With Charles Huff gone after one season, who might Southern Miss turn to?
Reports surfaced Saturday that Southern Miss head coach Charles Huff would be heading north to Memphis after one 7-5 season.
That puts athletic director Jeremy McClain in the same position he was in around this time last year: looking for a head coach.
The next in line will be the third in three years at USM and taking over a team that’s graduating over 30 players, but does have an NIL collective that has grown by well over 100% in the last 12 months.
No official statement has been made at this time, therefore no timeline on a new hire has been established yet. But that won’t stop us from putting a pool of candidates together.
Blake Anderson, Southern Miss offensive coordinator
Anderson provides USM a starting point and a backstop as an in-house option. Anderson arrived with Huff as an heir apparent last winter from his previous post as Utah State’s head coach.
Anderson has spent three years in Hattiesburg between his two seasons in 2008 and 2009 as quarterbacks coach and run game coordinator under Larry Fedora, and most recent operating the offense.
The 56-year-old has Sun Belt experience as one of the most tenured coaches the league has had in the last 15 years. Anderson led the Arkansas State program for seven seasons where he appeared in six bowl games and won two conference titles.
Jerry Mack, Kennesaw State head coach
Mack will be a hot name as the fast-spinning coaching carousel whirls into the second tier of coach-poached programs. The Owls just won the Conference USA championship game against Jacksonville State Friday in Mack’s first year.
Kennesaw State is 10-3 in just its second season at the FBS level and a year after debuting with a 2-10 record. Mack currently earns a $750K salary, according to USA Today. Southern Miss handed huff an annual pay rate of $950K.
While USM can give Mack a raise, so can plenty others and that includes KSU. Mack is an attractive up-and-comer who is originally from Memphis, played college ball at Jackson State and began his career as a grad assistant at McClain’s alma mater Delta State before returning to JSU as an assistant.
But USM won’t be the only school putting a bid in.
Ryan Beard, Missouri State head coach
Missouri State is one of the only two programs newer to the FBS level than KSU. Yet the Bears are 7-5 and heading to a bowl game under Beard’s direction.
Beard is one of the youngest head coaches in the FBS at 36 years old. He’s been the Bears’ coach for three seasons where he’s compiled a 19-16 record and 15-9 in the last two seasons.
Southern Miss would be in better position to lure Beard than Mack. Beard’s pay at MSU is currently just $450K, the second-lowest among public FBS schools and half that of what Huff earned at USM. The resource bump from MSU to USM would also be notable than from KSU amidst the latter’s aggressive NIL push.
Mike Jacobs, Mercer head coach
Jacobs is climbing the ladder and winning at every rung. He spent eight seasons at the D-II level between Notre Dame College and Lenoir-Rhyne and put together a 74-17 record with four playoff trips and three conference championships between them.
His success has Mercer has been instant. The Bears were 11-3 with five wins over FCS top-25 teams and a Southern Conference title. Jacobs received an extension immediately and led Mercer to a 9-3 season and another top-10 finish and conference championship.
Southern Miss may be a bit gun-shy on coaches with gaudy win totals based on past experience, though.
Bryant Vincent, ULM head coach
Vincent was the wild card in last year’s search, so why not again? It’s no secret things have been touch-and-go between ULM and Vincent. Former AD John Hartwell abruptly resigned this summer around reports the SBC’s lowest budget was facing further cuts. Vincent himself served as interim AD from August through November.
The Warhawks are coming off a difficult 3-9 season, however, which has slowed the momentum his name was gaining. He was a popular coach in Birmingham after guiding the Blazers to a 7-6 record and bowl win in 2022 despite taking over as interim a week before the season began.
Vincent and the Warhawks were 5-7 last year in what was his first season. That was the team’s best mark since 2019. It was a few months before that season began when he uncovered and signed a Mississippi running back flying under the radar without a single offer.
That was Ahmad Hardy, who is now a clubhouse leader for the Doak Walker Award at Missouri.
Derrick Nix, Auburn defensive coordinator
Speaking of past experience, were USM to go down the locally-connected path Nix is hovering at the top of that list.
Nix is a former Golden Eagle running back, was an assistant at USM for four seasons and worked at Ole Miss for over a decade. He served as Lane Kiffin’s associate head coach in 2023 before leaving take the defensive coordinator role at Auburn.
The 45-year-old was inducted into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame in August.
