After a 1-6 start to 2024, Southern Miss is moving on from Will Hall.
A drab homecoming atmosphere was punctuated by the buzz of frustration from Golden Eagle faithful on Saturday evening as they watched the black and gold stumble again – this time losing at the hands of Arkansas State 44-28. A number of fans wore paper bags over their heads, others wore bright gold “Fire Will Hall” t-shirts. It was no secret that the fanbase wanted a change to be made.
Hall, who was hired after the 2020 season, finishes his tenure 14-30 as the head coach in Hattiesburg – the worst win percentage (.318) of a Southern Miss coach who held the position for more than a single season.
Southern Miss Announces Football Leadership Change
» https://t.co/3P3aPW3wD4#SMTTT pic.twitter.com/doeUgRB2og
— Southern Miss Football (@SouthernMissFB) October 20, 2024
A turnaround looked imminent under Hall after the 2022 campaign, in which the Golden Eagles finished 7-6 with a bowl win and a victory against a top 10 Tulane. But the wheels wobbled in a 3-9 campaign the following year, and they fell off entirely in 2024.
In a press release Sunday night, Southern Miss athletic director Jeremy McClain made the move official.
“We are grateful to Will and his family for their dedication to Southern Miss over the past four years,” McClain said. “Will poured his heart and soul into this program and into shaping these young men. Unfortunately, the results on the field didn’t align with our shared goals and expectations.”
Those results tell the story of what was thought to be a home run hire turned abject failure.
Southern Miss’ loss to Arkansas State was the 13th straight in games before November dating back to last season. An abysmal offense, which currently ranks 123rd in the country, a porous defense, ranked 116th nationally, and just two victories against FBS opponents with a winning record since Hall took over were decisive nails in the coffin. Hall’s teams also went just 8-19 in Sun Belt action and were 10-30 against all FBS competition.
Reed Stringer, the current assistant head coach and general manager on staff, will shift into the interim head coach role until a successor is named. Members of the Southern Miss Athletic Foundation were told, in a separate release, that the department would utilize a third-party search firm to assist in the coaching search process.
“Our immediate focus is twofold: first, supporting our student-athletes throughout the remainder of the season, and second, conducting a comprehensive national search to identify the next leader for Southern Miss football,” McClain said. “This is a proud program with an outstanding history and a premier job in college football. We will find the next leader to usher us into a new era of championship success.”
An automatic “roll-over” added an additional year to Hall’s four-year contract following the 2021 season, meaning Southern Miss will pay Hall a buyout of $824,000 for the final year of his contract – which was set to expire at the end of 2025.
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