Southern Miss has its next leader.
Blake Anderson was named the next Southern Miss head football coach on Thursday afternoon. Anderson, Southern Miss’ offensive coordinator under Charles Huff in 2025, was named the interim head coach following Huff’s departure to Memphis.
After just a five-day search, Southern Miss athletic director Jeremy McClain named Anderson the full-time head coach.
"We are excited to announce Blake Anderson as the next leader of our football program,” McClain said. “He brings a wealth of experience and a ten-year run as a successful head coach, including multiple conference championships in the Sun Belt, a Mountain West Conference championship, and nine bowl appearances. Blake is an exceptional leader, a great communicator, and has the respect of the players and the staff throughout the Duff Center. We look forward to supporting him at the highest level and continuing the positive momentum for our program."
The obvious choice for Southern Miss
Unlike a season ago, when Hall was fired, there was no assistant coach who was considered for the head coaching position. McClain started a national search right away and stunningly hired Huff.
Huff brought a large portion of his staff from Marshall to Southern Miss with him. But Anderson was the only coordinator who didn’t come from Marshall, signaling this possibility if Huff were to leave.
Anderson also served as an assistant coach for the Golden Eagles from 2008-11, helping Southern Miss make a six-game turnaround that included a five-game winning streak. His passing offense ranked first in the Sun Belt Conference and the team was fifth in scoring.
In a press conference on Wednesday, Anderson made clear he was very interested in the head coaching position.
“I've made it very clear, I’d love being the head coach here,” Anderson said. “I wouldn't probably come back here if I didn't feel that way about this place. Not that I ever expected when I came back that that would be the opportunity. But that's what I think about Southern Miss. I made it really clear to Jeremy and the administration, and they know that, and they're working through the process, and I trust how they're handling everything, and they're going to do what's right.”
It turns out what was right in McClain’s eyes was for Anderson to lead the football program.
A career defined by winning, but also met with tragedy
During his 30-year career that has included six conference championships, 14 bowl games and a national championship on the junior college level, Anderson provided 10 successful seasons as a Division I head coach with stops at Arkansas State (2014-20) and Utah State (2021-23), registering a 74-54 (.578) overall head coaching record, including a 53-27 (.663) conference mark, which included nine bowl games and three conference titles.
Under Anderson, Utah State tied for the best turnaround in the nation in 2021, as the Aggies became the first FBS program ever to go from zero or one win to 11 wins the next season. Anderson, who was named the 2021 AFCA Region 5 Coach of the Year and a finalist for the Eddie Robinson National Coach of the Year Award, was the only first-year head coach in the nation to lead his team to nine or more wins.
During the 2022 campaign, Anderson led Utah State to six wins and an appearance in the SERVPRO First Responder Bowl. In his first season at Utah State, Anderson led the Aggies to their first-ever Mountain West championship with a 46-13 win at No. 19 San Diego State, along with a bowl win over Oregon State, a school-record-tying 11 wins and a No. 24 ranking in the final AP poll. Anderson led Utah State to six wins and its 11th bowl game in 13 seasons in 2023 as it played in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl.
He joined Utah State after spending seven years as the head coach at Arkansas State, leading the Red Wolves to six consecutive winning seasons and six straight bowl games from 2014-19, including a 31-13 win against UCF in the 2016 Cure Bowl and a 34-26 win against FIU in the 2019 Camellia Bowl.
Arkansas State also won back-to-back Sun Belt championships under Anderson in 2015 and 2016 and competed for another in 2017 in a de facto championship game.
During his time at Arkansas State, Anderson's wife, Wendy, died after a public battle with an aggressive form of breast cancer in 2019. Further tragedy struck after his move to Utah State. In February 2022, Anderson’s son, Cason, died by suicide at age 21.
His coaching career began at Eastern New Mexico in 1992 (graduate assistant) and 1993 (full-time), where he tutored the wide receivers. He then moved on to Howard Payne University in Brownwood, Texas, to coach the wide receivers as HPU won the Texas IAA conference title in 1994.
Anderson's tenure at Utah State ended abruptly, causing controversy
Anderson arrived at Southern Miss a year ago amid an ongoing legal dispute with his previous employer, Utah State.
He was terminated with cause in July 2024 for allegedly failing to follow Title IX reporting requirements after a football player’s off-campus domestic violence arrest in spring 2023. Anderson, who went 40-23 with three bowl appearances and a 2021 Mountain West championship from 2021–24, has denied wrongdoing.
He argues he followed school protocol and was scapegoated due to Utah State’s broader issues with the Department of Justice, according to the Salt Lake Tribune.
Anderson’s response to the termination argued that he was fired for “convenience,” not for cause, and that the investigation into his dismissal was a “sham.”
As of November 2024, Anderson was suing Utah State for $15 million.
There is not a press conference scheduled yet to introduce Anderson as the next head coach at Southern Miss, but it is expected early next week, a source told the Pine Belt News.
