By Robert Wilson
Even though Brandon rising senior safety Preston Ashley was born the same year that new Brandon head football coach Lance Pogue won a national championship at South Panola in 2007, he knows about Pogue’s success and legacy.
Ashley – rated as the No. 10 ranked player in Mississippi and No. 20 ranked safety in the country in the Class of 2026 – would have been one of the best players on those incredible South Panola teams (five state titles and one national championship) during the 10 years Pogue was there.
“I know Coach P is a consistent winner. Being a winner is one thing but being a consistent winner like he is is something different,” said Ashley, an Under Armour All-American who has 23 Division I offers, including 10 from the SEC. “He’s a great guy to be around. Coach P know the game inside and out. I’ve been knowing him since the eighth grade when I toured JA (Jackson Academy) when Coach P was coaching there. He blew me away. His resume speaks for itself, but out of all that I like how he carries himself. Coach P is definitely somebody I’m excited to give my all for every day for my last go around.”
The 55-year-old Pogue was announced Monday afternoon as the replacement for 33-year-old Sam Williams, who left Brandon after three state runner-up finishes in four seasons to take the head coaching job at UMS Wright Prep, a private school in Mobile.
Pogue comes to Brandon after one season at Columbia High, his 24th career season as a head coach.
Brandon has never won a state championship in school history, something that Ashley really wants before he heads to play college football.
“Coach Pogue knows what it takes to get there, let along win it so his knowledge will greatly impact our way of looking at and our way of competing for a state championship,” Ashley said. “We just really have to come together, have each other’s back and finish this thing up.”
Pogue – a Eupora High, Holmes Community College and Delta State alumnus – knows the feeling of winning a state championship, winning more of them than any other public school coach in Mississippi history at the highest classification. His 10-year run (2007-2016) at South Panola was amazing, a 126-17 record, an 88.1 winning percentage, and five state titles and one national championship. He went 15-0 and won the national title in his first season.
“When we talked, Coach Pogue told me, ‘Get ready to run the rock,’” said Brandon rising junior running back Tyson Robinson, who has 19 Division I offers, 10 from the SEC, and scored 24 touchdowns last season as a sophomore. “I can see him as a great coach. I like his personality. We know what we have with him. Coach Pogue is ready to build on what we couldn’t finish.”
“One thing I like about Coach Pogue is he is a winner,” said Brandon rising junior quarterback Sladen Slack, who threw for 2,586 yards and 24 TDs last season. “He’s had great success in the game, and I can’t wait to get to work. He sounds like a great dude.”
Pogue has a career record of 246-71, a 78 percent winning percentage (one of the best in Mississippi history for coaches with 200 plus wins), with stops at Eupora High, Winona High, South Panola, Jackson Academy, Heritage Academy and Columbia High.
“I first met Lance when we played them in 2012 for the state championship,” said Brandon offensive coordinator Wyatt Rogers, about when South Panola defeated Brandon. “We got to talk some that week. And we talked in the off seasons and at clinic. He’s a good guy. Our guys will respond well to him. Lance is a defensive minded coach. He knows how to win state championships. Our kids will play hard for him. He believes in paying the price and making an investment. That will pay off in the end. We just need one extra push to reach the top.”
Brandon has lost in the state championship three of the last four years, to Madison Central 24-17 in 2021, to Starkville 48-32 in 2022 and to Tupelo 28-16 last season.
Brandon opens next season against Tupelo at Brandon.
“I want to credit Sam Williams. He has left this football program with an outstanding foundation for us to build on,” Pogue said. “I knew Sam when he played receiver at Northwest Rankin in 2009 and we played them in a playoff when I was at South Panola. His high school coach (the late David Coates) was my junior college coach. Sam was a great football player and now is an outstanding coach. I have great respect for this program. I go back to coaches like Sammy Dantone and Dan Davis, who coached at Brandon a long time.
“The Good Lord leads us down paths we never where it leads us to. He led me and my family to Brandon. Things came together and they have put their belief in me. The Good Lord has blessed me to be in football and athletics all my life and I’ve coached a lot of young men in my time. I’ve been blessed to win a lot of championships. I want to have these young men’s best interests in mind every day. My track record proves it. I’ve been blessed to have put players in different levels of football, from NFL, Division I and junior college. I’m an easy guy to talk to. It doesn’t have to be about athletics.”
“Coach Pogue is committed to building character and accountability and academic success in our student athletes,” Brandon principal Bryan Marshall said. “He is a proven leader who understands the value of developing not just athletes but young men and women of integrity.”
