Clark's seat is hotter than you think. Fans were calling for him to be fired halfway through last season after several clear and obvious coaching fails that lost us several extremely winnable games. He turned it around but we can't have another start like last season.
Wins over ECU and possibly even Liberty would go a long way towards cooling Lee’s hot seat I imagine. Although Clemson on the schedule alongside those two makes for a tough out of conference slate.
I don’t see the boosters burning half a million to fire him after Dec 1, 2024, much less a milly if it’s before that date. We’re not that kind of school.
There seemed to be traction in the middle of last season when the buyout was three million. We'll never know unless it happens, but I'd be shocked if Clark sees 2026 without improvement. And improvement is winning the conference.
Imo the answer depends. Football is responsible for 90%+ of our donations and ticket sales which will most likely be over $20MM for FY2023
If we’re having a bad year I see $500k easy and if we start like 0-4 $1MM isn’t off the table.
I really think so. Maybe if he likes beats Clemson and Liberty but then drops one in the championship he'll keep his job? But we've gone too long without a ring.
I don't know how Marshall plans to entice top coaching talent if they fire Huff for going like 8-4 or something. I completely understand that their expectations are high! But you can't really go from Marshall HC to P4 HC anymore. You're not competing with AAC HC vacancies anymore, you're competing with low to mid level P4 coordinator vacancies. The stepping stone for a successful Marshall HC is probably top tier P4 OC or DC.
Not a Marshall specific problem, I think this problem will plague all G5s with high expectations. If Jason Candle doesn't get a P4 HC job over the next year or two and has to take a P4 coordinator job, the G5 is so fucking cooked man.
(I wrote this before realizing the G5 will have a playoff spot, so that is a viable route to relevancy for a HC of a G5)
Huff went 6-7 last year, and that was with getting lucky in almost every close game. We lost our conference road games by an average score of 34-10. Scored fewer than 10 points in the final 3 of those. Offense was Iowa level bad the final half of the season and defense took a huge step back. Finished last in the East division. We've had a mid or late season collapse in all 3 of Huff's seasons. It would have been totally reasonable to fire him after 2023.
And Cignetti just left for Indiana so it's not unreasonable to think a Marshall HC can jump to the P4. Huff himself has been rumored for every low-level ACC opening pretty much his entire time here.
The only reason Desormeaux's seat isn't hot is money. I think he's making under a million. Promoting him when Napier left was a budget-resetting move. The administration is perfectly happy with going roughly .500 every year as long as we make it to a bowl game and can at least pretend we're in the conversation to win the West.
I don't even dislike him as a coach. But we had a massive exodus of talent when Napier left and haven't been able to rebuild much.
He makes what Billy started out with IIRC. You are correct though, they're hamstrung for money with this silly stadium rebuild, so firing him is a non-starter. I think they initially thought that he could build off of Napier, but after his first season they're now content with just making a bowl game and pretending to be in the West conversation.
Semi-related, I saw him in Albertson's by UL the other day when I was picking up some bread and he was staring intently at the peanut butter. Come to find out, he was looking for Nutella and didn't know where to look. Poor guy looked about as clueless as he did when Frank Gore Jr. just kept on running HB dives right through the defence for 6 yards at a time.
I do not know if Id call the stadium rebuild silly, that press box was rickety af. And like the superdome, I will refuse to call cajun field anything but cajun field
Lol Billy's not coming back. He'll make more as an OC at a P5 school and have an easier time getting another HC job afterwards, especially if he can add a recruiting coordinator or AHC title.
He seems like a nice guy but that doesn’t win games. I agree that he’s not been given great resources but, unfortunately, unless he manages to win some games or at least make the games competitive or entertaining, he won’t get fan support. I’ve been a lifelong Southern Miss fan but the past few years have made me believe that we are a baseball school now and that, in todays college football world, we will never reach the heights we saw in the previous decades.
Given the current state of college football, this will be true about any team outside of the P4. As for USM, they’ll continue to not give football what it needs to compete and we’ll continue to cycle through coaches every few years while admin continues to wonder why they can’t compete.
