walker said. "Having the opportunity to come back and help the program be a top-10, top-five team in the nation, to make the national tournament again is important to me. My family's from here, and I just feel like it was the right decision to come home."

Walker returns to Gulf Coast after spending two years coaching on the collegiate and high school levels. The Bulldogs alum left Perk to be an assistant coach for the women's soccer team at the University of Louisiana in 2024-25, where the team set program records for winning percentage and longest winning streak.

He took over as head girls coach at Ocean Springs in July 2025 and led the Greyhounds the Region 4-7A title before advancing to the state semifinals. It was the first time the school had reached the semis since 2022, and OSHS finished with an 18-6-1 record, the most wins since 2021 and one of only three teams to record that many wins in school history. 

"It's the experience he has with the league," Handy said. "He did a good job, and we won a lot of games together when he was last here. Even more than that, it's the experience that he's had since he's been here. I think that's only going to make us better."

Handy knows Walker is part of the Bulldog Family. He has seven seasons as a Bulldog assistant for the men's and women's soccer teams.

In 2023, he was with the women's team, helping them win seven more games than the previous season and advancing to the postseason for the first time in three seasons.

In the spring 2021 season, he was part of a coaching staff that helped lead Gulf Coast to the MACCC South title. The Bulldogs also won back-to-back division titles in 2016 and 2017 without dropping a South game. He's been on the staff of three teams that have reached the MACCC championship game.

The women's team advanced to the MACCC semifinals in spring 2021, where the Bulldogs lost to eventual national runner-up Holmes. The 2018 team played in the MACCC championship game, and the team made it to the semifinals the two prior seasons.

"Gulf Coast is always supposed to be at the top in the conference and make the national tournament," Walker said. "It's just trying to make sure that we are Gulf Coast and winning as much as possible, while making sure we're placing the kids at the four-year level and also making sure that their academics look how they should."

In 2022, he coached with Alabama FC's W League team in Birmingham. The Legion brought in U.S. and international players and had a player drafted by the National Women's Soccer League.

He also worked as a sports scientist for two years with STATSports, which specializes in wearable monitoring devices. Walker worked with the Jamaica national team, as well as MLS, NWSL, USL Championship and MLS Next Pro teams.

Walker started his collegiate playing career at Lipscomb in 2010-12, then transferred to Gulf Coast for the 2013-14 season. He completed his collegiate career at Mississippi College, where he helped the team to a top-10 ranking nationally.

Walker, who holds a USSF D coaching license and is pursuing a C license, went on to play at Mississippi College. He played a season professionally in Brazil with Duque de Caxias. He finished his bachelor's in education at William Carey.

He is the college placement director with South Mississippi Soccer Club. He was a Mississippi Youth Soccer Association Olympic Development Program Staff Coach who has had four players selected to the regional pool/team.

He and his wife Monique have a son, Lennox.

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