HATTIESBURG, Miss. (AP) — Southern Mississippi football coach Will Hall was fired Sunday after a 1-6 start to his fourth season and assistant head coach Reed Stringer was named interim coach for the rest of the season.
Hall was 14-30 following a 44-28 home loss to Arkansas State. The Golden Eagles' only win this season was against Southeastern Louisiana of the second-tier Football Championship Subdivision.
"We are grateful to Will and his family for their dedication to Southern Miss over the past four years,” Southern Miss athletic director Jeremy McClain said. “Will poured his heart and soul into this program and into shaping these young men. Unfortunately, the results on the field didn’t align with our shared goals and expectations.”
Hall has deep ties to the state. He grew up in Amory, the son of a longtime Mississippi high school coach and was a two-time junior-college All-America quarterback at Northwest Mississippi. He transferred to North Alabama and won the Harlon Hill Trophy as the top player in Division II.
Hall had been offensive coordinator at Tulane for two years when Southern Miss hired him following the 2020 season.
The Golden Eagles improved from 3-9 in 2021 to 7-6 with a bowl win the next season. Southern Miss slipped to 3-9 last year with one of its wins against an FCS opponent, prompting Hall to hire new offensive and defensive coordinators. The Eagles are last in the Sun Belt in scoring (18.3 ppg) and second to last in scoring defense (34.1 ppg).
Southern Miss has lost nine of 11 Sun Belt Conference games since last year.
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FILE - Southern Mississippi head coach Will Hall, left, walks back to the sideline after arguing with a referee in the first quarter of an NCAA college football game against Florida State Saturday, Sept. 9, 2023, in Tallahassee, Fla. (AP Photo/Phil Sears, File)
LANDOVER, Md. (AP) — Darrell Green is back around the Washington football organization he played his entire NFL career for, receiving an honor that seems long overdue.
The Commanders retired the Hall of Fame cornerback's No. 28 at halftime of their game against Carolina on Sunday, 22 years since his final season. It comes in the second full season under new ownership, which has sought to rebuild relationships with alumni that either frayed or failed to exist during Dan Snyder's time in charge.
“I truthfully did not have a relationship with the team, but it was no big deal until they surprised me that they would retire my jersey," Green said before the game, a 40-7 Commanders victory. "There was no beef. I just was going my own way when I walk out my door. ... I was really grateful that this team went through all of that. This means the world to me.”
Green in a speech to fans thanked owners Josh Harris, Mitch Rales, Magic Johnson, Mark Ein and David Blitzer — many of whom grew up in the area an were fans of his. Although life after football has taken him away, the now-64-year-old reaffirmed his love for the community he was part of for so long.
“This is my family," he said. "These are my people. This is our team, our organization.”
Green was a cornerstone of Washington's second and third Super Bowl-winning teams as part of his two decades in burgundy and gold from 1983-2002. Already a member of the franchise's ring of fame, he is the fifth player to have his number retired after Sonny Jurgensen’s No. 9, Bobby Mitchell’s No. 49, Sammy Baugh’s No. 33 and Sean Taylor’s No. 21.
Washington has changed names more times than it has won a playoff game since Green retired. But the Commanders' 5-2 start led by quarterback Jayden Daniels has brought optimism back among long-suffering fans, including a generation that Green said “did not get to drink the good wine” of watching a winning team.
“I’m sorry,” he told the crowd on Legends Plaza roughly 90 minutes before kickoff. “But I want to challenge all of you to become those die-hards that ride with us as we are coming back.”
Daniels left the game early in the second quarter with a rib injury and will be evalauted futher Monday.
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Former Washington defensive back Darrell Green speaks during a jersey retirement ceremony at halftime of an NFL football game between the Washington Commanders and the Carolina Panthers, Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024, in Landover, Md. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)
Former Washington defensive back Darrell Green reacts to fans after a jersey retirement ceremony at halftime of an NFL football game between the Washington Commanders and the Carolina Panthers, Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024, in Landover, Md. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)
Former Washington defensive back Darrell Green reacts during a jersey retirement ceremony at halftime of an NFL football game between the Washington Commanders and the Carolina Panthers, Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024, in Landover, Md. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)
Former Washington defensive back Darrell Green speaks during a jersey retirement ceremony at halftime of an NFL football game between the Washington Commanders and the Carolina Panthers, Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024, in Landover, Md. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)