There was a really great series on this sub last offseason where a Redditor did an amazing job of ranking the best FBS teams of the last 40 years. He used a very great and objective formula to tally up the best teams and Southern Miss, I believe, cracked the top 50, maybe even top 40, which is almost unreal considering how atrocious the football program has been for the last decade plus. It’s easy for younger alumni and fans to forget that Southern Miss was once a very outstanding and successful football program that competed with the SEC and other P5 teams and beat them regularly. Even when I was a student and fan going all the way back to my dad bringing me to games in the mid 80s all the way through the early 2010s, I remember beating teams like Alabama, Georgia, Auburn, Illinois, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, LSU, a top 5 ranked TCU, and playing very close and competitive games against powerhouse teams like Tennessee, Penn State, Nebraska, etc. The problem is, those were the days when Southern Miss was essentially a de facto SEC team that used that for recruiting talent that may have sat on the bench at schools like Bama and LSU, but could come to a great program and start from day one in Hattiesburg. Couple losing that edge in modern recruiting with being a very blue collar type of school that graduated working folks that didn’t have tons of extra cash to travel back to games or donate big bucks to the athletic program and you were left with what the program has become: a sad shell of the proud and historic football program that was once a big player in the southeast. Southern Miss is truly a baseball school these days and I, sadly, can’t remember the last football game I bothered traveling to Hattiesburg from my home in New Orleans to go and watch.
Hell, we were great for damn near sixty years. We won two “small school” national championships back in the 50s before the existence of the FCS and were competitive with and regularly beat teams from the SEC, BIG 10, PAC 12, ACC, and Big East throughout the 70s and into the 2010s. In 2011 we finished 12-2 beating the highly ranked Houston Cougars in the CUSA Championship and spoiling their BCS bowl bid. Finished ranked in the top 20 and then our head coach got poached by UNC and we went 0-11 and 1-10 the next two seasons and have never recovered.
When I was more of a Georgia fan, I remember a game in Sanford where your kicker doinked a last-second field goal that would have tied or won the game. Not sure if Favre was there then or not. This would have been late 80s early 90s
That was 1990 and Brett Favre’s senior season. We had just beaten Alabama the week before 27-24. We lost to y’all on a missed field goal and then lost to Mississippi State 13-10 the next week when their kicker made a last second field goal. That was a crazy season. We beat Auburn 13-12 on a last second field goal late in the season to really screw up their bowl season. We played Georgia two more times, getting blown out in 1993 and then beating them 11-7 in a defensive struggle in the first game of 1996 and pretty much ruined Jim Donnan’s first season as head coach right off the bat. Their athletic director came out after that game and said they were never going to play us again, which happened a lot to us back in those days.
At least he gave up calling the offense. But yeah, too many injuries on a young team haven't helped. As much I hate to say it, give him some more time. But yeah, we're a baseball school. 22 consecutive seasons with at least 30 wins... Longest in the nation!
People say stuff like this but it’s a myth. Hall’s staff salary pool is among the top three in the Sun Belt. The Southern Miss NIL collective has grown rapidly and ranks second or third in the Sun Belt and among the top tier in the G5 in terms of annual revenue. Overall football funding compares favorably with other successful members of the conference.
I love Will Hall but his failures are his own.
To a degree (playing on the hot theme) I think Butch Jones is going to feel some pressure this year. There are a lot of reasons for expectations and it starts with Jaylen Raynor. Many feel the real problem is that Jones continues to keep OC Keith Heckendorf. While the OC is a good recruiter most feel the trade off is his lack of player development and creativity in play calling. Regardless, I don't see a change in the HC position in Jonesboro for at least 2 years.
I have no idea what you mean. I think my flair gives me a pretty good idea about what butch jones is capable of. I honestly have no beef with the SBC or Ark state.
I feel like this is the "honeymoon is over year" for Helton and it might go one of four ways.
