Something's Happening Faster Than Expected for Southern Miss Football: 4 Observations From Friday's Practice

HATTIESBURG, Miss. - Three days down, one more to go before the first week of Southern Miss fall camp is officially in the books. Day 3 wrapped up Friday morning with a full run-through of practice, and while there is still plenty of work ahead for the Golden Eagles, I walked away from Friday's practice thinking something I probably did not expect to be saying this early in August: This team is coming together faster than expected.

That does not mean Southern Miss has everything figured out. Far from it. There are still position battles taking place across the field, a quarterback competition that head coach Blake Anderson insists isn't settled yet, and a roster filled with players who are still learning how to play alongside one another. But through the first three days of fall camp, you can already start to see some of the pieces coming together.

Hard Work is Paying Off; Team is Starting to Mesh

Southern Miss Football continued its first week of Fall Camp on Friday here in Hattiesburg, MS. | Josh House

Coach Anderson and his staff have been working overtime and seemingly in overdrive since camp opened Tuesday morning. The goal does not appear to be simply getting this team ready to play football on Sept. 5. They are trying to get this team ready to compete, and Friday gave us another glimpse of that.

It was hot. The kind of August morning in Hattiesburg where the heat becomes part of the practice itself. But instead of the energy fading as the morning went along, the competition continued to pick up. More importantly, some of the leadership within this football team is beginning to show.

Guys are communicating. Players are holding each other accountable. Veterans are beginning to take ownership of their position groups. And when Southern Miss went into some live work toward the end of practice, there was a different level of energy on the field. Again, I know it is only Day 3, but something is starting to take shape. Maybe the puzzle pieces are actually finding their place in the new puzzle.

Southern Miss Footbal, Kyle Cefalo — Southern Miss offensive coordinator Kyle Cefalo addresses the media following Friday's fall camp practice. | Josh House

Following Friday's practice, Assistant Head Coach/Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks Coach Kyle Cefalo met with members of the media to discuss several of the biggest topics surrounding the Golden Eagles' offense, and apparently, I was not the only one who thought Friday felt a little different. “Honestly, today was probably our best day, which is good,” Cefalo said. “We went hard the first couple of days, gave them a little bit of a recovery day yesterday, and they came out with a great attitude today.”

Even with the heat, Cefalo liked what he saw from the entire team. “It was hot, but offensively, defensively, it was really competitive, and the guys are getting better,” Cefalo said. “They’re still learning a ton. We’ve had spring, we’ve had summer, but can’t lose sight of the fact that they’re still learning on what we’re doing, how we’re doing it.”

And right now, there is not much room for an off day. “Energy’s been good, and there’s tons of competition, so if someone doesn’t want to bring it on a certain day, then they have a chance of getting themselves passed up on the depth chart because we’re still making those decisions as coaches and we’re still going to be up until almost kickoff,” Cefalo said. “So a lot of energy, a lot of competitiveness, but it was a good day today. Y’all caught me in a good mood.”

Cefalo’s Offense Beginning to Take Shape

That competition is helping Coach Cefalo and the rest of the offensive staff begin answering one of the biggest questions surrounding Southern Miss entering the season: What is this offense going to look like? The answer is still developing.

“I think we got to keep establishing our identity, and that’s going to come with reps,” Cefalo said. “That’s going to come with a lot of work.” But there are already some clues as to what Cefalo wants it to become. Tempo. Versatility. Multiple personnel groupings. And an offense capable of constantly adjusting based on the players Southern Miss has on the field.

“We started to play with a bunch of tempo,” Cefalo said. “We started to be versatile with our personnel groupings. Those are the things that we got to keep building and keep evolving.”

Cefalo does not want his offense standing still, either.

“This offense has had a bunch of success in the past, but as soon as you stand still and think you’ve got all the answers, someone’s going to surprise you on game day,” Cefalo said. “So we’ve got to keep adding and keep adjusting as we go.”

Part of that process will be figuring out exactly who Southern Miss' playmakers are, and then finding as many ways as possible to put the football in their hands. “We might line you up here, then you’re going to be over there, then you’re going to be back here,” Cefalo said. “If you can handle all that, well, that’s going to be great because the defense is going to be searching for you, and you’re going to be getting a lot of touches, which is what they all want.”

