Here’s a look at some of the top Southern Miss recruits under Fedora, Hopson and Monken
Southern Miss head coach Will Hall is set to sign his first full recruiting class in Hattiesburg and it starts with Wednesday’s early signing period.
We’ve taken a look back at how each of the last three recruiting classes that belonged to a first-year head coach have panned out.
These are classes that signed at the conclusion of a coach’s first season at the helm.
Ellis Johnson coached just one season and was not given the opportunity to sign a full class after an 0-12 campaign in 2012.
Larry Fedora, class of 2009
Fedora was tasked with replacing successful head coach Jeff Bower, who had won 118 contests and six bowl games.
After an initial 7-6 season in 2008, Fedora pulled together the top-ranked Conference USA class in 2009, according to recruiting service 247sports.com.
The group of Golden Eagles eventually became the first USM team in its Division I history to win 12 games in 2011.
Fedora used the class as a launching pad to elevate USM and parlay that success into the head coaching gig at North Carolina.
The 2009 class included two four star players in defensive lineman Khyri Thornton and running back Kendrick Hardy. Thornton turned in a solid career, playing in 50 games and earning All-Freshman and All-Conference honors in his career before being drafted by the Green Bay Packers.
Hardy made a near-immediate impact, leading the team in rushing during his redshirt freshman season in 2010. He suffered a significant lower body injury during a 172-yard performance against Rice in 2011 and struggled to regain form after that.
The crown jewel of the class may have been Jamie Collins, though. Collins was a three-star athlete that chose USM over an offer from Auburn. The Mississippi native recorded 19.5 tackles for loss during the record-breaking ‘11 season and earned All-Conference honors after the forgettable ‘12 season.
Every class has an uncovered gem and, for Fedora’s first group, that was junior college wideout Ryan Ballentine. A lightly recruited prospect, Ballentine was a breakout star in his senior season, leading the team in receiving in ‘11 as Austin Davis’ top target.
Fedora’s initial class broke records at USM and saw the highest peak any Golden Eagle this century has seen. It also saw the lowest valley the very next year under Johnson. The coach who followed Johnson’s fall would be given the time to rebuild the cupboard.
Todd Monken, class of 2014
Southern Miss went through the lumps of a bottomed-out roster, enduring a 1-11 season in Monken’s first year. Monken’s staff did impressive work on the recruiting trail, however, turning in the conference’s third-ranked class in the spring of 2014.
The Golden Eagles turned around upon the arrival of the 201414 class. Southern Miss jumped from three wins in ‘14 to nine in 2015.
Much like Fedora, Monken used the success to move up the ladder and took an NFL assistant coaching job after three seasons in Hattiesburg.
The class in question produced one of the most productive players in USM history: running back Ito Smith. Hailing from the Alabama Gulf Coast, Smith led the team in rushing his true freshman year and went on to three 1,000-yard seasons.
Smith would finish with nearly 6,000 total yards and trailed only Damion Fletcher in yards from scrimmage this century. He would be drafted by the Falcons as the tenth Golden Eagle to see his name called in the draft in the last 10 years.
Among the defensive players in the group were defensive backs Picasso Nelson and Cornell Armstrong. The two combined for 347 career tackles and 10 interceptions.
When Monken left, the next man in line inherited many of his players with multiple years left of eligibility and had the chance to stack another strong first class on top of it.
Unfortunately, the next coach did not find as much success as his predecessors.
Jay Hopson, Class of 2017
The Golden Eagles had a winning record every year under Hopson but peaked at just eight wins in his second season at the lead.
Hopson resigned just one game into the 2020 season after a stunning upset at the hands of South Alabama.
The 2017 class featured some coastal flavor with players like wide receiver Tim Jones from Biloxi who gave the Golden Eagles a monster 73-catch 2019 season.
Multiple players from the class were still on the roster for the 2021 season, including kicker Briggs Bourgeois who made 22 field goals in his career. Linebacker Santrell Latham comes out of the ‘17 class, as well, and registered 159 career tackles.
In total, Hopson won a lot more games with his classes than those who came before him. But by the end of his tenure, it was becoming clear a ceiling had been hit quickly and what was put in place was not sustainable.
Now in steps Hall. The Mississippi son is working on his first full class after a 3-9 debut and is betting on the group being the building block for a bigger future in The Rock.
