Tulane HC Will Hall Fires Back at Criticism Over His Southern Miss Tenure

Former Southern Miss head coach Will Hall says Tulane is getting "the best" version of himself.

Sep 9, 2023; Tallahassee, Florida, USA; Southern Miss Golden Eagles head coach Will Hall speaks to his team during a timeout in the first half against the Florida State Seminoles at Doak S. Campbell Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Melina Myers-Imagn Images / Melina Myers-Imagn Images

After posting 3-9 and 1-11 records in 2023 and 2024, respectively, the Southern Miss football program got put on a fast-track rebuilding plan thanks in large part to former head coach Charles Huff, who left the Golden Eagles to be Memphis' head coach after securing a 7-5 regular-season record in 2025.

Former USM head coach Will Hall, who was promoted from Passing Game Coordinator to Head Coach at Tulane in December after Jon Sumrall left for Florida, takes much of the blame for how things went during his last two years in Hattiesburg. In a recent interview with Fox 8 in New Orleans, Hall discussed his time with the Golden Eagles and why he believes things will be different at Tulane.

Sep 16, 2023; Hattiesburg, Mississippi, USA; Southern Miss Golden Eagles head coach Will Hall talks to Tulane Green Wave head coach Willie Fritz before their game at M.M. Roberts Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Chuck Cook-Imagn Images / Chuck Cook-Imagn Images

"Definitely fair," Hall said of the criticism he receives for his tenure at USM. "That’s part of my past. The thing I would say is look at my body of work as a whole. Look at what I did as an offensive coordinator everywhere I’ve been, and then also look at my head coaching record everywhere I’ve been."

Before becoming the head coach at USM from 2021-24, Hall had a head-coaching record of 56-20 during his tenures with West Alabama (Division II) and West Georgia (Division I FCS).

"Two of the places that I’ve been a head coach were the best three-year run in school history," Hall said. "The other place I’ve been a head coach (Southern Miss) is the only bowl game they’ve won in the last so many years. Made some mistakes there towards the end. We didn’t get it done holistically."

Holistic or not, the fact remains that Hall posted a 14-30 overall record (.318 winning percentage) as the head coach at USM. That ended up being the worst winning percentage among all other head coaches in USM history who coached at least 15 games.

Sep 3, 2022; Hattiesburg, Mississippi, USA; Southern Miss Golden Eagles head coach Will Hall talks to running back Frank Gore Jr. (3) in the second half at M.M. Roberts Stadium. Liberty won in overtime, 29-27. Mandatory Credit: Chuck Cook-Imagn Images / Chuck Cook-Imagn Images

"But again, Pete Carroll was fired before he took USC. Coach (Ed) Ogeron was fired before he took over at LSU, and so on and so forth. The thing I would say with me is Tulane is getting the best of me," Hall said.

"You’re getting a guy that has won and knows how to win. You’re also getting a guy that has been through failure and understands what that looks like. He understands his responsibility in it and also the part that he couldn’t control that he wants to make sure next time he understands how to work around that."

By all accounts, Hall seems to be a great person on and off the football field, and we certainly can't knock a guy for having supreme confidence in himself. However, he will need to win big at Tulane to change the narrative about his head-coaching abilities at the Division I FBS level. With USM continuing to rebuild under recently promoted head coach Blake Anderson and Hall just now starting his head-coaching tenure at Tulane, time will tell which side was right.

Who's ready for next season when Southern Miss will play at Tulane on Sept. 26?