Athletic Director

JEFF TATUM DIRECTOR OF ATHLETICS

Jreff Tatum begins his first year as the Athletic Director at Garden City Community College. Tatum is a former Mississippi Delta Junior College quarterback and was a member of the coaching staff under James “Wooky” Gray that led Mississippi Delta to an undefeated 1993 season, one in which the Trojans won the North division, state and national championships.

He was an assistant coach and offensive coordinator at MDCC from 1987 to 1997. During his first stint in Moorhead, the coaching staff was named Mississippi Association of Community and Junior College (MACJC) Coaching Staff of the Year three times (1989, 1991, 1993) and he coached in the Real Dairy Bowl (1993). He has also coached in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) All-Star game six times (1990, 1992, 1994, 2013, 2014, 2015).

After his initial stint at MDCC, he then coached one year at Georgia Military College (GMC), where the team led the nation in rushing and finished No. 4 in the nation overall.

Tatum spent the 1999 season with Garden City Community College (GCCC) and helped the Broncbusters win the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference (KJCCC) state championship. Garden City spent most of that season in the No. 1 spot in the nationwide polls and finished No. 5 nationally overall. That season he and his fellow coaches were named the KJCCC Coaching Staff of the Year and Tatum coached in the Real Dairy Bowl game again. He then returned to GMC for 10 years as offensive coordinator and assistant head coach, leading the Bulldogs to three National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Championship appearances and one national title (2001).

Tatum’s offenses touted Top 10 national rankings each year and he was named Offensive Coordinator of the Year in 2002 by the conference.

He returned to GCCC in 2010 as head coach and turned their program around, as he led GCCC to a win in the Mississippi Bowl in 2012 and became the only team outside of the state to do so.

Tatum moves to Garden City with his wife, Dawn. They have one daughter, Munday, who’s the Director of Recruiting Operations for North Carolina State football.

Tatum and his assistants were selected as the 2012 KJCCC Coaching Staff of the Year and finished the year ranked No. 20 in the nation. It was at Garden City where he coached the likes of Tyreek Hill and Nick Marshall. Hill is a three-time Pro Bowler and two-time All-Pro selection with the Kansas City Chiefs, while Marsahll was named the 2012 KJCCC Offensive Player of the Year and went on to lead the Auburn Tigers to a spot in the Division I national championship game as a record-setting quarterback.

Tatum, who earned his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in health, physical education and recreation from Delta State University, returned to MDCC in 2013 as head coach of the Trojans and was named interim athletic director in August 2016. In 2017, he took on that role full-time along with his head coach title.

the tatum family