Southern Miss is close to returning 2 starters and a former C-USA coach joins the staff
A pair of starters on offense have moved closer to returning to the field for the Southern Miss football team after sitting out the 41-31 win at North Texas on Oct. 3.
Junior running back Don Ragsdale is expected to play in Saturday’s 6:30 p.m. game at UTEP (3-2, 0-1) and it appears that senior receiver Tim Jones is as close to playing as he’s been since he suffered a hamstring injury against Louisiana Tech on Sept. 19.
“Tim looked really good Sunday night (in practice), and we’re excited about that,” USM offensive coordinator Matt Kubik said Monday.
Ragsdale and Jones were on a long list of players who didn’t play at UNT for a variety of reasons, including COVID-19 protocols.
USM (1-3, 1-1), only had 53 scholarship players available for the UNT game and interim head coach Scotty Walden said it remains to be seen how many Golden Eagles will be ready to play in El Paso.
“It’s still too early to tell,” Walden said. “I anticipate having more than (53). I’m very optimistic and hopefully we’ll get some guys back.”
USM had last week’s home game against Florida Atlantic postponed due to COVID-19 cases on the FAU roster. The make-up date of the game is still to be determined.
FAU coach Willie Taggart said Monday that 18 of his players tested positive for the coronavirus last week, according to Khobi Price of the Sun Sentinel.
USM has good situation at center
USM was also missing junior center Trace Clopton for the North Texas game, but his backup, redshirt freshman Louis Smith, showed that he is more than capable of filling in.
USM dominated the line of scrimmage, running 46 times for 202 yards and three touchdowns.
Clopton’s status for Saturday’s game is up in the air following an undisclosed injury, but Walden is confident the D’Iberville native can step in if needed.
“Louis stepped up and played really well. I feel like we have two great centers,” Walden said. “A lot of teams would be begging to have two great centers. That will help us throughout the course of the year.
“I’m proud of Louis and we know what type of player Trace is. He’s a warrior. We want to make sure he’s able to get back out there. He’ll be evaluated and see where he’s at. We’ll make a judgment from there.”
Saturday’s USM-UTEP game will be shown on ESPN2.
Southern Miss adds Rick Minter to staff
Walden confirmed Monday that he has made a couple of additions to his staff as analysts — former Cincinnati head coach Rick Minter and former Belhaven head coach Scott Highsmith.
The 65-year-old Minter served as the Cincinnati head coach from 1995-2003, compiling a record of 56-63-1 with four bowl trips. He has since worked as the defensive coordinator for South Carolina, Notre Dame, Marshall and Kentucky. The Texas native most recently served as the defensive coordinator at Florida Tech from 2017-18 and for the Birmingham Iron of the Alliance of American Football in 2019.
“He has a wealth of knowledge,” Walden said of Minter. “But it’s not only about that. He’s a great person. I was looking for a guy, a veteran type of coach that can impart wisdom on our staff and give us perspective.”
Minter was 2-5 as the Cincinnati head coach against USM.
Highsmith has also worked as a receivers coach at Kentucky, offensive coordinator at Southeastern Louisiana and head coach in 2017 at Div. III East Texas Baptist — where Walden served as head coach in 2016.
This story was originally published October 12, 2020 at 1:32 PM.
