Southern Miss

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The Louisiana Tech rivalryCharles Huff took over as Southern Miss's head coach, replacing Reed Stringer.our read

Sun Belt · Blake Anderson, year 2 (1-2) · M. M. Roberts Stadium · 36,000 · 26,246 avg in 2026

The nationunrankedAP / Coaches
The model#59 CFB ZeitgeistSP+ #118 (-14.9) · FPI #97
The marketUConn by 3vs UConn · our model 75% Southern Miss · a number, not a pick

LastL 8–43 at Auburn · Sat Sep 12 · Jyaire Brown 1 sacks, 1 TFL, 4 tackles

Nextvs UConn · Sat Sep 19 · 7 pm ET · M. M. Roberts Stadium · UConn by 3 · first meeting on record · Game preview

Updated Tue Sep 15 · through week 2

Zeitgeist statureRegional Program V#70 all-time– holding
one line from Regional Program IV
The era · 2014 through 2025

The CFP Era

12 seasons inside the CFP era, no bids yet — the era the program is still trying to break into.

Era record 64-84 12 seasons
Best season 9-5 2015
TRAJECTORY · quality-score line · AP rank dotted · CFP bids marked · coach regimes ribboned
Program Quality AP Rank (inverted) CFP Appearance
'14'16'18'20'22'24NOW
CHAPTERS · 12 seasons · tap to open the archive
'14 3-9 '15 9-5 '16 7-6 '17 8-5 '18 — '19 7-6 '20 3-7 '21 3-9 '22 7-6 '23 3-9 '24 1-11 '25 7-6

Southern Miss's 2014–2025 record is 64-84. The era is still being written; the CFP line is the one the program is arguing for.

Era win %
.432
Ranked seasons (AP)
0/12
Best AP finish
—

Program outlook

Brett Favre learned to throw in Hattiesburg. The program that produced him once won 21 straight seasons. In 2024, it won one game. That's the distance Southern Miss is clawing back across.

Read the full essay — 3 more paragraphs

Southern Miss is a program that carries its history like an heirloom — the 21-year winning streak from 1988 to 2010 is not mythology, it's evidence. A working-class Mississippi school that built one of the sport's great G5 runs, developed a Hall of Fame quarterback in Favre, and beat ranked SEC programs on the road for decades. 'The Rock' was where that identity lived, and for a long time it was enough to make Hattiesburg a name people knew.

Then came the fall. The streak ended in 2011, the coaching door started spinning, and 2024 bottomed out at 1-11 under two different coaches. Charles Huff arrived in 2025 and steadied the ship enough to reach a bowl — the New Orleans Bowl, a loss to Western Kentucky — before leaving after one year for Memphis, the program's own blood rival. That particular exit stung. Now Blake Anderson, promoted from offensive coordinator, holds the rebuild with a roster that didn't have to reset again and the institutional memory of what Southern Miss used to be.

The 2026 question is whether this is stabilization or the start of something. Anderson is a former Sun Belt-title head coach who knows how to build; the question in C-USA is whether a 7-6 foundation under a promoted coordinator can hold together long enough to become a real ascent. Southern Miss has the history to believe the answer is yes. The 2024 bottom was the floor, not the ceiling.

On the field

Tough, quarterback-driven, opportunistic — the brand Southern Miss built over two decades of winning and is trying to restore. Blake Anderson's pass-first staff inherits a system built around developing pro-style passers and punching above a G5 budget. The tradition is giant-killing on the road and protecting 'The Rock' at home. The identity is there; the question is whether the personnel depth has rebuilt enough to execute it.

program outlook · as of 2026-06-14

All-time record · Southern Miss

Southern Miss has won 52% of its games since 1913 — 66% at home, 41% on the road.

414-374-7 all-time · 90 seasons · 1913–2026

Home 233-112-6
Away 169-246-1
Neutral 12-16
4 g 1910s
5 g 1930s
8 g 1940s
50% 1950s
58% 1960s
49% 1970s
62% 1980s
58% 1990s
59% 2000s
48% 2010s
34% 2020s

Coaching Era · Southern Miss

Blake Anderson

Blake Anderson took over from Charles Huff for the 2026 season.

Era Blake Anderson · 2026–presentPrev: Charles Huff (2025)OC: Kyle CefaloPrev OC: Blake Anderson (2025)DC: Joe BoldenPrev DC: Jason Semore (2025)
The full CFP-era story →The full coaching lineage →
1 year · era

Program memory

What this program never forgets

Most weeks vanish. These didn’t.

