For the first time in a few years, there’s excitement surrounding the Southern Miss football program as Head Coach Charles Huff comes to Hattiesburg to take the Golden Eagles back to the promised land, as one of the pinnacle jobs in the group of five, with 27 postseason appearances dating back to the 1953 Sun Bowl. A program with the resources that make a lot of P4 programs jealous, Coach Huff brings an excitement to Southern Miss football, awakening a sleeping giant that has the potential to crash the parade of the G5 pecking order for a position in the College Football Playoff.

Outside of being a baseball powerhouse, Southern Miss fans care deeply about the football program and deserve a product that returns them to winning conference championships and earning bids to the postseason. Having learned from the best in Coach Nick Saban, Coach Huff brings a winning pedigree to Hattiesburg, where he aims to implement his approach and deliver a successful product in his first year at Southern Miss.

In the modern era of college football, when the school announced that Coach Huff was the next Head Coach at Southern Miss, over half of his championship-winning roster from Marshall followed him south to wear the black and yellow. Out of those Marshall transfers, none bigger than Braylon Braxton. Braxton earned a perfect 8-0 record as the starter last season for Marshall, and gives Southern Miss the potential to have the best quarterback not only at the G5 level but in college football. Braxton brings talent, but also the intangibles that make any coach’s life easier; a kid is born with the talent and IQ he brings to Southern Miss this season. He’s a winner with the depth chart to back him up when and if he makes a mistake.

Elsewhere around the offensive side of the ball, expect for Bralon Brown to be the standout wide receiver for the Golden Eagles this fall, combined with a ridiculously talented running back room with transfers in Robert Briggs from Utah, Matt Jones from Ole Miss, and Jeffery Pittman from Mississippi State, the Golden Eagles will likely try to score at will this season. Combine the talent with one of the best offensive minds in the game in Blake Anderson as the offensive coordinator, and you have this recipe for an unstoppable offensive unit this fall. Without playing a single down of meaningful football yet, the excitement is there for Southern Miss to light up the scoreboards, forcing opponents to keep up.

On the defensive side of the ball, things can only improve for Southern Miss, as the Golden Eagles finished near the bottom in the country in total defensive metrics last season. A New coaching staff means a new Defensive Coordinator in Jason Semore, who brings momentum from finishing within the top three last season in the Sun Belt with Marshall. There will be a similar look with the same 4-2-5 formation, but given Coach Semores’ track record at Marshall, improvement is on the horizon for Southern Miss this season.

From a scheduling perspective, Coach Huff could not have drawn up a better slate for his first season as Head Coach at Southern Miss. Southern Miss draws a season-opening home game against Mississippi State on August 30th while maintaining a manageable Sun Belt schedule that provides the Golden Eagles the opportunity to win a league title for the first time since the 2011 season when Southern Miss won the Conference USA. Realistically, with a win over Mississippi State to open the season, the Golden Eagles face a legitimate chance of running the table and earning a conversation to reach the College Football Playoff. A 10-2 season in the first year of the Coach Huff era would be a smashing success; anything beyond that would be icing on the cake. At the rate the program was going last season, reaching the postseason would have generated momentum and optimism, as well as excitement for the future of Southern Miss football.

Southern Miss opens the 2025 season on August 30th as they welcome Mississippi State to Hattiesburg for a massive in-state rivalry game.

Photo Credits- Southern Miss Football on X