They’re not brothers nor are they cousins. Petal’s Kobe Windham and Michael Windham aren’t related at all, but the two do share something in common. Both play defense for the Petal Panthers and both are trying to build upon successful seasons last year to help Petal earn its 11th straight playoff appearance in 2018.
Kobe was second on the team in 2017 with 97 total tackles from his safety position, and he’ll move closer to the line of scrimmage to an outside linebacker role this season. Michael saw his first action a season ago as a sophomore, and he played a huge role for the Panthers.
For a team that has to replace a lot of players from 2017, Kobe is doing is part as a leader during summer workouts.
“Kobe had a great junior year for us and we’re expecting big things out of him,” Petal coach Marcus Boyles said. “He’s a leader. He’s the first one in the drill, he’ll be the first one done and the first one to the next drill. He just provides great leadership.”
Of Kobe’s 97 tackles, the safety had six tackles for a loss and one was a sack, adding to two interceptions, two fumble recoveries and nine pass breakups. In a playoff game against D’Iberville, Kobe was in the right place at the right time to scoop up his second fumble recovery of the season.
He was in position to secure the turnover because he was doing what he was supposed to do on the play.
“I wasn’t expecting it,” Kobe said. “I was just coming down trying to gang tackle him and the ball was in the air. It just popped in my hands. I was doing my job, so I was in the right place at the right time.”
Making the move to outside linebacker, he’ll probably have more opportunities to scoop up fumbles instead of intercepting passes. But, he believes he’ll be in position to do both when he can.
“It really doesn’t matter as long as I get (the ball), but I do like picks more because it’s more exciting,” Kobe said. “I’ll be in a lot of coverages to break up passes and make interceptions (as linebacker).
Kobe burst onto the scene with back-to-back 10-plus-tackle games, with 12 against Hattiesburg to open the season and 11 against Gulfport in Week 2. He also picked up a fumble against the Admirals before recording his pick against the eventual 6A State Champions Pearl Pirates a month later.
Switching from free safety to outside linebacker might seem like a tough move for the 5-foot-9, 170-pound senior. Kobe played in the box a decent amount last season, and his ability to read a play in the backfield and get to the ball quickly could prove beneficial.
“It’ll be harder to fight off blocks because of the bigger linemen, but I think it’ll be easy for me a linebacker,” he said.
Michael, the second part of the “Windham Bros," is back at his cornerback position. As a sophomore, he picked up 32 tackles, two interceptions, two fumble recoveries and had four pass deflections.
“He was a sophomore last year and had an up-and-down season, so we’re expecting more consistency out of him this year,” Boyles said. “He’s had a great offseason and has grown up a lot. He was thrown into the fire as a sophomore, and the thing with Michael, he’s not a very tall kid. Some balls, he’s just going to get beat, but he’s always going to compete.”
Michael’s 5-8 frame isn’t ideal, but he doesn’t let that hold him down when facing some of Mississippi’s best wide receivers. For what it’s worth, he named Brandon’s Jonathan Mingo, a four-star recruit, as the best receiver he’s faced off against. The two will meet again this season when Petal travels to Brandon in September.
“I knew I had to go out there and do my part,” Michael said. “I knew I wasn’t going to be the biggest man on the field, but I had to play with what I had. I had to play with heart. I don’t think about (my height) a lot. Once you think about it, it starts to get to your head. You just have to focus in and do your job.”
As any good cornerback will tell you trash talking is part of the game, and Michael laughed and confirmed when asked if he had that in his repertoire. He said it helps him stay locked in on trying to shut down a receiver.
On the field, he’s been working on his technique to help back up his trash talk.
“I’ve been working on my footwork and actually playing the ball,” Michael said. “I’m not trying to compete with it up in the air, but waiting for it to get down to the ground.”
Like Kobe, Michael enjoys interceptions more than fumble recoveries, simply because he enjoys the satisfaction of showing his ability in front of the receiver.
That’s exactly what any good cornerback would say.
Petal opens the season with the Leaf River Rivalry against Hattiesburg on Saturday, Aug. 18. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at Hattiesburg’s D.I. Patrick Stadium.
