USM football coach Will Hall explains why he chose Jeremy Darveau to be O-line coach
When Southern Miss football coach Will Hall recently lost his offensive line coach to Arkansas, he revisited the list of potential candidates to join his staff that he keeps in the notes app on his iPhone.
“It’s a long list, and it’s by position,” Hall told the Sun Herald on Friday. “Shoot man, there ain’t no telling. There’s probably 125 names total, and it’s probably about 12 deep at each position.”
Missouri State’s Jeremy Darveau, the man who will replace Cody Kennedy as USM’s offensive line coach/run game coordinator, was featured prominently on that list.
“I keep it updated. Anytime I meet someone new that impresses me, I add it to my list so I always stay ahead of the curve,” Hall said. “Jeremy is someone I competed against when he was at Valdosta State and I was (the head coach) at West Georgia. He impressed me. His offensive lines were always the best I coached against every year.”
Darveau, a native of Hilton Head, South Carolina, worked in the same role of offensive line coach/run game coordinator under Bobby Petrino at Missouri State in 2020 and Charlie Strong at South Florida in 2019.
Darveau also played offensive tackle under Petrino at Louisville, and those ties played a role in getting a spot on Hall’s staff at USM.
“The Petrino system is the roots of our system,” Hall said. “We’ve been similar through the years. We’ve taken a lot of the foundation of what we do from Petrino. (Darveau) is a natural fit here.”
From 2015-18, Darveau was the offensive line coach, run game coordinator and recruiting coordinator under Kerwin Bell at Valdosta State. In 2018, the Blazers won the Division II national title with a 14-0 record and the nation’s top offense, averaging 52 points a game.
In 2014, Darveau was at Florida as an offensive quality control coach.
“(Tight ends coach Cayden Cochran) knows a ton of folks at Valdosta State, and they all rave about the type of human being he is,” Hall said. “I also want a football technician because we run a lot of offenses. We’re not a simple offense so we need someone who can coach a lot of schemes.
“He had to be a good offensive line coach and his responsibility is to impact people every day in a positive way. Honestly, there’s not a lot of offensive line coaches who want to do that. But that’s not the kind I like to hire. He’s a guy that understands that and embraces that. He’s a great fit, and I’m excited to work with him.”
Darveau’s coaching career began in 2008 at Southwest Minnesota State, where he worked his way up to offensive coordinator in 2013.
The 6-foot-8 Darveau played offensive tackle in his college career at Dodge City (Kansas) Community College, Kentucky and Louisville. As a pro, he played for the Amsterdam Admirals in NFL Europe and the Tampa Bay Storm in the Arena Football League.
Hall said he and Darveau shared “a lot of similar ideas” as they talked about potentially working together in Hattiesburg.
“There are a lot of things I’m excited about that he’s done in the past that can add value to our system,” Hall said. “But our system is not going to change. It’s my system, and we’ll run that system.
“He’s a guy that been a part of a national championship. The greatest offense in the history of Division II was that 2018 Valdosta State team. The two greatest Division II offenses are the 2018 Valdosta State team and (Hall’s) 2013 West Alabama team.”
Hall said that USM’s spring practice is currently scheduled to start on Feb. 23 and end on March 27.
This story was originally published January 29, 2021 at 1:44 PM.
