Southern Miss fires Will Hall after 1-6 start in his 4th season; Reed Stringer named interim coach
FILE - Southern Mississippi head coach Will Hall, left, walks back to the sideline after arguing with a referee in the first quarter of an NCAA college football game against Florida State Saturday, Sept. 9, 2023, in Tallahassee, Fla. (AP Photo/Phil Sears, File)
HATTIESBURG, Miss. (AP) — Southern Mississippi football coach Will Hall was fired Sunday after a 1-6 start to his fourth season and assistant head coach Reed Stringer was named interim coach for the rest of the season.
Hall was 14-30 following a 44-28 home loss to Arkansas State. The Golden Eagles’ only win this season was against Southeastern Louisiana of the second-tier Football Championship Subdivision.
“We are grateful to Will and his family for their dedication to Southern Miss over the past four years,” Southern Miss athletic director Jeremy McClain said. “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.”
Hall has deep ties to the state. He grew up in Amory, the son of a longtime Mississippi high school coach and was a two-time junior-college All-America quarterback at Northwest Mississippi. He transferred to North Alabama and won the Harlon Hill Trophy as the top player in Division II.
Hall had been offensive coordinator at Tulane for two years when Southern Miss hired him following the 2020 season.
The Golden Eagles improved from 3-9 in 2021 to 7-6 with a bowl win the next season. Southern Miss slipped to 3-9 last year with one of its wins against an FCS opponent, prompting Hall to hire new offensive and defensive coordinators. The Eagles are last in the Sun Belt in scoring (18.3 ppg) and second to last in scoring defense (34.1 ppg).
Southern Miss has lost nine of 11 Sun Belt Conference games since last year.
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