The Southern Miss Golden Eagles football program represents the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. They play college football in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision. The Eagles are currently members of the Sun Belt Conference and play their home games at Renasant Stadium in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.
History
Early history (1912–1974) Southern Miss first fielded a football team in 1912, coached by Ronald Slay. That team posted a 2–1 record. A. B. Dille coached the Golden Eagles from 1914 to 1916, posting a record of 6–10–1. USM did not field a football team from 1917 to 1919 because of World War I. Allison Hubert was the Golden Eagles head football coach for six seasons, posting a 26–24–5 record. His Golden Eagles teams were known to be fast and fierce. Hubert departed after the 1936 season to accept the head football coach position at VMI. After Hubert came Reed Green, who coached USM for a total of nine years, from 1937 to 1942 and 1946 to 1948. His final record was 59–20–4. The Golden Eagles did not compete in football from 1943 to 1945 because of World War II. During the coaching tenure of Thad Vann, the Golden Eagles became one of the nation's most elite football programs. Vann compiled a 139–59–2 record, had only one losing season in his 20 seasons in Hattiesburg, his last. His 1953 and 1954 Golden Eagles teams upset Alabama and posted records of 9–2 and 6–4, respectively. The Golden Eagles made it to the Sun Bowl in 1954. Vann's 1958 and 1962 teams claim a national championship. Vann retired after the 1968 season and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 1987. P. W. Underwood returned to his alma mater from his post as an assistant coach at Tennessee. Underwood compiled a 31–32–2 record in his six seasons and engineered one of the biggest wins in school history in 1970, a 30–14 upset of fourth-ranked Mississippi.
Bobby Collins era (1975–1981) Bobby Collins was the Golden Eagles head football coach for seven seasons, compiling a record of 48–30–2. Collins led the Golden Eagles to two bowl appearances, the Independence Bowl and the Tangerine Bowl after the 1980 and 1981 regular seasons. His 1981 team finished ranked No. 19 in the final Coaches' Poll. Collins left USM after the 1981 season to accept the head football coach position at SMU.
Jim Carmody era (1982–1987) Collins was succeeded by his former defensive coordinator Jim Carmody, who coached the Golden Eagles for six seasons. Under Carmody's tutelage, Carmody's Golden Eagles compiled a record of 37–29. Only one of those six seasons did the Golden Eagles finish with a losing record, a 4–7 campaign in 1984. The Golden Eagles would only have one more losing season until 2012.
During Carmody's tenure, the Golden Eagles defeated Alabama, 38–29, in Tuscaloosa in 1982, snapping the Crimson Tide's 56-game home winning streak at Bryant–Denny Stadium. It was the first time since 1962 that Alabama had lost there and also proved to be the final loss of coach Bear Bryant's career. Carmody recruited a young Kiln, Mississippi, high school quarterback named Brett Favre to Southern Miss in 1987. Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame, http://southernmiss.com In 1984, Southern Miss, already under NCAA sanctions for prior infractions, admitted to improper recruiting practices pertaining to freshman linebacker Don Palmer. As part of the fallout, Carmody's salary was frozen. Palmer alleged he was given clothing, basketball game tickets, cash, and transportation to the campus by an USM assistant coach.
Curley Hallman era (1988–1990)
Curley Hallman came to Southern Miss from his post as defensive backs coach at Texas A&M. Hallman's .676 winning percentage at USM is the highest of any coach in Southern Miss football history. Hallman coached future NFL star quarterback Brett Favre during his tenure at USM. Hallman's record at Southern Miss is 23–11 in three seasons. Hallman departed after the 1990 season to accept the head football coach position at LSU.
Jeff Bower era (1991–2007) Jeff Bower came back to his alma mater as head football coach following Hallman's departure. Bower led the Golden Eagles to 14 consecutive winning seasons, the fifth longest streak in college football history and to bowl games 10 of his last 11 seasons. Bower's 119 wins are the most by any head coach in USM football history. Bower led the Golden Eagles to three Liberty Bowl appearances (two wins) in 1997, 1999 and 2003. His 1997 and 1999 teams finished ranked in the top 20 of both the AP and Coaches' Polls. Bower also led the Golden Eagles to two New Orleans Bowl victories (2004 and 2005), a GMAC Bowl victory (2006) and a Mobile Alabama Bowl victory (2000). He led the Golden Eagles to three additional bowl appearances. Bower was named Conference USA's "Coach of the Decade" in 2004. Bower resigned after the 2007 season with an overall record of 119–83–1.
Larry Fedora era (2008–2011) Larry Fedora was hired away from his post as offensive coordinator at Oklahoma State as the USM head football coach on December 11, 2007. Fedora's four-year contract included a $650,000 per-year base salary, but incentives brought his yearly pay close to $900,000. Fedora made a big splash early in his tenure at USM, landing a commitment from five-star wide receiver prospect DeAndre Brown, who chose the Golden Eagles over offers from SEC members LSU, Ole Miss and Auburn.
In Fedora's first game as head coach, the Golden Eagles set the USM all-time record for yards in a game with 633. Southern Miss would go on to notch its four most explosive offensive seasons in program history in Fedora's four seasons. His players also graduated at the highest rate in USM history. In what turned out to be Fedora's final season, the Golden Eagles upset sixth-ranked and undefeated Houston in the Conference USA championship game en route to a Hawaii Bowl victory and rankings of No. 19 and No. 20 in the final Coaches' and AP Polls, respectively. Fedora also led the Golden Eagles to two New Orleans Bowl appearances (one win, one loss) in his first two seasons and a loss in the Beef O'Brady's Bowl to Louisville in his third. Fedora's record year-by year was back-to-back 7–6 records in 2008 and 2009, 8–5 in 2010 and a USM record 12–2 in 2011. The 2011 season was the first time USM had ever won 12 games in a single season. Fedora left after the 2011 season to accept the head football coach position at North Carolina, leaving Southern Miss with a 34–19 overall record.
