Coach Buddy Singleton was a championship football coach who spent his entire 25-year career at D’Iberville High. Buddy was born in Tylertown and was All-Conference in football and basketball, permanent team captain for football and basketball in his senior season, and was also named Mr. Football at Tylertown High. He lettered two years in football and baseball at Southwest Community College at Summit before completing his education at Southern Miss. Coach Singleton started his career in 1963 as an assistant football coach at D’Iberville and took over the football program just two years later. Buddy led his Warriors gridiron teams to an incredible 11 conference championships—7 in the Pascagoula River Conference and 4 in the Gulf Coast Conference. His teams also won 5 district titles. Amazingly, Buddy’s teams went 22 consecutive football seasons without a losing record. Coach Singleton coached 252 football games and his teams won 181 games with only 68 losses and 3 ties. Buddy also served as athletic director at D’Iberville for 23 years and 6 years as athletic director for the Harrison County School District. Buddy’s accolades as a coach include being named coach of the year by the Pascagoula River Athletic Conference 8 times, by the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference four times, and district coach of the year on four occasions. He was a four-time Coach of the Year as named by the Gulf Coast All Burger King Team and Ocean Springs All Bay Area Coach of the Year on 6 occasions. Buddy compiled an incredible total of 30 coach of the year honors during his career. He was named MAC Athletic Director of the Year in 1991. Coach Singleton was a 30-year MAC member and served as president of the MHSAA District Eight. He was president of the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference for one term and served as president of the Pascagoula River Athletic Conference four times. Buddy was on the council of state coaches on the FCA and a member of the Phi Delta Kappa Educational Fraternity. In 1974, Buddy was named one of the Outstanding Secondary Educators of America by the same organization. He researched, composed, and implemented the drug screening program for Harrison County Schools, the second drug screening program ever initiated in Mississippi school history. Coach Singleton was a member and usher for the First Baptist Church of Ocean Springs and former 8th Grade Sunday School teacher. He was also a member of the Gulf Hills Civic Organization, the Fort Bayou Civic Organization, and the YMCA.