Bio Blast: Southern Miss Golden Eagles

The ball is teed up. Now we need to play the games. Week 1 of the 2024 college football season has arrived, and things will get going in the Bluegrass on Saturday when Kentucky hosts Southern Miss for the fifth all-time meeting between the two programs.

Head coach Will Hall is now in year four at Southern Miss and is fresh off his second losing season in three years as this program has transitioned from the C-USA to a tougher Sun Belt Conference. The former Division II head coach at West Alabama and West Georgia needs a big year. Southern Miss has brought in a lot of new personnel to get this program back on track.

KSR’s Bio Blast is taking an early look at Kentucky’s first opponent.

Brand new play-callers

After a big step back in 2023, Southern Miss head coach Will Hall decided to make some changes. The play-calling head coach took a step back and decided to find a play-calling offensive coordinator. Hall also made staffing changes on defense after the Golden Eagles slipped from No. 55 to No. 131 in yards per play allowed and from No. 41 to No. 120 in points per drive allowed.

Chip Long and Clay Bignell stepped in to help correct the issues.

Long spent last season in a support staff role at Louisville but has a long play-calling history. The 41-year-old tight ends coach has held the offensive coordinator title at Memphis (2016), Notre Dame (2017-19), Tulane (2021), and Georgia Tech (2022). Long replaced Hall at Tulane after he bolted to become the head coach at Southern Miss. The play-caller worked for Mike Norvell at Memphis and Brian Kelly at Notre Dame. Long’s offense at Georgia Tech was a no-huddle operation that mixed in tempo variations but would go under center more than a normal for a typical modern college offense. Long was the play-caller on a Notre Dame team that made the College Football Playoff in 2018, but his three offenses in South Bend never finished better than No. 19 in ESPN’s SP+ rankings and never in the top 20 in yards per play. Long’s only Georgia Tech unit finished sub-100 in yards per play, points per drive, success rate, and EPA/play.

Bignell takes over the defense after serving as the defensive coordinator at Eastern Illinois in 2023. Bignell’s unit forced 25 takeaways and allowed just 19.7 points per game. Under current Florida defensive coordinator Austin Armstrong, Southern Miss was known for its aggressive play and forced at least 22 takeaways in each of Armstrong’s two years on staff. Bignell will bring a zone-heavy approach after working under Texas A&M head coach Mike Elko, Vanderbilt head coach Clark Lea, and Los Angeles Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter. Bignell will employ a 4-2-5 scheme.

Hall needs both of his two new coordinators to deliver immediately.

New name at quarterback

Quarterback play has been an issue for Southern Miss since head coach Will Hall arrived on campus. The Golden Eagles haven’t seen a starting quarterback reach the modest seven yards per pass attempt threshold since Jack Abraham in 2022. For the fourth time in four seasons, Hall will have a new starting quarterback.

Southern Miss has not publicly named a starter, but expect to see Florida State transfer Tate Rodemaker taking the snaps with the starting unit at Kroger Field on Saturday night.

The former three-star recruit flipped from South Florida to Florida State in the class of 2020 and spent four seasons in Tallahassee playing for head coach Mike Norvell. Rodemaker played in 23 games during his stint at FSU with two starting assignments. The transfer has two years of eligibility remaining and brings 901 career passing yards on 7.6 yards per attempt, but accuracy (57.6% completion rate) has been an issue. Rodemaker has a big arm and gives Southern Miss some raw talent at the quarterback position the program has not had in some time.

Southern Miss needs Rodemaker to become one of their better players immediately. In a road game versus Louisville in 2022, the quarterback came off the bench and threw two touchdown passes in a comeback win.

Rebuilding through the transfer portal

Two new coordinators brings on some player movement. Southern Miss had to find answers on offense and defense after a rough season. The Golden Eagles added double-digit transfers to the roster in the offseason with 10 players joining the program after spending time in the SEC.

Tate Rodemaker is the big name, but there will be multiple first-year transfers starting on offense. Right guard Dontae Lucas (South Alabama) and right tackle Greg Nunnery (junior college) step in right away on the line of scrimmage. Dannis Jackson (Missouri) and Larry Simmons (Ole Miss) step into the starting lineup immediately at wide receiver.

On defense, Desmyn Baker (WKU) and Tre Pinkney (Coastal Carolina) will play big roles immediately. Will James (Mississippi State) was one of the biggest stars for Southern Miss during fall camp.

Southern Miss re-tooled via college football free agency and is hopeful that will bring some improved play to both offense and defense in 2024.

Strong defensive line

Southern Miss needed some roster overhauls at multiple positions, but the defensive line was not one of them. The Golden Eagles return five players who played 200-plus snaps on the defensive front and have legitimate size and experience in the trenches.

Brodarius Lewis (6-2, 310) and Demeco Roland (6-3, 340) are two former junior college transfers who form a terrific duo at nose tackle. Jalil Clemons (6-3, 240) gives the unit some pop as a havoc creator. The Jack linebacker recorded 11 tackles for loss, 5.5 sacks, and 18 pressures last season. Jalen Williams (6-4, 305) is a former Arkansas transfer who led the unit in tackles (47) last year and chipped in 7.5 tackles for loss.

The Golden Eagles have a handful of super seniors, good size, and added two power conference transfers to bolster depth. USM’s defensive line is the biggest positional strength on the team and has a chance to become one of the top defensive lines in the Group of Five this season.