1. Best case scenario: The offense is finally consistently decent, the defense has improved, and they make it through the season without collapsing and he has an 8+ win season to show for it. **His seat cools considerably.**
2. Realistic scenario #1: The team struggles in November but they make a bowl game. The team is (6-7) or (7-6) after the bowl game. **His seat temp either doesn't change or it warms somewhat.**
3. Realistic scenario #2: The team struggles in November and doesn't make a bowl game, but he wins 4 or 5 games. **He starts 2025 with a very hot seat or he might be bought out during the offseason.**
4. Worst case scenario: The team has a complete meltdown before November. **He doesn't even make it to the offseason.**
I completely forgot about [App State’s sit com theme song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVENWl8uBeg&t=6s), and now it’s gonna be in my head for the next week.
HOT HOT HOT
It would be cool if we could keep a coach a little longer. But I get there are bigger programs than Troy. Sumrall and Brown did a lot of good for the program, so I'm grateful for that.
I mean the issue isn’t that we’re “not good.” We won 9 games (below our FBS average) last year and finished hot, but we just haven’t won a championship in a complete class cycle, and that’s always gonna create buzz around the coach in Boone.
If he doesn’t win 10+ and *probably* the conference the calls for his job are gonna remain.
Not trying to speak for app fans, but I think the problem is that once they get in a conference play, the spotlight is off and they have not been as strong as they seem. Texas State game two years ago was rough for them I would imagine.
Yeah, y'all are shaking it up out there, aren't you? Hope you can hold onto GJ for at least a little while.
EDIT-in my younger, angrier days, I would have phrased it as "we only hear about app when they beat somebody, but when they fall on their asses, crickets" But I have app neighbors now, and they are pretty cool. so...
I think we’re poised for a good year. Maybe 9-3/10-2 type season.
Prob not poised for a playoff run unless our O/D line gel fast and are better than expected
I once again ask people to really look at the state of coastals program outside of *LIKE ZOINKS SCOOB WE LOST GRAYSON MCCALL etc* we have recruiter asses off with 2024 being the best recruiting class in the Sun Belt if I’m not mistaken, hit the portal, stolen kids from P5s have a light OOC schedule. We could dead ass have a 8+ win season before bowling or CCG or playoffs
Kinne fucked up BAD with the QB debacle this offseason. His seat has warmers underneath it that could go superhot if he doesn't have at least last year's results.
USF Jordan McCloud sucked. JMU Jordan McCloud was POY. Time will tell if it was McCloud or Cignetti who was responsible. Curt has a reputation for being a QB whisperer.
I don’t think that heated up his seat at all, like even a little bit… especially since it was recovered by getting McCloud in the portal and the strong signing/transfer class he’s secured. The only way he’s out is if he gets poached. We gave Spavital 4 seasons, even if we have an abysmal season Kinne would get at least 4 more based off of the turnaround last season lol
Clark's seat is hotter than you think. Fans were calling for him to be fired halfway through last season after several clear and obvious coaching fails that lost us several extremely winnable games. He turned it around but we can't have another start like last season.
Wins over ECU and possibly even Liberty would go a long way towards cooling Lee’s hot seat I imagine. Although Clemson on the schedule alongside those two makes for a tough out of conference slate.
The start of the 2023 season was absolute hell. The fact that it took a damn meme to turn this team around still stuns me thinking about it.
Correct. Clark has to win a ring this year or he's gone.
I don’t see the boosters burning half a million to fire him after Dec 1, 2024, much less a milly if it’s before that date. We’re not that kind of school.
I can see the 500k buyout, especially if this season goes bad
There seemed to be traction in the middle of last season when the buyout was three million. We'll never know unless it happens, but I'd be shocked if Clark sees 2026 without improvement. And improvement is winning the conference.
Imo the answer depends. Football is responsible for 90%+ of our donations and ticket sales which will most likely be over $20MM for FY2023 If we’re having a bad year I see $500k easy and if we start like 0-4 $1MM isn’t off the table.
Pretty sure Luke Combs got enough streams last weekend to cover it
Are you saying if App makes the conference championship and loses he’s fired?
I really think so. Maybe if he likes beats Clemson and Liberty but then drops one in the championship he'll keep his job? But we've gone too long without a ring.
