Will Southern Miss football soar under first-year head coach Will Hall?
By Phil Poling
Head coach Will Hall is gearing up for his first campaign with Southern Miss, but his coaching — and playing — experience should easily guide the Golden Eagles through the 2021 season. He’s seasoned with the clipboard in his hands, posting a 56-20 career record that includes three Gulf South Conference (GSC) championships.
Hall’s earned some personal hardware, too; he was named the GSC Coach of the Year twice and was awarded the Harlon Hill Trophy in 2003 as a player (Division-II’s Heisman Trophy).
Hall’s storied history will aid him as he takes over the Southern Miss football program, but he’s inherited some serious talent. In fact, Athlon Sports named seven Golden Eagles to their preseason Conference-USA teams, including first-team selections Frank Gore Jr. and Hayes Maples.
It won’t just be preseason first-teamers for the Golden Eagles in 2021, though – they’ll be an experienced team top-to-bottom. They bring back 54 lettermen, including eight starters on offense and nine starters on defense.
We’ll first dive into Southern Mississippi’s offense, a unit that will appear different than last year’s because of the players and the system. Then we’ll take a look at the defense before checking out their schedule and doing some predictions. Ready for takeoff?