USM On SI Roundtable: Expectations, Predictions for Southern Miss Football in 2026

HATTIESBURG, Miss. – Southern Miss football is less than 60 days away from kicking off, and excitement is building as the Golden Eagles prepare for their first campaign under head coach Blake Anderson. A revamped coaching staff, new faces through the transfer portal, and a renewed sense of energy have given fans plenty to debate heading into the fall. Above all, though, one question remains: What should realistic expectations be for Southern Miss this year?

To help answer that question, the Southern Miss Golden Eagles On SI staff gathered for our inaugural football preseason roundtable. What are some of the biggest questions surrounding the team? How many games will the Golden Eagles ultimately win? Here are our predictions and expectations for the 2026 season.

Dalton Trigg: Blake Anderson is facing an unprecedented situation this year, even by today’s new NIL and transfer portal standards. By the time Charles Huff left for Memphis and Southern Miss officially announced Anderson as the next head coach, it was scramble mode at that point, not only to build his staff, but also to literally build a football roster from scratch due to all the players from last season who either graduated or left in the transfer portal.

Amid all the uncertainties, there are a couple of things I’m very confident about heading into this new era of Golden Eagle football:

1) Coach Anderson knows how to establish a winning culture, as he’s done so over the course of his career, winning two Sun Belt Conference championships at Arkansas State (2015, 2016) and one Mountain West Conference championship at Utah State (2021). I believe the foundation for that kind of culture is already being established for this Southern Miss football program.

2) The addition of Kyle Cefalo as offensive coordinator can’t be understated. Three of his teams over the years have ranked in the top 10 in the country for passing offense. He is technically the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at USM, but he also has a lengthy track record of developing all-conference wide receivers as well. Coach Anderson and Coach Cefalo know how to make the most out of what they have, so who’s to say they can’t do it this year? I feel like there will potentially be more question marks on defense for the Golden Eagles this season than on offense.

All that being said, this season will come down to one major thing: How quickly can this brand new roster gel? It’s not easy to take a completely new group of guys and expect them to have top-notch chemistry from opening kickoff. So, how long will it take this group? One, two, three games or more? If the Eags can take care of business in their first two home games against Alcorn State and UConn, I’d expect that to be enough of a chemistry-building confidence boost to give them a real shot at being bowl-eligible in Year 1 of the Anderson era.

And although the odds will be greatly stacked against them on the road, it will be nice to see how Southern Miss measures up to teams like Auburn and Tulane this season. A Sept. 26 trip to New Orleans to take on former Golden Eagles head coach Will Hall, who is in his first year as the head coach of the Green Wave? Oh yeah... get me a bucket of popcorn and sign me up for that one, along with the banter between the two fan bases that will ensue.

Despite the rebuilding challenges the program is facing this year, I don't feel like it's out of the question for Coach Anderson and Co. to become bowl eligible, health permitting. Is that the biggest goal? Of course not. Competing for and winning championships should be the biggest goal. However, given how much this program has changed in less than a year, I'd personally consider a second consecutive winning season a major success, and then you can build on that momentum with a more stable coaching situation going into next year.

Give me 6-6 for the Eags in the regular season, plus a bowl win to secure a second consecutive 7-6 winning season. I'm predicting wins over Alcorn State, UConn, Tulane (yep...), Louisiana, Louisiana Tech, and South Alabama (for the first time ever). Also, give me freshman wide receiver David Aboya as a potential breakout player as the season progresses.

Charlie Lanehart: Welcome to the Blake Anderson era! His expectations for this season are clear: continue the momentum that Coach Huff created in his lone year at the helm of the program.

With that being said, Anderson has a tough task ahead with a complete roster turnover. Additionally, it doesn’t help that the Golden Eagles have a tough out-of-conference schedule to start the year (at Auburn, vs. UConn, at Tulane, etc.). My realistic prediction for the 2026 season is a 5-7 record with big wins at Louisiana Tech, which just officially joined the Sun Belt this summer, ULL for Homecoming, and UConn at home.

The floor expectation each year should be bowl eligibility, but it’s going to be tough to make that happen this year with the current state of college football.

Josh House: As we enter a new season of Southern Miss Football under new leadership with Blake Anderson, I can’t help but believe this team is headed in the right direction. You can call me optimistic, but I’m all in on Blake Anderson. I believe he was the right hire at the right time, and I think he’ll have this program competing sooner rather than later.

I’ve got the Golden Eagles finishing 6-6 and earning a trip to another bowl game for the second straight season.

