NBH introduces the program’s next football coach

PANAMA CITY, Fla. ( WMBB ) — North Bay Haven Athletic Director, Steve Gillispie introduced Thomas Elliot as the next head coach on Monday Morning.

Elliott comes to North Bay Haven with 22 years of coaching experience at the high school, collegiate, and professional levels.

He most recently served as the Belleview High School (5A) head coach in 2023. He left Belleview after one season leading the program, finishing with an 0-9 record. When he started at Belleview he said there were less than 30 athletes at the 5A school. He said by the end of the year, he built the roster up to more than 70 players.

It will not be his first stint at North Bay Haven as he coached there in 2019 and coached at Bay High in 2018.

“The focus right now is just to get everybody together as a football team and to get the expectations out of the way and get to work,” Elliot said. “That’s the best way to handle any transition is to get to work as fast as you can.”

This hire comes after former head coach Matt Knauss’ firing in April. Knauss led the Buccaneers for one season, finishing with a 5-5 record. He was the second consecutive one-and-done coach at NBH, following behind John Pate who was fired last May.

During the spring and summer, former North Bay Haven football coaches and current coaches from other sports have stepped in to lead the team.

The firing of Knauss caused uproar around the campus with parents and players. Many Buccaneer athletes have transferred to other Bay County High Schools during the offseason.

“We have had problems and we’ve had negativity in the Buccaneer program for far too long,” Gillispie said. “Those problems have been solved and that negativity is gone and the past is just that, it’s the past. We’re not going to live there anymore. We’re not going to focus there. What we are going to do is focus on the future of this program, which starts right now.”

Elliot will have a meet and greet with the team and the athletes’ families on Thursday, July 18 at 5:30.

During the offseason, a big issue for the North Bay Haven community was the turnover in coaching positions. Elliot said he returned to Bay County because of his family. His goal is to build the program and plans on staying long-term.

The Bucs will have their kick-off classic against Jay on August, 16. The first regular season game against Freeport is on August 23.

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