Southern Miss football has officially began its spring practice on Thursday.
Despite the Golden Eagles coming off a 7-6 season and a bowl-game win, Southern Miss has numerous questions to be answered.
"Defensively, we want to get better at explosive plays and then offensively continue to improve and becoming what we came here to do," said Southern Miss coach Will Hall on what he hopes to accomplish this spring. "I feel like it's the first time we have a fighting chance to run the offense we came here to run. In special teams, we are a top 25 team in the country, so we have to continue to improve and maybe jump into the top 15.
"Obviously, offensively, we took huge strides from where we were from Year 1 to Year 2, but we still weren't very good. We think going into Year 3, that we can start to see our offense and what it can be. I think our offensive line is in the best place it has been in as far as returners and also talent."
Who wins the quarterback battle?
Last year's quarterback job was never truly decided until midway through last season, which had Trey Lowe taking over the final four games, but Lowe and original named starter Ty Keyes have since transferred. The only quarterback that started games last season is Zach Wilcke.
Although Wilcke helped guide USM to three wins early in the season, with his most notable against Tulane, the freshman was benched in favor of Lowe during the Georgia State loss. Wilcke finished the year throwing for 1,151, eight touchdowns and nine interceptions.
According to Hall, Wilcke, and transfers, Holman Edwards and Billy Wiles are in a three-way battle for the starting job.
"We have three guys that are competing right now to be the starter," Hall said. "We have a lot of talent in that room. The most we have ever had. It's a lot of competition for the first time. We really feel good about. I think we have done to that room kind of what we did to the defensive line last year. We brought a lot of kids in that can really play."
Wiles, who transferred from Clemson, was recruited by Hall at Tulane but opted to walk on at the Tigers in 2021. Edwards is a transfer from Houston but did not see any action while with the Cougars. In junior college at East Central CC, Edwards threw for 1,615 yards on 182-of-327 passes in 14 games with 12 touchdowns and 13 interceptions.
How will the defense look with a new DC?
Southern Miss's defense will look a little different after defensive coordinator Austin Armstrong accepted a job at Alabama this offseason. In less than a month, Armstrong left Alabama to become Florida's defensive coordinator as he reunited with Billy Napier, who he coached with at Louisiana.
Armstrong's results spoke for itself as he helped the Golden Eagles have statically one of the best defenses in the country the last two years. To replace Armstrong, Hall opted to promote secondary coach Dan O'Brien.
"To the naked eye not a lot," said Hall on how different the defense will look with O'Brien at the helm. "Coach O'Brien has been an integral part of what we are doing, especially on the back end of the secondary. Obviously, he has to put his own twist to it."
From West Alabama to West Georgia to here, we have always played great defense. We are going to continue to play great defense. I think we have really good players and have a chance to be good there.
How will special teams look?
Along with losing a key piece in Armstrong, USM also lost two of other valuable pieces with longtime kicker Briggs Bourgeois and punter Mason Hunt, who was regularly featured on the Ray Guy watchlist. Both positions will have to be filled this off-season.
Placekicker will be a battle between redshirt junior Andrew Stein and redshirt freshman Jack Tannehill.
Stein has seen limited action in his career, as he appeared in four games in 2020 on kickoff duties. Back in 2019, Stein handled kicking duties after Bourgeois missed the season due to an injury. In that year, Stein was 18-of-22 on field goals, which included a long of 46 yards, and was 34-of-37 on PATs.
Tannehill, an Oxford High School product, was named the No. 1 kicker in Mississippi back in 2020 and considered a five-star by Kohl's Kicking. As a four-year starter, Tannehill finished his career 132-of-133 on PATs and was 43-of-57 in field goals, which included a career-long of 48 yards in his junior year.
The punting job looks to be Co-Lin CC transfer Bryce Lofton's to lose. Lofton spent the last three years with the Wolves, with him averaging 40.9 yards per punt in his final year.
"They are really talented guys that need use this spring to show what they can do," Hall said. "I believe in all of them. Stein has made some big kicks here. Jack made huge kicks in high school and was highly recruited. Bryce has to show this spring that he can be that guy, or we will go sign one. He knows that. We have been upfront and told him that. he has the first opportunity to do it."
Who is healthy?
Toward the end of last season, Golden Eagles had their fair share of injuries, and the first day of spring practice was littered with red jerseys.
The most notable players looking to be cleared this spring are wide receiver Brandon Hayes and linebacker Hayes Maples. Hayes went down with a season-ending knee injury during practice last season, while Maples tore his ACL towards the end of last summer.
Linebackers Josh Carr and Swayze Bozeman will not be cleared for the spring but are hoping to return to full action this summer.
Early enrollee wide receiver Matt Nixon, a West Jones product, is expected to be cleared during spring camp as well, while freshman quarterback Ethan Crawford, who injured his knee in his senior season at Hillcrest HS in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, will not be cleared until the summer.
"They are all out there and working individually," Hall said. "They just can't do contact."
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