PENSACOLA, Fla. — Pensacola Catholic has a new leader as the first day of 2025 comes about for everyone.
According to Ben Grieco, at the Pensacola News Journal, the Crusaders have hired Bobby Clayton who has been part of two overhauls at Gulf Breeze from 2016 until 2022 and at Fort Walton Beach the previous two seasons. The hire returns Clayton back to the Pensacola-area where he has spent most of his coaching career as an assistant coach and head coach.
Clayton, who will take over from Matt Adams who retired from coaching prior to the Christmas holiday, will come in with a team that is coming off a shocking exit to Walton (DeFuniak Springs) in the playoffs this past year after having one of the Crusaders’ deepest playoff runs in recent memory where Pensacola Catholic fell to Bradford (Starke) in the Class 2S state semifinals in 2023.
Clayton called the Pensacola Catholic job one of the “premier jobs in the Panhandle,” he told the News Journal.
“To be considered and to be able to accept the position is quite the honor. I’m excited to get to work and kind of keep going with the direction of where things are going (at Pensacola Catholic),” Clayton said. “There’s not anything that’s broken about Catholic, that’s for sure. I just get to pick it up and keep going.”
For Pensacola Catholic Athletic Director Richard LaBounty, Clayton was the first choice to replace Adams according to the News Journal after admiring the job he did at Gulf Breeze in taking over the program, turning it around and making them a competitive program.
As such, Clayton went 42-29 overall at Gulf Breeze, which included four playoff appearances. After leading Fort Walton Beach to a 5-5 season, the Vikings limped to a 3-7 season in 2024 and Clayton finishing 8-12 overall as head coach in two seasons as the Vikings’ head man. .
Clayton will meet with athletes and parents this coming weekend as he starts the transition and putting his touches on the Crusaders program.
Read more from the Pensacola News Journal here.
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