I believe The Rock becomes a real advantage again this season, with Southern Miss going 4-2 at home and giving Golden Eagle fans plenty to cheer about. I have home wins over Alcorn State, UConn, Arkansas State, and South Alabama.

On the flip side, I don’t think the road trips are going to be in our favor early on. Winning away from home is never easy, especially with a new coaching staff, players, and a team still learning how to play together. I think there will be some growing pains, but I don’t think they’ll define this season.

As this team continues to bond and everything starts to click, I believe Southern Miss catches its stride late in the season. I’ve got the Golden Eagles winning two of their final three games, victories over South Alabama and Old Dominion, to become bowl eligible.

Last season showed everyone what The Rock can be. The atmosphere was electric, the fan base believed again, and Southern Miss fed off that energy. Maybe this year doesn’t have quite the same preseason hype, but that doesn’t mean the expectations should be any lower.

That’s my prediction, and I’m sticking with it. Here’s to another fun season of Southern Miss Football and another opportunity to watch this program continue building toward something special.

Andy Baeuerle: Look back, the year is 2011. Larry Fedora has completed his fourth season as head coach of the Southern Miss Golden Eagles. The Golden Eagles finished 12-2 with a Conference USA Championship over No. 10 Houston and a bowl win over Nevada. His offensive coordinator, Blake Anderson, has been a part of his squad for two seasons. At the close of the season, North Carolina announced that Coach Fedora would become their next head coach in 2012. Many of the Golden Eagle hopefuls sought to have Anderson take Fedora’s place. However, Anderson followed Fedora to UNC to be his OC again. Anderson then made successful head-coaching stops at Arkansas State and Utah State before joining Charles Huff’s 2025 staff at Southern Miss, once again as offensive coordinator.

Now, it’s 2026. Coach Huff is gone, and Blake Anderson is at the helm for the Golden Eagles. Many questions remain about Coach Anderson’s first season leading Southern Miss. Many outlets (such as CFBudge and CFB Home) expect Southern Miss to have nowhere near the success it had in 2025. And that’s understandable. I, however, have much more faith in Coach Anderson and his team.

Southern Miss opens its 2026 season with an out-of-conference spread, reminiscent of one from the 1990s. Facing Alcorn State and UConn at home and Tulane and Auburn on the road, I’d expect USM to finish these games 3-1, dropping the Auburn contest. The Golden Eagles then face Sun Belt play, with Louisiana Tech taking Texas State’s place in the Sun Belt West, and also facing James Madison and Old Dominion from the Sun Belt East. I predict the Golden Eagles will finish the 2026 regular season at 7-5 and 4-4 in Sun Belt play, dropping losses to Arkansas State, James Madison, Old Dominion, and Louisiana.

USM Football, Ethan Hampton — Southern Miss Athletics

Drew Johnson: When it was initially announced that Blake Anderson would be the new head coach of Southern Miss Football, my first thoughts, as previously detailed on our Nasty Bunch & Beyond podcast, were whether Coach Anderson and his staff could make some noise on the recruiting trail and in the transfer portal. Given how late and suddenly Coach Huff departed for Memphis, I was concerned there wouldn’t be enough time to build a competitive roster, let alone one capable of contending for a Sun Belt championship. However, on paper, it seems Coach Anderson and company did a great job of accumulating both high school talent and transfer portal guys who can help out immediately.

As far as high school prospects are concerned, I’m most excited for LB Caleb Triplett, WR David Aboya, and QB Hugh Price. I expect Triplett to play significant time immediately, and I think Aboya’s playing time will grow as the season progresses, as he might be one of the best athletes on the team already. Price will be more of a long-term investment at the QB spot, but I think his big arm will, at the very least, make him competitive this season.

As for the portal, Anderson was able to bring in a class of transfers who, I believe, will help out immediately. Highlighted by DE Will Smith, CB Joe Martinez, QB Ethan Hampton, and WR Kaden Saunders, this portal class brings a nice mixture of P4 talent and under-the-radar guys that could be the face of this team this fall. Personally, I expect big things from Hampton and Saunders, as both are talented guys who should be more motivated than ever to demonstrate their capabilities.

As for my predictions, I think this team will shock a lot of people by outperforming last year’s team, especially towards the end of the season. I think the Blake Anderson era begins with an 8-4 season, with wins against Alcorn State, UConn, Tulane, Arkansas State, Louisiana, ULM, South Alabama (finally), and ODU. Call me crazy, but there is nothing more dangerous than a group of guys who have united under the singular purpose of having something to prove, and I think this team is comprised of just that.

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