USM has two staff spots to fill, including OC. Here’s what Jay Hopson says he’s seeking.
With signing the 2020 recruiting class behind him, Southern Miss football coach Jay Hopson is on to the next major task — hiring an offensive coordinator.
Hopson addressed the staff vacancy Wednesday night during an interview with the Sun Herald, saying he should have someone in place in the next few days.
“Probably by early next week,” Hopson said. “That’s my next order of business. I’ll get on that hard the next few days.”
Buster Faulkner stepped down as the USM offensive coordinator in January after landing a spot on the staff at Georgia as an offensive analyst. It’s a surprising move considering he was making $250,000 at USM, according to a USA Today database, and will now make $150,000 at Georgia, according to the Athens (Ga.) Banner-Herald.
With Faulkner’s resignation, it should come as no surprise that running backs coach Chris Buckner has also left the program. Hopson confirmed the move to the Sun Herald on Wednesday.
Buckner followed Faulkner to USM after both were fired from the Arkansas State staff after the 2018 campaign.
Hiring the right USM offensive coordinator
Hopson, who is entering his fifth season as the USM head coach, hopes to land an offensive coordinator who can spark a turnaround on the ground. Quarterback Jack Abraham, who will be a senior year this year, and his receivers have shown they can produce in the passing game, but the rushing attack has been flat since star running back Ito Smith was drafted by the Atlanta Falcons after the 2017 season.
A focus on the ground game is at the forefront for Hopson as he works to hire a new offensive coordinator.
“My biggest thing is we want a guy that understands what we want to do,” Hopson said. “We want to be a balanced offense. We want to be able to pass for 300 (yards) and run for 250. We want a balanced offense. I think that’s critical to our success.”
In each of the last two seasons, the Golden Eagles have ended the year ranked 121st in the nation in rushing yardage per game. Even though senior De’Michael Harris and junior Kevin Perkins showed they could carry the load at times in 2019, the Golden Eagles averaged 117.5 yards on the ground as a team — a slight improvement over 112.6 yards in 2018 under former offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson.
During USM’s three-game losing skid to end the season, opposing defenses took away the ground game and put all the pressure on Abraham. USM had 98 yards rushing against Western Kentucky, 60 against FAU in the regular season finale and 58 in the 30-13 loss to Tulane in the bowl game.
Those three losses produced an average of 72 yards a game on the ground following a 203-yard showing in a 36-17 victory at Texas-San Antonio on Nov. 16.
The hiring of a new offensive coordinator and running backs coach will allow Hopson the opportunity to revamp the entire rushing attack. Co-offensive coordinator/receivers coach Scotty Walden and former USM running backs coach Les Koenning are names that could be in the mix for offensive coordinator, but a report by FootballScoop.com indicates that Hopson will make an outside hire.
Tony Pecoraro returns to USM football
After spending the 2018 season as the defensive coordinator at Florida Atlantic and working as a defensive analyst at Kansas in 2019, former USM defensive coordinator Tony Pecoraro is back on the staff.
Pecoraro, who was the USM defensive coordinator during Hopson’s first two seasons as the USM coach, replaces co-defensive coordinator/linebackers coach Derek Nicholson, who left for Louisville.
Hopson couldn’t be more pleased.
“It’s like gold because, let’s face it, we’ve all been together a long time — me, Tony and Derek,” he said. “You lose one guy out of the mix, but bring another back in that knows everything A to Z. He knows what we do. Another great thing is he knows the kids. He was the linebackers coach before Derek. The same linebackers are in the room and they’re all excited they’ve got Coach Pec back. We all hate to lose Coach Nick, but they’ve got Coach Pec.”
Pecoraro’s official title as a member of the staff has yet to be finalized, but Hopson said he will handle linebackers.
With two staff spots to be filled, Hopson may take the opportunity to do some shuffling of roles on the staff.
“We might mix and match titles,” he said.
Southern Miss loads up at tight end
The tight end position hasn’t played much of a role in the offense since Larry Fedora was hired by North Carolina in 2011, but that may be about to change.
USM signed a pair of tight ends this week — Arkansas transfer Grayson Gunter and Mitchell Sellers of Paradise (Texas) High School. They will join redshirt freshman Luke Baker, redshirt junior Ray Ladner, redshirt sophomore Cole Cavallo and redshirt junior Naricuss Driver as the other tight ends with the potential of seeing playing time.
“Luke has got a ton of upside and Grayson is a guy that has already played. He’s mature,” Hopson said. “With the addition of Mitchell, we’re getting a good mix of old and young at that spot. That makes the tight end position really healthy for years.”
This story was originally published February 6, 2020 at 4:22 PM.
