Front six/seven will be strength of the defense
On the defensive side of the ball, the Golden Eagles are trending in the right direction as they will return seven starters from last season.
They return their defensive coordinator and linebackers coach in Tony Pecoraro as he coached for them for two very successful seasons in 2016 and 2017. He brought the Golden Eagles’ defense to a top-20th ranked total defense in both seasons. Pecoraro was the former defensive coordinator for Florida Atlantic in 2018 and Kansas senior analyst for the defense this past season.
With a veteran defensive coach of the multiple systems and the Golden Eagles’ culture, Southern Miss will rely on him to build a top 25th scoring and total defense in his first season back.
Last season, the Golden Eagles were ranked 55th in points allowed per game (26.2) and 37th in total yards allowed (352.5). Their pass rush was the more successful attribute of their defense this past season. The biggest key for Southern Miss is to develop their pass defense that was ranked 82nd (10th in the conference) in passing yards allowed per game (236.7).
The Golden Eagles only return one starting defensive lineman as Jacques Turner returns for his redshirt senior season. In 32 career games, Turner has accumulated 99 total tackles, 30.5 tackles for loss, 15 sacks and three forced fumbles as a stout dynamic pass rusher. Joining Turner as the end position is Eriq Kitchen, who accounted for 4.5 tackles for loss and two sacks this past season.
Von’Darius Freeman projects to start the main defensive tackle position where he plays the one-technique in 4-3 defensive fronts and the zero-technique in 3-4 fronts. Freeman measures in at a massive size and frame at 6-foot-2, 339 pounds.
Southern Miss return a bulk of their starters at the linebacker position from last season. Their defensive line and linebackers helped Southern Miss to finish the previous season ranked 18th (first in the conference) in rushing yards allowed per game (115.8). Swayze Bozeman returns as a senior after accumulating 57 total tackles, six tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks and two fumble recoveries. Racheem Boothe and Santrell Latham are set to return to their defense as the starting outside linebackers once again.
In their defensive packages that often include five defensive backs, experience and talent are crucial for the Golden Eagles. They will return three starting defensive backs that made significant starts this past season. Pecoraro knows the secondary will need to be better as the defense was ranked 82nd in passing yards allowed per game (236.7) and only accounted for 10 interceptions.
Ky’el Hemby returns after accounting for 93 total tackles (team-high), 58 solo tackles and three pass deflections. Their main coverage cornerback will be redshirt senior Rachuan Mitchell, who accounted for 23 total tackles, eight pass deflections and two interceptions.