Enthusiasm surrounded Southern Miss when head coach Will Hall led the Golden Eagles to a bowl game in their first season in the Sun Belt.
But things haven’t gone as smoothly for Southern Miss since then. The Golden Eagles went 3-9 in 2023 and have begun this season 1-5 with their only victory being against FCS Southeastern Louisiana.
That’s led many to wonder how much longer Hall will stick around before the program goes in another direction. If Hall isn’t the head coach at Southern Miss in 2025, here are some coaches (in no particular order) who could replace him.
Jacksonville Jaguars Running Backs Coach Jerry Mack
Mack has experience as a head coach and a coordinator. He’s recruited in the area and has familiarity with the Sun Belt, so he would be a good fit here.
Before going to the Jaguars, Mack was Tennessee’s running backs coach from 2021-23. Last year, the Volunteers were 10th in the country with 204.8 rushing yards per game. Leading rusher Jaylen Wright was among the 45 running backs in the country to rush for at least 1,000 yards.
Previously, he was an associate head coach, offensive coordinator, and quarterbacks coach at Rice. He’s also been a head coach at North Carolina Central, a wide receivers coach at South Alabama and Memphis, an OC and quarterbacks coach at Arkansas-Pine Bluff, a passing game coordinator and wide receivers coach at Central Arkansas, and a wide receivers/tight ends coach at Jackson State.
With a resume like his, Mack would deserve to be a head coaching candidate for the Golden Eagles.
SMU Offensive Coordinator Casey Woods
Woods is a successful coordinator at a current Power Four school who has coaching experience in the Sun Belt.
The Mustangs were eighth in the FBS in scored points per game (38.7) and 16th in yards per game (454.9) in 2023, their last year in the AAC. SMU, which is now ranked 21st in the AP Top 25 and is 5-1 as a member of the ACC, was 15th in the country with 40.8 points per game scored going into Week 8 of this season.
Previously, Woods was a tight ends coach and recruiting coordinator at Missouri. He’s also been an assistant at UAB and Auburn.
Woods coached wide receivers and was a recruiting coordinator at Arkansas State in 2012 when the Red Wolves went 10-3, earned a Sun Belt title, and won the GoDaddy.com Bowl.
If Woods were interested in a head coaching job, Southern Miss would be smart to consider him.
Indiana Defensive Coordinator Bryant Haines
Haines followed Curt Cignetti from James Madison to Indiana, and he has been stellar as the Hoosiers’ DC thus far.
Going into Week 8, Indiana was in the top 15 in the FBS in terms of scoring defense (14.8 points allowed per game) and total defense (255.7 yards per game allowed).
Before his current job, he was instrumental in JMU’s transition to the Sun Belt. He was promoted to DC and linebackers coach after three years as a co-defensive coordinator there.
In just their first season as an FBS program, the Dukes allowed the eighth-fewest yards per game in the country with 290.2 while allowing just 20.9 points per game. They were also top 10 in rushing defense, tackles for loss per game, first downs allowed, sacks per game, third down defense, and fumble recoveries.
In 2023, JMU was in the top 20 in the FBS with 19.5 points per game allowed and the top 30 in the country with 333.8 yards per game allowed.
Before JMU, Haines worked with linebackers under Cignetti at Elon and was a linebackers coach at UC Davis before that in 2016.
Haines knows defense and the conference, so he could be a good fit for Southern Miss.
UNLV Offensive Coordinator Brennan Marion
Marion is in just his second season as UNLV’s offensive coordinator. He’s done well with the Rebels and has other coaching experience in the eastern part of the country.
In 2023, UNLV was 44th in the FBS with 412.7 yards per game and 22nd with 34.4 points per game. The Rebels have continued to be successful on offense this season, even after quarterback Matthew Sluka decided to sit out the rest of the year.
Before this, Marion was a passing game coordinator at Texas in 2022, a wide receivers coach at Pitt in 2021, a wide receivers coach at Hawaii in 2020, an offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at William & Mary in 2019, an offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Howard in 2017 and 2018, and a running backs coach at Oklahoma Baptist in 2016.
Marion’s name has been tied to a few head coaching vacancies the past couple years. The expertise he brings could benefit Southern Miss.
Alabama Tight Ends Coach Bryan Ellis
Ellis has only been at Alabama for less than a year. But if he were willing to leave for an FBS head coaching opportunity, Southern Miss might make sense.
Last season, when Ellis was an offensive coordinator at Georgia Southern, the Eagles were in the top 50 in the country with 30.2 points and 419.5 yards per game. And that was a down year compared to the other teams he’s worked with.
In 2022, which was Ellis’ first as Georgia Southern’s OC and QBs coach, the Eagles were in the top 20 in the FBS with 466.7 yards per game and scored 32.7 points per game.
Before that, Ellis was Western Kentucky’s co-offensive coordinator and inside receivers coach. In 2021, the Hilltoppers were second in the country with 44.2 points per game and 535.3 yards per game while leading the FBS with 433.7 passing yards per game.
He was WKU’s OC and quarterbacks coach from 2019-20 and was an assistant there from 2014-16. From 2017-18, he worked with quarterbacks at USC.
Ellis obviously knows the Sun Belt well and how to develop high-flying offenses, so he would be a good candidate for Southern Miss.