Southern Miss Wants to Win Up Front

Another piece beginning to come together is the offensive line. There appears to be legitimate competition up front, something that will be extremely important if Cefalo wants this offense to become as balanced as he envisions. “This offense at its best is when we can move people up front,” Cefalo said. “We’ve found ways to push the ball down the field, get the ball in space. But when we can move people up front and kind of establish the line of scrimmage, and that’s probably every offensive coordinator in the country talking right there.”

The good news for Southern Miss is that nothing has been handed out. “We have ideas of who’s playing, ideas of who can help us, but nothing’s been established yet,” Cefalo said.

That competition up front directly connects to something Southern Miss desperately wants to establish this season: a consistent running game.

Cefalo knows there will be times when it does not immediately work. His answer is not to abandon it. “Even if things don’t go early in the run game, you got to kind of stay consistent with this,” Cefalo said. “Try to stay patient as you can and try to keep kind of hammering it down.”

He pointed to his 2024 offense at Utah State as an example of what that balance can create. “Back in ‘24 at Utah State, I think my favorite stat of that season for the offense is we finished in the top 25 in passing and rushing,” Cefalo said. “And that really truly makes a difference because if you allow people to sit back and play a bunch of coverage, it just makes things tough, but we’re going to keep working at it, keep hammering it, and just not give up on it. And we got the backs, too.”

Cefalo also likes the options Southern Miss has in the backfield. “I’m really proud of the running backs, and they do a great job,” Cefalo said. “So, we got to keep working, keep establishing the run game, and at times, like I said, stay patient with it.”

The Quarterback Competition is Coming Down to the Details

Then there is the quarterback room. That competition continues to be one of the biggest stories of fall camp and, heck, all offseason for that matter, and Friday gave us another chance to watch Ethan Hampton, Landry Lyddy and John White work.

When Cefalo was asked what had impressed him about Hampton, he did not start with arm strength. He did not start with accuracy. He started with one word. Leadership. “Leadership,” Cefalo said. “He didn’t play a lot at the school he came from, but he was a three-year starter before that, so you can tell he’s played a lot of football. He’s got command of the offense.”

The difference now is Hampton is no longer simply trying to learn Cefalo's system like he was during the spring. He is beginning to lead within it. “Now that he’s comfortable there, now he can kind of spread his leadership amongst the group and help people get lined up and communicate really well, check the plays at the line of scrimmage that he’s responsible for,” Cefalo said.

Then came probably my favorite description of Hampton from Cefalo. “Really, really proud of Ethan, just operates as an adult,” Cefalo said. “He’s very mature. And yeah, he wants to be the starting quarterback, and he knows what it takes.”

But Cefalo was quick to make it clear that Hampton is not running away with anything. The competition is still very real. “We got an incredible competition going on in that room, too, and those kids know that they really can’t have a bad day, because if they have a bad day, the guy behind him is just sitting there waiting for their opportunity,” Cefalo said.

And as this battle continues, Coach Blake Anderson and Coach Kyle Cefalo are looking beyond the stat sheet. Yes, protecting the football matters. Making the correct read matters. Accuracy matters. But so does everything that happens between those plays. “The way they communicate to their teammates, the way they command the offense,” Cefalo said. “How do they respond when maybe they make a mistake?”

Mistakes are going to happen during camp. Cefalo wants to see what happens next. “They make a mistake, it’s gone, it’s over with,” Cefalo said. “We’re going to watch it tomorrow on film. They got to bounce back.”

Southern Miss turned up the intensity toward the end of Friday's practice with some live work, giving Cefalo another opportunity to evaluate his quarterbacks when things were not quite as controlled. That is where he wants the quarterback to look the same.

Whether it is a drill or a defensive lineman coming after him, Cefalo is searching for someone who remains in control. “We’re looking for the guy that just kind of handles his business no matter what’s going on in front of him,” Cefalo said.

That requires more than confidence in yourself. It requires confidence in everyone around you. “I got to trust that the O line is communicating the way they’re supposed to,” Cefalo said. “I got to trust that the running backs are going to pick up the blitz off the edge when they’re supposed to.”

There will eventually be a decision. Just not yet. “When the time feels right, we’re going to make a decision, and we’re going to feel very confident when we make that decision,” Cefalo said.

So, three days down. One more practice tomorrow morning before the first week of fall camp is officially complete. There is still a long way to go. There are still questions that need answers, positions that need to be won, and an identity that is still being built.

But after three days of watching this team work, compete, and begin to lead each other, I keep coming back to the same thought: This thing might be coming together quicker than expected.

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