Why’d he hire a 27-year-old to run defense? Will Hall breaks down USM football staff
When Will Hall set out to piece together his football staff at Southern Miss, his most important task was choosing the right coach to lead the defense.
Hall has a proven background on the offensive side of the ball, serving as the play caller in each of his previous two head coaching stints at West Georgia and West Alabama. He’s also coming off a two-year stint where he turned around the Tulane offense as the coordinator.
As he quickly assembled his new staff, he decided it would be up to 27-year-old Austin Armstrong to make sure the defense holds up its end of the bargain for Hall at Southern Miss.
There were plenty of coaches with longer resumes that would have jumped at a shot to join Hall’s staff as defensive coordinator, but he instead looked to a youthful up-and-comer.
Armstrong spent the 2020 campaign as the inside linebackers coach at Louisiana-Lafayette after serving one season on the staff at Georgia as a quality control assistant. Prior to that, he was an assistant defensive line coach for Hall at West Georgia in 2016 and spent the 2017 and 2018 seasons as a graduate assistant at Louisiana-Lafayette.
It’s been a quick climb for Armstrong from West Georgia to USM defensive coordinator, but it didn’t come without putting in the extra leg work to make sure he was in good with the right people.
“We had a spot open at West Georgia for a graduate assistant spot and he made about 30 connections to me in about five days,” Hall said. “It was absolutely incredible how resourceful he was. He got in touch with people who were connected to my dad or connected with me through West Alabama. He weaved a web of connections just to get an interview.”
When he did get the interview, Armstrong won Hall over quickly.
“Halfway through, I walked out and said, ‘I’m fixing to hire that guy,’” Hall said. “If y’all don’t hire him on defense, I’ll create a spot on offense because that dude has got it.
“We hired him and he did a great job. He’s got it, man. He’s super intelligent, a good person. He’s driven and resourceful. We’re kind of kindred spirits.”
Austin Armstrong makes early leap to USM defensive coordinator
In hiring Armstrong, Hall sees the opportunity to install a style of defense similar to that of Kirby Smart’s at Georgia.
No defensive mind in college football has done a better job of adjusting to today’s fast-paced offenses than Smart has at Georgia, and Hall is confident Armstrong’s experience at UGA has rubbed off.
“Kirby Smart gave him tremendous responsibilities,” Hall said. “He ran their walk-throughs and did a ton of things. He went back to Louisiana-Lafayette and he’s just a rising star in the profession. He’ll be the next Kirby Smart and he’s a great person.
“Some thought we might hire older. Sure, we can hire someone older. But I wanted to hire a young guy who is going to be the next superstar in coaching, and that’s what we got.”
Hall said he expects to have a defense that will be very multiple, mixing in three- and four-man fronts.
“You’ll see some man coverage mixed with zone,” he said. “Austin is great with situational football. We won’t be doing silly, stupid things. We’ll be very cutting edge and up to speed — very similar to what Georgia has done in the past.”
Hall points to a long list of respected coaches that Armstrong has worked with, starting with Baylor defensive coordinator Ron Roberts, who was at Louisiana-Lafayette.
“(Baylor head coach) Dave Aranda and Pete Golding at Alabama and Patrick Toney at Louisiana-Lafayette, a lot of great coaches have come under that tree,” Hall said. “He’s been under Kirby Smart. He worked under Scott Symons, who is the defensive coordinator at Liberty. Austin has been under some of the top defensive minds in college football.”
Will Hall to call own plays at Southern Miss
Like he did previously as a head coach, Hall will call his own offensive plays and coach quarterbacks at USM.
“It’s all I’ve ever wanted to do and what I’ve done my whole life,” he said.
A tip from former Louisville coach Bobby Petrino when he got his first head coaching job at West Alabama at the age of 30 helped convince Hall to keep the role of offensive coordinator.
“’Make sure you keep coaching quarterbacks and calling plays. Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t do that,’” Hall said, recalling his conversation with Petrino. “Why become a head coach and quit doing everything you did in the first place?
“Most successful head coaches are still actively involved in play calling. Nick Saban, Pete Carroll, Bill Walsh, Jim Tressel ... the list goes on and on.”
While Hall will act as his own offensive coordinator, he has given offensive line coach Cody Kennedy the role of run game coordinator and receivers coach Desmond Lindsey the additional title of passing game coordinator.
“They’ve been with me a long time,” Hall said. “Desmond has worked with me 10 years and Cody has been with me a long time. He was with me at Tulane.
“They know exactly what I want. They’ve been with me so long long that we’ll finish each others sentences.”
Reed Stringer steps up as No. 2 for USM football
With the leadership structure in place on offense and defense, Hall tabbed Reed Stringer to handle a good chunk of the day-to-day operations of the program.
Stringer, who is the lone holdover from Jay Hopson’s staff, was given the title of assistant head coach/general manager — a position that’s hard to find in the college game.
Hall gives a great deal of credit to Stringer for putting together a December signing class of 11 players that included impressive gets like Taylorsville quarterback Ty Keyes and Magee receiver Zay Franks.
“Reed has always been unbelievably crucial in the development of the roster and recruiting regardless of where he’s been, but he didn’t always get credit for it. He’s going to get credit here,” Hall said.
Hall and Stringer worked together when they were both at Louisiana-Lafayette in 2017.
“Anything that deals with compliance, managing the roster and academics, that will go through him,” Hall said of Stringer. “He knows Mississippi and he understands recruiting. He’s somewhat of a guru.”
“He’ll be my right hand man. If I get COVID and had to step away, he’d become the head coach. He’s that guy. He’s a great person and a great recruiter. He understands how to manage a roster.”
A look at the rest of the USM staff
The rest of Hall’s USM staff is a mix of youth and experience.
▪ Safeties coach Dan O’Brien — Spent the last two seasons in defensive quality control at Georgia after coaching secondaries at Navy and Elon.
▪ Special teams coach Greg Meyer — Worked the last three seasons as a special teams analyst at Georgia after severing two years as the special teams coordinator/running backs coach at Eastern Kentucky.
▪ Strength and conditioning coach Lance Ancar — Spent last season as the assistant director of strength conditioning at Ole Miss. A former teammate of Hall’s at North Alabama, Ancar has also worked in strength and conditioning at South Alabama and Alabama.
▪ Tight ends coach Cayden Cochran — Worked the last three years as offensive coordinator at Div. II Emporia State and also had a stint of Hall’s staff at West Georgia.
▪ Cornerbacks coach Chad Williams — The former USM football player worked with Hall at West Georgia and has served as a defensive coordinator at Central Arkansas, Savannah State and Valdosta State.
▪ Running backs coach Jordy Joseph — The former Green Wave quarterback spent the last three years as an offensive analyst at Tulane.
▪ Defensive line coach Brandon Lacy — Spent last year at Richmond following a 10-year run at Southeastern Louisiana.
▪ Outside linebackers coach Mark Criner — Former defensive coordinator at Portland State, Cincinnati, Middle Tennessee and Idaho.
▪ Director of football operations Tad Blaylock — Served as the director of operations at Incarnate Word and West Georgia.
Hall described himself as “extremely comfortable” with the staff he has put together.
“When they hired me, I told them I would be very meticulous with who I bring in,” he said. “If you’ve got a bad player or a bad person in the program, you’ve got to get rid of them. I’d rather coach with six coaches that are all bought in the same than 10 coaches with two or three not bought in.”
“This is a great group of men. This will be a good group, all driven to get us back to the top.”
This story was originally published January 5, 2021 at 4:00 AM.