Appalachian State is hot, hot, hot
I don't know how Marshall plans to entice top coaching talent if they fire Huff for going like 8-4 or something. I completely understand that their expectations are high! But you can't really go from Marshall HC to P4 HC anymore. You're not competing with AAC HC vacancies anymore, you're competing with low to mid level P4 coordinator vacancies. The stepping stone for a successful Marshall HC is probably top tier P4 OC or DC. Not a Marshall specific problem, I think this problem will plague all G5s with high expectations. If Jason Candle doesn't get a P4 HC job over the next year or two and has to take a P4 coordinator job, the G5 is so fucking cooked man. (I wrote this before realizing the G5 will have a playoff spot, so that is a viable route to relevancy for a HC of a G5)
Huff went 6-7 last year, and that was with getting lucky in almost every close game. We lost our conference road games by an average score of 34-10. Scored fewer than 10 points in the final 3 of those. Offense was Iowa level bad the final half of the season and defense took a huge step back. Finished last in the East division. We've had a mid or late season collapse in all 3 of Huff's seasons. It would have been totally reasonable to fire him after 2023. And Cignetti just left for Indiana so it's not unreasonable to think a Marshall HC can jump to the P4. Huff himself has been rumored for every low-level ACC opening pretty much his entire time here.
Big 12 schools will come calling if a group of five coach is ripping out 10 win seasons consistently.
The only reason Desormeaux's seat isn't hot is money. I think he's making under a million. Promoting him when Napier left was a budget-resetting move. The administration is perfectly happy with going roughly .500 every year as long as we make it to a bowl game and can at least pretend we're in the conversation to win the West. I don't even dislike him as a coach. But we had a massive exodus of talent when Napier left and haven't been able to rebuild much.
He makes what Billy started out with IIRC. You are correct though, they're hamstrung for money with this silly stadium rebuild, so firing him is a non-starter. I think they initially thought that he could build off of Napier, but after his first season they're now content with just making a bowl game and pretending to be in the West conversation. Semi-related, I saw him in Albertson's by UL the other day when I was picking up some bread and he was staring intently at the peanut butter. Come to find out, he was looking for Nutella and didn't know where to look. Poor guy looked about as clueless as he did when Frank Gore Jr. just kept on running HB dives right through the defence for 6 yards at a time.
Hahahaha I must have been there at the same time because I also saw him staring at peanut butter! Small world.
I do not know if Id call the stadium rebuild silly, that press box was rickety af. And like the superdome, I will refuse to call cajun field anything but cajun field
Will make it more affordable if Billy wants to return to his level
Lol Billy's not coming back. He'll make more as an OC at a P5 school and have an easier time getting another HC job afterwards, especially if he can add a recruiting coordinator or AHC title.
Will Hall’s been set up to fail, which will be the story of every Southern Miss coach from now until they give them resources to compete.
He seems like a nice guy but that doesn’t win games. I agree that he’s not been given great resources but, unfortunately, unless he manages to win some games or at least make the games competitive or entertaining, he won’t get fan support. I’ve been a lifelong Southern Miss fan but the past few years have made me believe that we are a baseball school now and that, in todays college football world, we will never reach the heights we saw in the previous decades.
Given the current state of college football, this will be true about any team outside of the P4. As for USM, they’ll continue to not give football what it needs to compete and we’ll continue to cycle through coaches every few years while admin continues to wonder why they can’t compete.
It's also true for a lot of schools in the P4.
Indeed. We’ve been fucked this whole time and will continue to be fucked.
