Southern Miss builds off momentum with 2023 class
Southern Miss more than doubled its win total following head coach Will Hall’s first complete class and showed off the fruits of the staff’s efforts in a LendingTree Bowl win over Rice.
It’s Act II for Hall and company now as they build from their success on the field with a new recruiting class. Early signing day brought the Golden Eagles 23 early Christmas presents from seven different states.
Wednesday represents the bulk of the new recruits USM will bring in, but Hall says they’ll continue to sign players in the coming weeks in hopes of completing the class before February’s final signing period.
“We really felt like we were able to sign a good mix of high school players along with transfer players,” Hall said during a press conference. “We’ve got a ton of players coming back. We feel really good about our future in building the program.”
Of the 23 signatures, 14 came from high school players, three came from junior college and six arrive from the transfer portal. The group is made up of 13 offensive recruits, eight defensive and two special teams players.
Southern Miss will benefit from at least 12 players out of the initial bunch who will be enrolling early in January.
Here are our biggest takeaways from the Golden Eagles’ December recruiting haul.
Quarterback depth solved
It’s no secret quarterback depth has been a thorn in Hall’s offense over the first two seasons of his tenure, but USM has finally got the room stacked with a mix of post-high school talent, high-ceiling freshman and experienced returning arms.
A four-man class puts to rest a major area of concern for a ball club that had a winning record despite more-than-spotty play from the most important position on the field.
Transfers Holman Edwards (Houston) and Billy Wiles (Clemson) instantly add collegiate-level knowledge of the position and much-needed competition in practice.
High school signees Ethan Crawford from Tuscaloosa, Ala. and Austin Gonzalez of Plano, Texas, give the room some highly athletic depth to develop.
Hall said during the press conference it was important the staff use this class to “add an influx of talent” to the position.
“Now we really feel like we finally killed that fly with a hammer, if you will,” Hall said. “We got a lot in the room, we’re going to compete just like we do at all of our other positions.”
Crawford tore his ACL in the final regular season game of his senior season, but is enrolling early and is expected to be cleared to throw by the time spring practice rolls around.
Gonzales will be a summertime addition, but draws excitement from Hall with his ultra-athletic play, perfect 36 ACT score and quick-learning of the USM offense.
The transfers are set to provide immediate competition for rostered quarterbacks Zach Wilcke and Ty Keyes. According to Hall, Edwards was likely to earn the starting job at Houston but the French Camp, Mississippi, native transferred to USM in order to play closer to home.
Hall says Wiles, like Edwards, was highly-recruited out of the portal. Wiles was originally recruited by Hall at Tulane when Wiles was in high school.
“We’re excited about getting all four of these quarterbacks in the room, along with what we got, and letting them compete.” Hall said.
Florida pipeline grows
Southern Miss expanded its deeply-Mississippi footprint a bit with this class. The Golden Eagles were more “picky” about who they signed this winter, according to Hall, due to the depth that’s already been built.
This led to dips into Texas, West Georgia and back into the Florida Panhandle.
“We really followed the same plan, it’s just we can be a little more hesitant and a little more picky because we have a lot of good players in our program coming back,” Hall said.
One emerging pipeline has surfaced in Pensacola, where the staff has now signed three defensive linemen in two years who originate from the Gulf Coast city.
High school commit and Pensacola native Elijah Douglas signed with USM just a couple of weeks after decommitting from Georgia Tech. Douglas was a prospect the Golden Eagles had to fight for, per Hall.
“We think (Douglas) can really fit along the line,” Hall said. “All of our D-linemen are Power Five guys. We think Elijah is a Power Five guy. Great job by (defensive line coach) Brandon Lacy, staying on him through the whole recruiting process. When the (coaching) changes happened at Georgia Tech, his family came over and they loved our culture and they loved our environment... We think Elijah has a bright, bright future. He’s got a chance to be a special, special player.”
One of the four transfer portal finds was Eric Thomas Jr. from Arkansas, who also originated from Pensacola. Thomas Jr. is also the second transfer in two years from Arkansas after Jalen Williams joined the team last year.
Douglas and Thomas Jr. join redshirt freshman Iliyas Fuavai as the three defensive lineman hailing from the same town.
“We recruit the panhandle pretty hard, it just so happened they all happen to be defensive linemen,” Hall said. “Mark Criner, our outside linebackers coach, recruits that area. He and Brandon Lacy did a phenomenal job with Elijah Douglas and Eric Thomas this year... It’s been good getting that panhandle area back rolling for us. There’s a lot of good football there and it’s not far from home.”
Skill positions get better
There are five offensive skill players in the early bunch that signed from high school and junior college. Two of them drew high praise from Hall as potential game-changers.
Wide receiver Javieon Butler from Forest, Mississippi, won’t benefit from an early spring, but is the highest-rated recruit in the class. He’s got tremendous size at 6-foot-5 and possesses great downfield speed and footwork.
“We think Javieon Butler is one of the best Group of Five football players that’s probably ever signed,” Hall said. “He came to camp at 6-foot-4, 200 lbs. and ran a 4.52 (40-yard dash)... Phenomenal player.”
Butler was recruited with an NFL pitch by receivers coach Desmond Lindsey and a plan to eventually make him the focal point of the offense.
Another significant skill came from the Golden Eagles’ own backyard in Jaquarrius Gray from Oak Grove High School. Gray is an athlete who USM has brought on with the intent to play him at running back.
And more specifically, Hall has plans to star Gray in role currently manned by Frank Gore Jr.
“JQ brings something to the table that is hard to find, he is super fast,” Hall said. “He’s a tough guy... We think JQ can be dynamic as a super back... We think he can be a Darren Sproles type guy in the future. Great hands in the slot and out of the backfield.”
More on the way
Hall said he expects to add more signatures in the coming weeks and hopes to have his class finished well before the next signing day period. High school linebacker Chris Rodgers and corner Will James are the only two current commits who have not signed yet.
The staff would like to add seven or eight more players to the class and have specific needs it wants to fill with the remaining spots.
Hall wants another linebacker and two more defensive backs as the top priorities. Outside of those positions, the offensive line and the tight end position may also be shored up.
According to Hall, USM is open to utilizing the transfer portal in searching for the final pieces to the Class of ‘23 puzzle.
The full list of commits and signees can be found here. The class is currently ranked third in the Sun Belt behind Arkansas State and Appalachian State.
This story was originally published December 21, 2022 at 3:20 PM.
