The Southern Miss football team, after concluding its most recent campaign with a 1-11 record, is eager to begin a new chapter — one that will kick off in just under a month and a half.
After firing former head coach Will Hall and bringing in Marshall frontman Charles Huff to lead the charge, the Golden Eagles are ready to tread the same waters of the Sun Belt under new management.
With the change in leadership also came a swath of new players, many of whom ventured to Hattiesburg from Huff’s previous program. Acquiring talent in the transfer portal, retaining key holdovers from the prior administration, and getting those players to gel in the span of one offseason requires a high level of execution. According to returning sophomore linebacker Chris Jones, the work done in the summer has established a strong sense of unity among the players and new coaching staff alike.
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“I feel like this summer has really set it off, and the summer was really when we made the team come together after bringing in a lot of guys from the transfer portal during the spring,” Jones, a Hartfield Academy alum, said at Sun Belt Media Days in New Orleans. “Hands down, our new defensive coordinator (Jason Semore) is one of the best in the country and does a great job defensively at teaching us the schematic part of football.”
For a double transfer in Braylon Braxton, the highly regarded quarterback who helped lead the Thundering Herd to a Sun Belt Title in 2024, continued success is a must. Looking to build on what he accomplished under Huff’s tutelage at Marshall, but in a different home stadium, Braxton assures Golden Eagle fans that the offensive side of the ball will lead to a winning effort week in and week out.
“We want to show what we’ve been working on since January. Especially with new offensive coordinator Blake Anderson, we just want to go out and execute,” Braxton, the Sun Belt Preseason Offensive Player of the Year, said. “This offense will help me out a lot because the running backs will take a lot of stress off me. I see us having a successful season and making the city of Hattiesburg proud.”
Both leaders will have their work cut out for them in their collective pursuit to navigate Southern Miss back to its former glory, as the Golden Eagles ranked dead last in the Sun Belt in both total offense and total defense last year. But with great challenge comes great opportunity, and none could be better than a shot at ousting a power conference in-state foe to begin the campaign.
Huff’s debut as the Southern Miss head coach and Braxton’s opener as the Golden Eagles’ signal caller will take place on August 30, when a Mississippi State team in a pressure-packed predicament rolls into M.M. Robert Stadium.
A tense battle with decades of history behind it will mark a golden opportunity for Huff to instantly win over his fanbase with a signature victory, while simultaneously putting the weight on Bulldog head man Jeff Lebby to avoid following up a two-win season on a sour note against an in-state foe.