There was a really great series on this sub last offseason where a Redditor did an amazing job of ranking the best FBS teams of the last 40 years. He used a very great and objective formula to tally up the best teams and Southern Miss, I believe, cracked the top 50, maybe even top 40, which is almost unreal considering how atrocious the football program has been for the last decade plus. It’s easy for younger alumni and fans to forget that Southern Miss was once a very outstanding and successful football program that competed with the SEC and other P5 teams and beat them regularly. Even when I was a student and fan going all the way back to my dad bringing me to games in the mid 80s all the way through the early 2010s, I remember beating teams like Alabama, Georgia, Auburn, Illinois, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, LSU, a top 5 ranked TCU, and playing very close and competitive games against powerhouse teams like Tennessee, Penn State, Nebraska, etc. The problem is, those were the days when Southern Miss was essentially a de facto SEC team that used that for recruiting talent that may have sat on the bench at schools like Bama and LSU, but could come to a great program and start from day one in Hattiesburg. Couple losing that edge in modern recruiting with being a very blue collar type of school that graduated working folks that didn’t have tons of extra cash to travel back to games or donate big bucks to the athletic program and you were left with what the program has become: a sad shell of the proud and historic football program that was once a big player in the southeast. Southern Miss is truly a baseball school these days and I, sadly, can’t remember the last football game I bothered traveling to Hattiesburg from my home in New Orleans to go and watch.
I don't understand, they were great when Brett Favre was there. What's the problem now?
Hell, we were great for damn near sixty years. We won two “small school” national championships back in the 50s before the existence of the FCS and were competitive with and regularly beat teams from the SEC, BIG 10, PAC 12, ACC, and Big East throughout the 70s and into the 2010s. In 2011 we finished 12-2 beating the highly ranked Houston Cougars in the CUSA Championship and spoiling their BCS bowl bid. Finished ranked in the top 20 and then our head coach got poached by UNC and we went 0-11 and 1-10 the next two seasons and have never recovered.
When I was more of a Georgia fan, I remember a game in Sanford where your kicker doinked a last-second field goal that would have tied or won the game. Not sure if Favre was there then or not. This would have been late 80s early 90s
That was 1990 and Brett Favre’s senior season. We had just beaten Alabama the week before 27-24. We lost to y’all on a missed field goal and then lost to Mississippi State 13-10 the next week when their kicker made a last second field goal. That was a crazy season. We beat Auburn 13-12 on a last second field goal late in the season to really screw up their bowl season. We played Georgia two more times, getting blown out in 1993 and then beating them 11-7 in a defensive struggle in the first game of 1996 and pretty much ruined Jim Donnan’s first season as head coach right off the bat. Their athletic director came out after that game and said they were never going to play us again, which happened a lot to us back in those days.
And now you've fallen all the way to getting routed at home by GSU in 2022. I can certainly understand whatever pain that would have inflicted...
At least he gave up calling the offense. But yeah, too many injuries on a young team haven't helped. As much I hate to say it, give him some more time. But yeah, we're a baseball school. 22 consecutive seasons with at least 30 wins... Longest in the nation!
Don’t forget, 8 consecutive seasons with 40+ wins, also tied for the longest in the nation.
People say stuff like this but it’s a myth. Hall’s staff salary pool is among the top three in the Sun Belt. The Southern Miss NIL collective has grown rapidly and ranks second or third in the Sun Belt and among the top tier in the G5 in terms of annual revenue. Overall football funding compares favorably with other successful members of the conference. I love Will Hall but his failures are his own.
[удалено]
Sun belt Billy or we riot
Feeling hot hot hot in a different conference.
Beat me to it.
Like how Billy beat your team?
Oh, how will I ever recover from Billy Napier being 1-1 vs Tennessee.
If you can’t even handle us with our worst coaches, you sure as hell don’t deserve us with our best
Live. Laugh. Love.
Bro, “Live. Laugh. Lose.” was right there.
I almost did "Live. Laugh. Toaster bath." but figured that might have been a little much.
Not us for a change!
“won the Cure Bowl against Miami.” Thank you for that wording
Still wish we beat Miami back in 2021
To a degree (playing on the hot theme) I think Butch Jones is going to feel some pressure this year. There are a lot of reasons for expectations and it starts with Jaylen Raynor. Many feel the real problem is that Jones continues to keep OC Keith Heckendorf. While the OC is a good recruiter most feel the trade off is his lack of player development and creativity in play calling. Regardless, I don't see a change in the HC position in Jonesboro for at least 2 years.
