When I took this job back in July, I knew there were going to be some weeks that would be incredibly busy, and this weekend was the first.
Here is a little behind-the-scenes look into my weekend, recapping for you guys a crazy few days on the Southern Miss beat.
On Wednesday, we were called to the Duff Athletic Center for a 1 p.m. signing day press conference with Charles Huff. By Sunday, it was official that four AAC jobs were open with Tulane, USF, Memphis and North Texas.
Huff naturally appeared on many coaching search lists, predominantly at Tulane and Memphis.
We did not ask Huff a question about the Memphis job or the Tulane job, but ironically enough, Huff shared maybe more than he wanted to share.
He was talking about his recruiting class and said that one of his recruits had shared that he was told Huff was down in New Orleans interviewing for the Tulane job.
“He called me and I FaceTimed him and I showed him Beale Street…the Rock sitting outside of my office,” Huff said. “It’s very difficult for me to be interviewing for a job while I’m sitting in my office looking at the stadium.”
It was an interesting thing to say when no one in the media had asked him any questions about jobs he might be interviewing for.
After the presser, I was driving to Petal High School to cover a signing day there and received a telephone call from a colleague.
He told me that Huff had accepted the Memphis job and wanted me to confirm it.
It shocked me because we were just with Huff not even 15 minutes before that call, and Huff did not handle that press conference like his last one. He was even talking about the next press conference when the bowl game was announced and when they would announce it.
So I told the guy on the phone that I would be extremely surprised if that were true, but I would check around with all my sources. I texted my sources and found out that the report was not true at the time.
Apparently, as reported by The Commercial Appeal, Huff interviewed in person for the Memphis job on Thursday.
I’m not sure if Huff just slipped with that statement or if it was a preview of what was to come.
Anyway, I was on the way to Starkville on Friday afternoon and, while driving, saw a tweet come across that said Huff was in the final three of the Memphis coaching search.
Still, I didn’t think much of it because of that press conference that was held on Wednesday.
On Friday night, I covered Hattiesburg in the 6A championship game against Warren Central, where the Vikings pulled away in the fourth quarter.
I didn’t get to sleep until about 1:30 a.m. after covering the game, and woke up at 7:30 a.m. to my phone ringing from my dad. Thinking he wouldn’t be calling me at that time knowing that I was up late unless it was an emergency, I answered and he told me I might need to check my phone.
I did, and Pete Nakos was reporting that Huff was leaving Southern Miss to go to Memphis. This obviously sent me into a whirlwind, tightening up prewritten stories that you don’t think you’ll actually have to publish.
Then, in an attempt to do a Twitter Space, the Wi-Fi at the hotel I was at dropped, which threw my attempt at a space — where almost 100 of my followers were live — into drastic peril.
Trying to bring the space back, I packed everything up in less than five minutes, got into my truck and drove to Cracker Barrel and did the space in the parking lot with my cellular service.
After the 30-minute space, I was called by everyone and their mama about the news and somehow got down some sausage and pancakes during that. I was also able to publish a story giving five candidates who could replace Huff during my time at Cracker Barrel.
After that, I started the three-and-a-half-hour drive home, stopping a few times to check out the reaction on Twitter from the fans.
The next day, I was still trying to unpack the ever-changing situation with Huff through all my sources and also had the bowl selection process to cover.
Southern Miss was selected to the New Orleans Bowl, but obviously there was no statement by the university on either the bowl game or the Huff news, so there were multiple questions to be answered.
Finally, athletic director Jeremy McClain released a statement on the Huff news:
“Coach Huff has informed me that he has accepted a head coaching opportunity at another institution. Although his time here was short, we are very thankful for the intense work he and his staff went through to get our program back on the winning track. We wish he and his family much success moving forward.
“We met with the team today to discuss the transition, and I shared that Blake Anderson will serve as our interim head coach as we prepare for the New Orleans Bowl. This group of young men has come together in a remarkable way, produced a special season and is fully committed to finishing the right way. I encourage everyone to join me in celebrating them and supporting them throughout bowl season.
“Our search for the next, right leader of Southern Miss football is already underway. This program is on the rise, momentum is strong and we remain fully committed to building a championship future. Southern Miss football is in a great position moving forward, and we are excited about what lies ahead.”
This confirmed what I was already prepared to write with Anderson stepping into the role of interim head coach for the bowl game.
And I went to sleep Sunday night thinking that all of the news was just about done. Until …
I woke up to my alarm on Monday morning and looked at my phone and audibly gasped.
“What?” my wife, Kari, still half asleep, asked, concerned something had happened. When I told her the news, she understood why I was so shocked.
Pete Thamel of ESPN was reporting that Tulane was hiring former Southern Miss head coach Will Hall as the school’s next head coach.
Hall, who was fired last season at Southern Miss after a 14-30 showing over three and a half seasons, is now headed to a program that has made the College Football Playoff.
First, I’m very happy for him. He’s a great guy, and I believe that the Lord rewards people like him with second-chance opportunities such as this. I really hope he does well, because it will be a great story.
But most of the people like me who covered the last four seasons of Southern Miss football have to be scratching their heads about this hire. Hall left Southern Miss in a disaster situation when he was fired last season — one that many thought Southern Miss would never recover from.
He, in part, is the reason Huff’s transformation of the program is so stunning because of how bad it was last season.
Now he’s getting a head coaching job at a program that expects to go 10-2 or 11-1 each season? It’s an incredibly stunning hire.
Again, I hope it goes well for him, because it couldn’t happen to a better person.
But I have my doubts, as anyone who covered the past four seasons would.
Anyways, how was y’all’s weekend?
