Will Hall’s tenure has come to an end at Southern Miss after going 14-30 in four seasons.
Hall was fired a day after the Golden Eagles suffered a 44-28 loss to Arkansas State. Southern Miss is now off to a 1-6 start for a third time in four years. The news was first reported by Pete Thamel of ESPN, which the school made official moments after. According to a source, Southern Miss officials held a mandatory team meeting at 6 p.m. on Sunday evening.
“We are grateful to Will and his family for their dedication to Southern Miss over the past four years,” Southern Miss Director of Athletics Jeremy McClain stated in a press release. “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.
“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. 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.”
During Hall’s tenure, the Golden Eagles hold a 10-30 record against FBS opponents. Hall’s highlight year came in 2022 when USM finished 7-6 with a victory in the LendingTree Bowl. Despite the success of 2022, Southern Miss’ team showed signs of regression in the last two years. This season, Hall’s team has been outscored 134-41.
Hall received a one-year extension in March 2022, which extended his contract to 2025 and increased his annual salary to $824,000, which was set to expire on Dec. 31, 2025. It will be distributed in equal monthly payments and prorated for this month.
Assistant coach Reed Stringer has been named the interim coach. Stringer has spent seven years with the program but has most recently served as the assistant head coach and general manager for the last four seasons.
Hall, an Amory, Miss native, came to Southern Miss after spending two years as an offensive coordinator at Tulane. Prior to Tulane, Hall had stops at Louisiana in 2017 as the offensive coordinator and at Memphis in 2018 as the associate head coach.
As a collegiate head coach that included Gulf South Conference schools West Alabama (2011-13) and West Georgia (2014-16), Hall produced a combined record of 56-21. He oversaw three GSC championship squads as well as earning two GSC coach of the year accolades. His teams played in four Division II playoffs, and his UWG squads in 2014 and 2015 reached the semifinals.
Southern Miss will commence its search for its next head coach immediately.
The Golden Eagles will go on the road to face James Madison next week.
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