The Zeitgeist List · coaching

Will Hall

Followed Jay Hopson. Will Hall slid Southern Miss from Regional Program III to Regional Program IV in 4 seasons.

14–30

2021–now · 2 stints

Southern Miss Tulane

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In his own words

Awaiting signal — no quotes collected from this staff yet this cycle.

Career arc

His real stature score, season by season, across every program he’s coached — so a stretch that stays in one tier the whole way can still climb or sink on the line, not just flatten out. Node color marks the tier reached. Which program a stretch belongs to is carried by the shaded lane behind it.

Reached National Program in his 5th career season — faster than 14% of the 675 FBS coaches who have ever reached National Program (rank #547 of 675 by seasons-to-arrival).

Southern Miss, 4 seasons

−2.5

Regional Program IV → Regional Program IV.

Style position and drift

Where each stint’s offense sat between run-first and pass-first, and how far it moved from one season to the next. The band is that stint’s real season-to-season range, not a fixed-width box.

Pass rate — share of offensive plays that were pass attemptsfirst covered seasonmost recent covered seasonfull season-to-season range (3+ covered seasons)

How much that is, against every other stint

Season-to-season pass-rate range for all 258 FBS coaching stints with at least three covered seasons, 2014–2025.

Typical stint7.010.2 median13.9middle half of all stints

Southern Miss5.5pt#223 of 258 · less than most

The big-game ledger

How he does in the games that matter most — rivalry record, performance broken out by real opponent tier, one-score games, and his toughest historical matchup.

1–0 against his rivals.

Rivalry record

1–0

100.0% · 1 rival

One-score games

5–4

55.6% · margin ≤8

vs. Blue Blood or better

0–1

0.0%

Rivalry ledger

Louisiana Tech1–0100%

Performance by opponent class

Dynasty

0–1 0.0%

Power Program

0–2 0.0%

National Program

3–2 60.0%

Regional Program

8–13 38.1%

His own effect, isolated

A statistical estimate of this coach’s contribution to team performance, separated from that season’s roster talent, returning production, and his coordinators — pooled across his whole head-coaching career.

Offense marginal impact

-0.65

#314 of 319 · less than most

Defense marginal impact

-0.03

#180 of 325 · a typical amount

Model fit as of 2026-09-04.

What fans are saying

Fan claims · every quote verified verbatim

coaching decisionOne fan's take that season

One fan questions Will Hall's qualifications for coaching

With uncertainty at that pivotal position and some skepticism about Hall’s hiring after his rough stint at Southern Mississippi

Based on 1 comment across 1 thread · Aug 2, 2026 · via THE HUDDLE

Coaching career

2026–now

Tulane

too new to grade yet

7th-best Tulane tenure of 23 by the numbers.

Followed Jon Sumrall (2024–2025).

Roster construction · portal era

A portal-built roster.

Portal arrivals

3.1★ avg rating

Portal departures

left via the portal

Net portal flow

-7

#38 of 187 FBS stints

Who they bring in

Brings in smaller-than-position-typical players than most.

Recruits younger transfers than most — more of a development bet.

Avg. size (raw)

6′1″, 219 lbs

across 16 of 20 arrivals — unadjusted for position mix

Size vs. position-typical

+0.7 lbs

#219 of 255 · less than most

Avg. class year

#252 of 255 · less than most

Top states: LA (5), FL (3), MS (2), OH (1), CO (1)

Who won the portal our read

Talent added

49.1

position-weighted

Talent lost

53.0

position-weighted

Net

-3.9

arrivals minus departures

Best addition: Zeon Chriss-Gremillion (QB) from Houston

Biggest loss: Donovan Leary (QB) to West Florida

Position-value-weighted (QB/CB weighted highest, depth-decayed within each position) — the same scoring engine as the Portal Heat feed, not a separate grade.

Where the roster comes from, by position

Buys Running back via the portal

75%

#20 of 208 stints

Buys Tight end via the portal

67%

#23 of 188 stints

0–0

2021–2024

Southern Misscaretaker

Regional Program III → Regional Program IV

Will Hall slid Southern Miss from Regional Program III to Regional Program IV in 4 seasons.