Ellis Johnson era (2012) Following Fedora's departure, Ellis Johnson was hired as head coach at USM away from South Carolina, where he served as defensive coordinator. A long-time and well-respected defensive coordinator of the SEC and ACC with extensive recruiting ties throughout the South, Johnson's hire was met with praise by most USM fans. However, the Golden Eagles success seen under Johnson's predecessors turned south quickly, as USM went 0–12 in what turned out to be Johnson's only season as head coach. It was USM's first losing season since 1993. The drop from 12–2 to 0–12 is among the largest single season drops in college football history. USM was also the only team in the nation to fail to win a single game in 2012. Fan support and attendance fell, and Johnson was fired after the disastrous season.
Todd Monken era (2013–2015) Todd Monken was hired as the head football coach at USM from his post as offensive coordinator at Oklahoma State to turn around the suddenly downtrodden Golden Eagles football program. Monken's Golden Eagles lost their first 11 games of the 2013 season but broke a 23-game losing streak in November 2013, a 62–27 victory over UAB, their first victory since the 2011 Hawaii Bowl, Fedora's final game. After a 3–9 2014 campaign, Southern Miss finally returned to form in 2015, winning Conference USA's West Division and advancing to the conference title game, where the Golden Eagles fell to Western Kentucky. Southern Miss had one of the most productive offenses in college football and finished 2015 with a 9–5 record, including a Heart of Dallas Bowl loss to Washington. After the season, Monken accepted an offer to become the offensive coordinator of the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Jay Hopson era (2016–2020) Alcorn State head coach Jay Hopson, a former USM assistant, was hired as the Golden Eagles head coach in January 2016. In his first year at the helm, Hopson led the Golden Eagles to a 7–6 record, a bowl victory, and the first win over an SEC opponent since Jeff Bower's 2000 team, defeating Kentucky in the season opener. Hopson's Eagles secured wins over three teams with winning records, a 50% increase over the prior year. Hopson is the first coach in USM history to defeat an SEC team in his first game coaching and joined Hallman (vs. Mississippi State) and Bower (vs. Auburn) as the only USM coaches to defeat an SEC opponent in their first opportunity.
The Golden Eagles finished 8–5 in 2017. They began the season on September 2, losing to Kentucky by a score of 24–17. One week later, Southern Miss defeated FCS opponent Southern by a score of 45–0. Hopson's squad won their second game of the season in their third contest as they defeated Louisiana-Monroe by a margin of 28–17. On September 30, Southern Miss lost to North Texas by a score of 43–28. That was followed by a 31–29 victory over UTSA. After a 24–0 shutout win over UTEP, the Golden Eagles defeated Louisiana Tech in the Rivalry in Dixie game by a score of 34–27 in double overtime. Hopson's team lost their next two, falling to rival UAB by a score of 30–12 and Tennessee by a margin of 24–10. Southern Miss won their last three games to close the regular season, defeating Rice by a score of 43–34, Charlotte by a margin of 66–21 and Marshall by a nail biting 28–27. Southern Miss accepted a berth in the 2017 Independence Bowl, a game they lost to Florida State by a score of 42–13. They lost to Tulane in the Armed Forces Bowl in January 2020. After a surprising early season loss to South Alabama 32–21 in Hattiesburg, Jay Hopson unexpectedly resigned the following Monday. Athletic Director Jeremy McClain announced that Co-Offensive Coordinator and WR coach Scotty Walden would take over as interim head coach.
Will Hall era (2020–2024) Will Hall, former offensive coordinator at the University of Louisiana-Lafayette and Tulane, was announced as the new head coach of the Golden Eagles in December 2020. His first season, in 2021, was also the program's final year in Conference USA, during which the team went 3–9 (2–6). The following season, Hall’s first in the Sun Belt Conference, the Golden Eagles improved to 7–6 (4–4), including a 38–24 win over Rice in the LendingTree Bowl. The 2023 season, however, saw the Golden Eagles finish 3–9 (2–6). The 2024 season would be Hall’s last. After a 1–6 (0–3) start that included a 31–0 loss to Kentucky, a 44–7 loss to Jacksonville State, and a 44–28 loss to Arkansas State, it was announced that Hall had been relieved of his duties as head coach. Reed Stringer, the team’s assistant head coach and general manager, was named interim head coach for the remainder of the season.
Charles Huff era (2025) On December 8, 2024, former Marshall football head coach Charles Huff was named the head coach of the Golden Eagles.. He led the team to its first year of bowl-eligibility since 2022, with a win over Louisiana–Monroe (49–21) on October 25, 2025. On December 8, 2025, one year to the day after becoming the Southern Miss coach, Huff was formally announced as the new coach of the University of Memphis.
Blake Anderson era (2026-) On December 11, 2025, Blake Anderson was promoted from offensive coordinator to be the new head coach.
Conference affiliations Independent (1912–1930, 1942–1947, 1952–1995) Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association (1931–1941) Gulf States Conference (1948–1951) Conference USA (1996–2021) Sun Belt Conference (2022-)
Championships