1987

Favre's rise

A Hattiesburg walk-on wins the starting job and begins the path to the Hall of Fame — the story every Eagle fan leads with

2011 Conference USA title

A 12-2 season and a C-USA championship vault Southern Miss to a top-20 finish — the modern high point

2024

The 1-11 bottom

After Will Hall is fired mid-season, Southern Miss falls to 1-11 — the lowest point in a long fall from the winning-seasons streak

Wound

Moment of the season — so far · Southern Miss · 2026

Won 49-3 vs Alcorn State

Week 1 of 2026. A statement margin. Recruiting boards re-rendered overnight.

Decisive Margin

NFL Draft Pipeline

2023–2023

Southern Miss has sent 1 player to the NFL Draft since 2023 — none in the first round.

Thin. Roster development still maturing.

1 picks · 0 in round 1
#178 Eric Scott Jr Cornerback · 2023 · Dallas · #160/322 final season
#83 all-time · 4 first-round picksthe talent factory →

More in this tab

Ladder finishHow far up the ladder this season got.

Season standing · 2026 · 1-1

Southern Miss is 1-1 and unranked in the season's first weeks.

Even or better through the season's first weeks. The resume is still forming.

Sub-FBSBuildingBowlRankedContenderPlayoff
Coaching historyEvery hire and departure on record, not just the current era.

Coaching history

  • Hired Blake Anderson2025
  • Charles Huff departs7-5, 1 season
  • Hired Charles Huff2025
  • Hired Reed Stringer (interim)2024
  • Will Hall departs14-30, 4 seasons
  • Reed Stringer departs (interim)0-5, 1 season
  • Hired Will Hall2021
  • Hired Tim Billings2020
Coordinator lineageOffense and defense under each coordinator.

Unit lineage

Southern Miss’s offense and defense, by coordinator

FBS-relative efficiency percentile per season (2014–2026), same population as the Coordinator Mirror board. Dashed vertical lines mark a coordinator change.

Offense2014–2026
2014201620182020202220242026
2014–2015 · Chip Lindsey2016–2018 · Shannon Dawson2019 · Buster Faulkner / co-Scotty Walden2020 · co-Scotty Walden / Matt Kubik2021–2023 · Sam Gregg2024 · Chip Long2025 · Blake Anderson2026 · Kyle Cefalo
Defense2014–2026
2014201620182020202220242026
2014–2015 · David Duggan2016–2017 · Tony Pecoraro2018–2019 · co-Derek Nicholson / co-Tim Billings2020 · Tony Pecoraro2021–2022 · Austin Armstrong2023 · Dan O'Brien2024 · Clay Bignell2025 · Jason Semore2026 · Joe Bolden
Elite (≥70th pct)AveragePoor (≤30th pct)
Gameday customsThe gameday customs unique to this program.

Rituals

Three gameday rituals — the ones outsiders never quite catch.

21 Consecutive Winning Seasons (1988-2010)

since 1988

more

Southern Miss achieved 21 consecutive winning seasons (1988-2010) — at the time, the longest active streak in CFB. The streak crossed multiple head coaches (Curley Hallman, Jeff Bower, Larry Fedora) + multiple conferences. The 2010-2011 ended the streak; the recovery has been multi-year. The 21-season run is permanent G5 identity.

Brett Favre 1987-1990

since 1987

more

Brett Favre played QB at Southern Miss 1987-1990 + was drafted by the Falcons (#33 NFL draft 1991). Favre's Hall of Fame NFL career + the iconic Packers-Vikings career + the 'gunslinger' identity retroactively elevated USM football. Favre's #4 jersey is retired; the legacy is permanent program identity.

M.M. Roberts Stadium 'The Rock'

since 1932

more

M.M. Roberts Stadium (built 1932, expanded multiple times, nicknamed 'The Rock' for the limestone-and-brick architecture) — Southern Miss's permanent venue. The 36,000 capacity + Hattiesburg setting + Pine Belt Mississippi geography + the 1932-era construction create a venue distinct from larger flagship-state programs.

Cultural identityWhat college football loses if this program didn't exist.
BowlsEvery bowl this program's played, and how it did.

Bowl / Postseason Ledger

Recent postseason (2015-2025): 2-4

Most recent: 2025 — loss 16-27 (home). Last 5 postseason: 2-3.

20252022201920172016
Reddit blowupsThe plays that blew up on r/CFB.

r/cfb moments

277
[Postgame Thread] WKU Defeats Southern Miss 27-16
Dec 2025 · r/cfb
232
[Postgame Thread] Southern Miss Defeats Rice 38-24
Dec 2022 · r/cfb

All-time top community posts · ranked by upvotes

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