Cole Cubelic
Gulf Coast Athletic Club Meeting January 26, 2026
The Gulf Coast Athletic Club held its January 26, 2026 meeting at the Craft Farms Golf Resort. GCAC President George Autrey welcomed the crowd of about 60 football fans at 7:00pm. It’s the end of the season and this has been an awesome year. Thank you all for your RSVPs!! Introduction of guests ensued, including parents of our Honorees.
Pick ‘Em Pool - Zach Estes gave the final rundown of the 2025 season standings of the Prolific Pigskin Prognosticator contest. Former two-time Champion, Cynthia Tunnell, AKA HiYield, is now three-time winner Cynthia Tunnell! She received a healthy reward for her expert picking since “Momma needs new shoes!!” Your Editor graciously accepted. GCAC member Randy Harkins finished second and also received a cash award, plus he’s now the recipient of the prestigious PPP trophy, wresting it from one of the Means boys as the Club’s highest picker. DAL was Josh Bodenhamer, but following closely was the Corcoran crew where Kevin admitted that his best week was the autopick 10-2!
GSBOE President, the aforementioned Kevin Corcoran, gave the GSHS Dolphin Report. Indoor track took 23 athletes to State and they recorded 21 Personal Bets this year with six new School Records, including a 6.85 second 60 meter dash (Sorry, us former sprinters are awed by that). Wrestling finished second in 6A State, 6-time Regional Champs, and a Win-Loss record of 207-31! Golf is underway. He gave a recap of the GSHS building, with its 9,000 sq ft training room, to all open August 2026. GO, DOLPHINS!!
Prior to introducing our final group of GSHS Scholar-Athletes, possibly our two most outstanding this year, our Always All-Star Scholar-Athlete Dr. Gaylon McCollough gave a brief history of the Club’s contributions to Gulf Shores High School Athletics that now total more than $150,000 over the past 24 years. Funds generated by our golf tournament also fund scholarships for the annual Female and Male Scholar-Athlete.
Today’s Female Scholar-Athlete is Ella Gilbert. She has a 32 ACT with an almost impossible to attain 4.47 GPA. She’s a member of the 30+ ACT Club, President of the Key Club, National Honor Society among others, and she’s also a 3 time All American Cheerleader, Cross County athlete, and holds three school records in track. She’s attending Alabama to study Chemical Engineering. “Sports have always been part of my life.”
Our Male Athlete is Graham Stewart, who also has a 32 on the ACT and a 4.35 GPA. A member of the GSHS Golf Team, he was 4th in the 5A State Golf Tournament. A member of the 30+ Club, Key Club, NHS, Turning Point, and Fellowship of Christian Athletes among others, he plans to attend Auburn and participate in Golf and FCA. He said his parents broadened his horizons.
Team Reports were again given by the always involved Kevin Corcoran, subbing for the missing Dec McClelland, allegedly still protesting to the NCAA for Notre Dame’s snub. After listening to several ho-hum reports, and with no Indiana supporters in attendance, the infamous Crying Towel was given to Alabama for their dual loss to Georgia and Indiana, graciously accepted by Bama Diehard, Fred Dickinson.
Taylor Means introduced our perennial Senior Bowl Week Guest Speaker, Cole Cubelic. This former Auburn Center and Team Captain is remarkable with his incredible depth of knowledge of College Football. Of course, he does host a great podcast with former Alabama QB Greg McElroy and, if you’re not listening, you should. He does like us and that’s why he has come back each year for the last several, even doing one from a plane.
A few observations – He’s been watching Indiana for the past two years, pointing out 3 Stars recruits, who stay with the program, execute better as they’re all on the same page, and they understand that great fundamentals win games. A discussion of Portal pros and cons pointed out non-verbal communication is critical for success, especially in the Offensive Line, and that’s hard to acquire with a continually changing cast of characters. Defensive Coordinators use motion and hyper aggressive “Just attack” plans to cover this lack of togetherness. Saban pointed this out years ago. You give up lots of big plays and points.
He reviewed SEC teams, now and next year (who really knows). So many situations and issues we see today, Cole has been predicting for the past few years. Many transfers really don’t want to leave, but agents, Moms, and money create tough situations. It’s not NIL, but pay to play or pay to attend, and will only bring lawsuits and eligibility challenges.
What will happen, wait until next January. Hopefully Cole will be here to recap it again. Thank you!!
(Editor’s Note -once again President George Autrey has done an incredible job as President, and, speaking for the Gulf Coast Athletic Club, THANK YOU!!)
The 50-50 was drawn and awarded. The meeting was adjourned at 8:46pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Bill Tunnell, GCAC Secretary
