HATTIESBURG, Miss. (WLOX) – “There was a lot of right, but there was just enough that we missed on that ended up costing us,” Southern Miss Athletic Director Jeremy McClain said.
Following a 1-6 start to the season, McClain announced that Southern Miss was parting ways with Head Coach Will Hall with one year left on his contract.
McClain says Hall laid the groundwork for success but on the field, results were not up to expectations, as Hall finished his tenure with a 14-30 record.
“We gave Will an opportunity this year, we thought that was the right thing to do because we thought a lot of good things were happening,” McClain said. “Quite honestly I felt it was the right thing to do because we needed to have a little bit of patience and didn’t need to flip this thing because we’re frustrated. It didn’t work and certainly, hindsight is 20/20. At this point, it came down to success on the football field and us not seeing a path to get there.”
With the changing landscape of college football, the Golden Eagles have about a month and a half before some important dates for the future of the team.
McClain says they’re already working within that accelerated timeline.
“This is going to be a search that is going to take us right up until the end of November with the early signing period in the first week of December and the portal opens on December 9,” he said. “So those are important dates as we think about the timeline of the search.”
When Hall was hired in 2020, college football looked vastly different than it does today just four years later.
McClain says among the list of priorities they’re looking for in the next head coach, is the ability to adapt with the off-the-field changes.
“I think that’s a critical part of this process is finding someone who understands it and can manage it and can handle all the things that are going to come at you,” McClain said. “It is very different than it was even four or five years ago. We talk about name image and likeness, the transfer portal, and the culture. Someone who can get their arms around all of those pieces is going to be important.”
Sometimes forgotten in the shuffle of a coaching change are the players, but McClain says the team is rallying together and embracing what comes next.
“If you go and ask the guys in the locker room right now, I think they love being here and love this campus, community, and program,” he added. “We created the right opportunity there to be successful, we just have to fix some of the other things that allow us to get over the hump.”
McClain didn’t overstate the importance of the hire to bring Southern Miss back to the proverbial top and said the job is already gaining interest and whoever the next coach may be, they’ll have a solid foundation to build on.
“The next football coach will benefit from the work that’s been done here the last four years,” McClain said. “Football is very important here and we need to make sure we get this right and we put this program in the right spot to be successful.”
Assistant Head Coach Reed Stringer will serve as the interim head coach for the remainder of the season.
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