Southern Miss has finally named a starting quarterback as Will Hall announced Clemson transfer Billy Wiles as the winner of the position battle after Tuesday’s practice.
Wiles earned the job over Houston transfer Holeman Edwards, with the duo competing for the position since this past spring.
“We are going to name Billy Wiles the starter,” Hall said. “Two things have been evident to me throughout this fall camp. One is that Holeman and Billy are really good players and good leaders. We can win with both of them. Two is that Billy has been better. He’s just been a little bit better. Holeman is a really good football player, but Billy has been a little bit better. He’s done some things better and will be the starter moving forward.”
Since 2016, there has only been one season that the same quarterback started in every game, which was Jack Abraham in 2019.
Hall told Wiles of his decision and the rest of the team on Monday morning.
“It may be a little bit (of a relief), but it was fun all along,” said Wiles on being named starter. “It was good stress with just pushing each other. It’s a good feeling for it to be over.
“I think accuracy and decision making was big for me. It was just showing them that I can make the right decision when it all comes down to it. When I did make that decision to be accurate with the ball…I feel like this summer that, I made a big leap mentally from the spring in terms of moving through progressions faster and knowing what to read. Then just getting stronger athletically.”
Hall was adamant that he kept an open mind through the selection process between Edwards and Wiles but that the overall data showed that Wiles was more consistent.
“I never thought there was a moment because I wanted to let it play out,” Hall said. “I wanted to scrimmage twice, and I wanted every practice to matter. They were both really good. Billy was a little bit better consistently. I know, based off all the data, that Billy was better and consistently a bit better.”
Out of high school, Hall initially recruited Wiles when he was at Tulane. Wiles took an unofficial visit to Tulane just before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the sports world back in 2020. Wiles verbally committed to Tulane, but Hall took the head coaching job at Southern Miss leading to Wiles accepting a preferred walk-on position at Clemson.
“Recruiting him, we knew that he was highly intelligent and had a deep passion for football,” Hall said. “He had great throwing ability from an accuracy and touch standpoint. The thing he has shown through this fall camp is making plays outside of the pocket.
“His ability to run and make plays that are off-script a little bit has been good. He understands the offense and the checks with where the ball is supposed to go.”
After three seasons, Wiles opted to enter the transfer portal, and according to Wiles, the opportunity to play for Hall was not a hard decision to make.
“It was my relationship with (Hall),” said Wiles on his decision to transfer to USM. “He has always been awesome to me. I came down here and loved it. I could see the love that everyone has for the school and program. That’s all you want, which is to be supported.
“Let’s go win a lot of ball games and go chase the Sun Belt.”
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