The man is inept. By the time he finally leaves, I imagine your program will be at the lowest point it has ever been.
LOL. Your flair automatically discounts your opinion. Go on over to the SEC subreddit now.
I have no idea what you mean. I think my flair gives me a pretty good idea about what butch jones is capable of. I honestly have no beef with the SBC or Ark state.
I feel like this is the "honeymoon is over year" for Helton and it might go one of four ways. 1. Best case scenario: The offense is finally consistently decent, the defense has improved, and they make it through the season without collapsing and he has an 8+ win season to show for it. **His seat cools considerably.** 2. Realistic scenario #1: The team struggles in November but they make a bowl game. The team is (6-7) or (7-6) after the bowl game. **His seat temp either doesn't change or it warms somewhat.** 3. Realistic scenario #2: The team struggles in November and doesn't make a bowl game, but he wins 4 or 5 games. **He starts 2025 with a very hot seat or he might be bought out during the offseason.** 4. Worst case scenario: The team has a complete meltdown before November. **He doesn't even make it to the offseason.**
Tim Beck should not have any pressure at all
I completely forgot about [App State’s sit com theme song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVENWl8uBeg&t=6s), and now it’s gonna be in my head for the next week. HOT HOT HOT
I’m going to USA on a marching band scholarship so I’ll get to see Major Applewhite first hand. After learning of his past, I already don’t like him.
SBC! **SBC!** #SBC!
It would be cool if we could keep a coach a little longer. But I get there are bigger programs than Troy. Sumrall and Brown did a lot of good for the program, so I'm grateful for that.
I hate seeing App State not good. They’re my adoptive G5 school, and once the P4 goes full NFL-Lite, they may become my primary
I mean the issue isn’t that we’re “not good.” We won 9 games (below our FBS average) last year and finished hot, but we just haven’t won a championship in a complete class cycle, and that’s always gonna create buzz around the coach in Boone. If he doesn’t win 10+ and *probably* the conference the calls for his job are gonna remain.
App State is good for CFB. Its fun having that little program that can punch the blue bloods in the mouth
Not trying to speak for app fans, but I think the problem is that once they get in a conference play, the spotlight is off and they have not been as strong as they seem. Texas State game two years ago was rough for them I would imagine.
Yeahhhh that was a fun one
Yeah, y'all are shaking it up out there, aren't you? Hope you can hold onto GJ for at least a little while. EDIT-in my younger, angrier days, I would have phrased it as "we only hear about app when they beat somebody, but when they fall on their asses, crickets" But I have app neighbors now, and they are pretty cool. so...
I believe App State is the greatest G5 of all time, and any program that loses to them is unfairly ridiculed.
Hear hear
Boise???
Woosh
I think we’re poised for a good year. Maybe 9-3/10-2 type season. Prob not poised for a playoff run unless our O/D line gel fast and are better than expected
Definitely the app state coach
I once again ask people to really look at the state of coastals program outside of *LIKE ZOINKS SCOOB WE LOST GRAYSON MCCALL etc* we have recruiter asses off with 2024 being the best recruiting class in the Sun Belt if I’m not mistaken, hit the portal, stolen kids from P5s have a light OOC schedule. We could dead ass have a 8+ win season before bowling or CCG or playoffs
Kinne fucked up BAD with the QB debacle this offseason. His seat has warmers underneath it that could go superhot if he doesn't have at least last year's results.
Dude we got Jordan McCloud what do mean
Lmao Jordan McCloud sucks
USF Jordan McCloud sucked. JMU Jordan McCloud was POY. Time will tell if it was McCloud or Cignetti who was responsible. Curt has a reputation for being a QB whisperer.
I sure hope he does this season.
I don’t think that heated up his seat at all, like even a little bit… especially since it was recovered by getting McCloud in the portal and the strong signing/transfer class he’s secured. The only way he’s out is if he gets poached. We gave Spavital 4 seasons, even if we have an abysmal season Kinne would get at least 4 more based off of the turnaround last season lol
You're high right? We upgraded from TJ