As Gulf Shores continues to model its program after the college ranks, head coach Mark Hudspeth has added another coach with Division I experience to a defensive staff already rich with collegiate ties.

Hudspeth announced Jordan McDaniel as the Dolphins’ new linebackers coach. McDaniel most recently coached linebackers at Arkansas State football. With his addition, McDaniel becomes the fifth member of Hudspeth’s current staff with Division I coaching experience.

The Elba native began his coaching career at Troy, working as a student assistant from 2019-2021 with a focus on outside linebackers before moving into a graduate assistant role coaching safeties in 2022. He then spent the 2023 season as special teams coordinator and outside linebackers coach at Troup County High School in LaGrange, Georgia.

McDaniel later returned to the college ranks as a graduate assistant for Liberty football, where he again worked with outside linebackers and was part of a staff that captured a Conference USA championship and earned a berth in the Fiesta Bowl. During his time at Troy, McDaniel worked with standouts such as Carlton Martial, the NCAA’s all-time leader in tackles at linebacker, and Javon Solomon, the 2023 NCAA sack leader.

After leaving the Trojans, McDaniel coached the defensive line for Mississippi College football just before the demise of the program. Hudspeth also continues to implement a college-style staffing model through the use of graduate assistants. Former Ole Miss and ULM running back Isaiah Woullard served as a graduate assistant just last season for the Dolphins.

Along with McDaniel, Hudspeth announced the hiring of JJ Parker and Derrick Henry. Parker will work with outside linebackers while Henry works with specialists and assists the offensive side of the ball. Henry comes from Quincy University and Parker arrives from Midland Christian School in Texas.

McDaniel and the two graduate assistants will work under a combined 79 years of coaching experience between head coach Mark Hudspeth and defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder. Since 1992, the Gulf Shores coaching duo has been part of multiple Division I and NFL staffs, experience and connections that have been evident over the past five seasons as Gulf Shores Dolphins has emerged as a Gulf Coast hotbed for next-level coaching talent.