Remarkably, the time has almost come for football season. In just six weeks, families across the country will sit on their couches and wake up to ESPN’s “College Gameday” before heading to the Rock or whichever game they attend that day. In fact, Sun Belt Media Days are just around the corner in New Orleans, LA.
The country’s excitement and anticipation about all the changes in major college football will finally be here. While not as high as in years past, Southern Miss fans’ anticipation is still present, with a certain amount of mystery and anxiety over the Golden Eagle 2024 squad.
Southern Miss head coach Will Hall enters his fourth year with the program, and this is his most pivotal year. He knows his future as head coach heavily depends on this season’s success, but he has chosen to focus not on that but rather on just doing what he loves: coaching football.
Hall’s first three years have had their issues, whether it was injuries, coaching failures, quarterback play, or simply not being good enough. Hall needs the 2024 team to turn things around for his career and Southern Miss football’s future.
Here are five reasons that this year could be the turning point for Southern Miss football:
An Experienced QB
Whether Hall decides to go with Tate Rodemaker or Ethan Crawford in the fall, both players have substantial experience at the quarterback position. Crawford has a slight edge over Rodemaker because he has been in the system longer, but Rodemaker trumps Crawford in big-game experience.
After Florida State’s starting quarterback, Jordan Travis, went down last season, Rodemaker stepped in and started their big rivalry game against Florida. He threw for 134 yards and had no touchdowns in the win over Florida. He finished the season with 510 yards, five touchdowns, and no interceptions.
Hall has said they expect freshman John White to compete for the starting job, but unless he has a dazzling fall, do not expect Hall to depend on a freshman quarterback unless he has to.
“We got Tate as a transfer who has played a lot of football. He’s an older kid in his fifth year,” Hall said during the spring. “You got Ethan Crawford, who played a little bit of football for us last year. Then you got John White early enrolling right there. So, you have [three] guys really competing for that spot.”
The Defense
Last year, the defense was hit hard by injuries. This season, Southern Miss has six starters returning on the defensive side of the ball. While that may not seem like a lot, the Golden Eagles will benefit from last season’s injuries because most of their secondary depth and linebacker play will be experienced players who played a portion of meaningful football last season.
On the defensive line, they return Kristin Booth, Jalen Williams and Jalil Clemons. While they have a fresh linebacker core, Hall added some transfers to help them out in the experience-level aspect of that.
The tackling was surprisingly very good in the team’s live scrimmage practices in the spring, even early in spring. Newly appointed defensive coordinator Clay Bignell is working hard to install his new system at defense, and his players all voiced that his system is one of the best they have played under.
“We are playing more attack,” Booth said. “Coach Bignell wants us to fly to the ball. All problems work out when you fly to the ball. He’s teaching us that now, and you’ll see what happens when we play like that.”
On the back end, they return Jay Jones, Michael Caraway Jr. and Dylan Lawrence. All three of those players have seen exponential time at their respective positions, and as long as the defense as a whole stays healthy, this might be the return of the nasty bunch.
Strong Recruiting Class
Despite the 3-9 season, Southern Miss signed the Sun Belt’s top recruiting class per 247 Sports on National Signing Day. The big day for USM generated momentum into the offseason that seemed non-existent by not playing for a bowl and ending the season with a loss to Troy.
As mentioned earlier, the class’s headliner was White from Madison-Ridgeland Academy. The six-foot, 200-pound freshman holds the Mississippi high school all-time passing yards record with 15,259 passing yards, 177 total touchdowns, and a 70.2% completion percentage.
Hastings Carruth and Zack Conti highlight the offensive line recruits. Carruth is a 6-6, 300-pound workforce coming from Southwest Mississippi Community College. Carruth first went to Mississippi State in 2022, then last year spent the season starting at SMCC and looks to be a starter on the 2024 Southern Miss offensive line. He has three years left in college but brings in some experience, having already played in college for two years.
Conti, the 6-6, 325-pound lineman from Eastern Michigan, has one year left but has tremendous experience with the Eagles. He earned a starting position last season and a scholarship with the Eagles.
Next for the offense, the tight end room got a huge boost by adding Reed Jesiolowski. He is listed at 6-3, 200 pounds, but Hall says they can add more. He is a freshman from Hartfield Academy who looks to be a dynamic force for the offense.
Improved Coaching Staff
Last year, Southern Miss returned 15 returning starters and had great depth coming into the season. Things turned for the worse, however, as they opened 1-6 with an embarrassing loss to South Alabama (outgained 402-26 yds at halftime), but that’s when Hall changed things.
He gave the play-calling duties to Jordy Joseph after the loss to the Jaguars, and the Southern Miss offense excelled from that change. Hall did more than just that, however.
Hall brought on staff with him two new coordinators in Bignell (defense) and Chip Long (offense).
Long, a veteran of 18 Division I seasons, most notably served as the offensive coordinator at Notre Dame from 2017-19, helping guide the team to a College Football Playoff berth in 2019.
Bignell came from Eastern Illinois and in his only year as defensive coordinator at EIU, the Panther defense currently ranks No. 1 nationally in turnover margin (1.36), as well as No 6 in turnovers gained (25).
The Death of MJ Daniels
This team was rocked when the devastating news of the untimely murder of MJ Daniels broke. Daniels was a light and a leader on this team, always smiling in everything he did. Some of the players have already dedicated the 2024 season to Daniels.
In adversity, people grow closer and stronger together. The untimely passing of a teammate and brother in Daniels may lead to an energized and hungry Golden Eagle football team. Not just hungry to win, but to win for MJ.
Could that extra element be crucial to Southern Miss having a successful season?
“He loved Southern Miss,” Hall said. “Other places offered him more money; he stayed here for less money like a lot of our kids do because it mattered to him to be from somewhere. It mattered to him to have a legacy, which he will have. It mattered to him that his family could be here and that he could get to his family. He was just an old soul from that standpoint, and those things meant a lot to him. He loved this place, and this is where he wanted to be.”
OK, those are five reasons this year could be the turning point for Southern Miss football. However, like always, there is always one or two reasons it may not be. Here is one big reason 2024 will not be the year Hall is hoping it will be:
Non-Conference Schedule
Coming into the 2024 season, the fans will be very uptight, easily critical of every little thing that could go wrong. For this reason, the first four games for Southern Miss are perilous for the Golden Eagles to have a successful season. The first four games could be the difference between USM being 6-1 heading to James Madison or 2-5.
They open with Kentucky on Aug. 31. The Wildcats will have a veteran roster, with players hungry for one last shot at the mighty Georgia Bulldogs. Kentucky will not take Southern Miss for granted either, knowing what happened in 2016.
Assuming that one is a loss, Southern Miss has to find a way to be 2-2 at worst after the next three games: Southeastern Louisiana, USF, and Jacksonville State.
All seem winnable, and if USM could start the season 3-1 with a bye week before a big home matchup with Louisiana, the Rock might be rocking. However, if they start 1-3 and slump their way into that matchup, the fans might be finished with this team…and Hall.
Even with all the positives going into this season, a schedule like that means some slip-ups. Moreover, a few slip-ups here and there in the college football world can derail a season quickly.
However, as they say, only time will tell.
