Southern Miss has won just four games since the start of the 2023 season under head coach Will Hall. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images)
Southern Mississippi State announced Sunday that it has fired head coach Will Hall after a poor start to the season.
The Golden Eagles lost 44-28 at home to Arkansas State on Saturday, losing their fifth straight game and dropping to 1-6. Southern Miss has lost all three games in the Sun Belt this season, its closest game being a 23-13 loss to Louisiana.
“We would like to thank Will and his family for their dedication to Southern Miss over the past four years,” Southern Miss Athletic Director Jeremy McClain said in a statement. “Will poured his heart and soul into this program and the development of our young people. Unfortunately, the results on the field did not match the goals and expectations we shared.”
USM does not have a win against an FBS opponent this season. The team’s only win was a 35-10 victory over Southeastern Louisiana.
Southern Miss was 14-30 years old when Hall attended the school. Hall was hired ahead of the 2021 season after serving as offensive coordinator at Tulane in 2019 and 2020. Prior to coaching at Tulane, he was an assistant at Memphis and Louisiana, and head coach at both West Georgia and West Alabama.
The Golden Eagles have struggled to compete since moving to the Sun Belt in 2022. USM went 7-6 in 2022 and won the Lending Tree Bowl in its first year in the conference. Since then, Hall’s teams have gone 4-15.
Hall takes over after Southern Miss went 3-7 in 2020 under three different coaches. Jay Hopson resigned after the first game of the season, and interim coach Scotty Walden resigned after four games. Tim Billings coached the school’s final five games of the season that season.
