Born in Pascagoula and raised on Southern sports culture, Matt is a Mississippi State graduate who has lived and worked across nearly every corner of the Gulf South—Jackson, Starkville, Pensacola, the Mississippi Coast, and New Orleans. In every city he’s called home, he has immersed himself in the local sports and scene, traveling to every stadium, arena, field or venue worth watching a game or an event at.
Matt has worked behind the scenes for two professional baseball teams—the Mississippi Braves and the Pensacola Blue Wahoos—doing just about everything you can imagine in the world of minor league operations. He’s been a clubbie, ticket seller, media guide writer, bartender, a bat boy, a mascot, a cook, a painter, player’s chauffeur, cleat cleaner, groundskeeper, housekeeping and a pressure washer between home stands, and many more. There’s not a job in minor league baseball he hasn’t done.
Matt has also coordinated events in Pensacola and Hattiesburg and done set up for just about every kind of event you can imagine —concerts, weddings, festivals, banquets, sporting events, and more. Whether it’s on the field or behind the scenes, he’s worked it or coordinated it.
In his free time, you never really know where he’ll be. You might find him in a press box covering a game, walking around stadium, wandering through a history museum, or grabbing a Styrofoam hot plate at a hole-in-the-wall restaurant in rural Mississippi. You might catch him biking through the French Quarter or Uptown, unwinding on the beaches of Gulf Shores or Destin or relaxing at a blues bar in the Delta. To Matt, the entire Gulf South feels like home—not just one city, but all the places in between.
Magnolia Coast Sports is where Matt bring all of that experience together—telling the stories of Mississippi and the Gulf South’s vibrant sports culture, from the biggest bowl games to the most off-the-wall games, events or small-town restaurants.