Bio

Zach Allen’s first Gulf Coast baseball team soared past expectations, and he returns for his second season in charge in 2026. He’s brought his knowledge of this recruiting area and the relationships with coaches here and throughout the state to bear on building a championship baseball program.

The Bulldogs went 38-19 in 2025, winning 12 more games than the year before. They finished fourth in the MACCC with a 19-9 record, earning a trip to the postseason for the first time in three years. They won their opener in the NJCAA Region 23 Tournament, coming within a game of the championship round.

Three players earned spots on the All-MACCC team, with pitcher James Vines and corner infielder Kaden Irving on the First Team. Samuel Marsh was on the Second Team. Vines and Irving were named to the All-Region team.

Ten players from that team signed to continue their collegiate careers at the Next Level, including Irving (New Orleans), Marsh (ULM), Dom Jackson (Southeastern Louisiana), Eli Waters (Nicholls State), Keilon Parnell (Alabama A&M), Keondre Fields (Alabama A&M), Landon Holliman (Delta State), Jacob Palazzo (Delta State), Colby Wilson (East Texas Baptist), and Brayden Scott (Mobile).

Allen, who played for national championship as a player and won one as an assistant coach, returned to Gulf Coast in 2021 for his second stint as assistant coach. His recruiting prowess helped turn the Bulldogs into one of the top power-hitting teams in the MACCC.

The Bulldogs finished second in the MACCC with 54 home runs and saw two Bulldogs among the nation leaders in homers.

Third baseman Charlie Keller and outfielder Sean Smith finished 1-2 in the conference, with Keller’s 16 leading the way despite missing 16 games because of injury. He finished 13th in the NJCAA in that category, while Smith hit 15.

Smith was one of five Bulldogs who signed to continue their playing careers at four-year schools. He’ll be at Georgia Southern with pitcher Adam May signing at William Carey, first baseman/designated hitter DJ Walker at LSU Shreveport and pitchers Sam Mansell and Nate Anderson at Mobile.

Allen, a Pascagoula native who has lived in Wiggins since 2019, was an assistant at Gulf Coast in 2019, when the Bulldogs went 29-18 and finished fourth at the Region 23 Tournament. He is known as a proven recruiter with a championship resume.

He played on the Jones team that advanced to the NJCAA Division II Baseball Championship final in 2011. He was an assistant coach on the 2016 team that won the title, where he concentrated on infielders, hitters and baserunners. The team went 100-13 during his three seasons there that stint at Jones.

Allen also coached at Harrison Central High School in 2018, and was a volunteer assistant at Stone High in 2013-14.

He played college baseball at Jones, where the Bobcats finished as national runners-up, Point Loma Nazarene and William Carey. Allen is a graduate of Pascagoula High, and he has a bachelor’s in general studies from William Carey and a master’s in sports management from Southern Miss.

Allen is married to the former Devin Easterling, who was a Gulf Coast cheerleader. She’s a nurse at Perkinston Elementary School, and their daughter Elizabeth is 5, and their son Easton is 2.