13th-best Southern Miss tenure of 16 by the numbers.

Recruiter or developer?

Underperforms his recruiting talent on offense and performs about as expected for his recruiting talent on defense.

Offense vs. talent

-30.5 pts

#199 of 208 · less than most

Defense vs. talent

-6.2 pts

#130 of 208 · a typical amount

Recruiting talent is team-wide (no offense/defense split exists in the source data) -- both sides are scored against the same talent input, only the outcome is side-specific.

Followed Jay Hopson (2016–2020) · succeeded by Charles Huff (2025–2025).

Season	2021	2022	2023	2024
Record & result
Record	3–9	7–6	3–9	0–5
Postseason	—	W bowl	—	—
Recruiting rank	#123	#79	#81	#77
Style — pass rate
Pass rate	38.2	42.1	42.9	43.7
Coordinators
OC	Sam Gregg	Sam Gregg	Sam Gregg	Chip Long
DC	Austin Armstrong	Austin Armstrong	Dan O'Brien	Clay Bignell
Outcome — opponent-adjusted efficiency percentile
Offense	2	38	15	0
Defense	46	81	24	4
Tendencies — play-by-play, neutral script (2021+ only)
1st-down pass%	40.8	42.2	46.5	44.8
Red-zone pass%	41.8	41.9	40.7	26.7
4th-down go%opp. territory	26.5	22.2	32.6	39.3

Roster construction · portal era

A typical amount of portal roster-building.

Portal arrivals

3.0★ avg rating

Portal departures

left via the portal

Net portal flow

#112 of 187 FBS stints

Who they bring in

Brings in smaller-than-position-typical players than most.

Recruits older, more experienced transfers than most.

Avg. size (raw)

6′2″, 231 lbs

across 34 of 44 arrivals — unadjusted for position mix

Size vs. position-typical

-0.8 lbs

#240 of 255 · less than most

Avg. class year

#59 of 255 · more than most

Top states: MS (23), GA (3), TX (2), TN (1), LA (1)

Who won the portal our read

Talent added

54.2

position-weighted

Talent lost

51.3

position-weighted

Net

+2.9

arrivals minus departures

Best addition: Tate Rodemaker (QB) from Florida State

Biggest loss: Ty Keyes (QB) to the portal

Position-value-weighted (QB/CB weighted highest, depth-decayed within each position) — the same scoring engine as the Portal Heat feed, not a separate grade.

Does the system survive a coordinator change?

DC: Austin Armstrong → Dan O'Brien · 2023

1-season window either side — numbers shown, not enough to badge a verdict.

Roster size, by position

Skill positions · usage-weighted (real participation)

Quarterback

206 lbs

6′2″ avg · #574 of 767 · a typical amount

Running back

194 lbs

5′10″ avg · #755 of 791 · less than most

Wide receiver

193 lbs

6′1″ avg · #395 of 791 · a typical amount

Tight end

239 lbs

6′4″ avg · #580 of 731 · less than most

Trench & secondary · recruited roster, not confirmed starters

Interior line

316 lbs

6′4″ avg · #115 of 779 · more than most

D-line

277 lbs

6′3″ avg · #525 of 753 · a typical amount

Linebacker

226 lbs

6′1″ avg · #511 of 772 · a typical amount

Cornerback

186 lbs

6′1″ avg · #596 of 771 · less than most

Offensive-line size is one undifferentiated bucket — the source data almost never distinguishes tackle from guard from center, so we can't split them out.

Where the roster comes from, by position

Buys Edge via the portal

86%

#7 of 208 stints

Buys ATH via the portal

20%

#24 of 146 stints

Grows Tight end from high school

80%

#146 of 188 stints

Grows Wide receiver from high school

83%

#220 of 243 stints

Postseason detail2022: Beat Rice 38–24 LendingTree Bowl

1 NFL Draft pick: Eric Scott Jr (2023)

14–30