Photo by: Joe Harper/bgnphoto.com
Football Coach Will Hall Media Conference – FIU Week
11/23/2021 1:54:00 PM | Football
HATTIESBURG, Miss. – Southern Miss football coach Will Hall met with the media Tuesday morning following practice to discuss the team's final game of 2021 this Saturday, Nov. 27, versus FIU.
The Golden Eagles play the Panthers at 2 p.m., contest at M.M. Roberts Stadium. The game can be viewed via ESPN3 and also be heard on an affiliate of the Southern Miss Sports Network from Learfield. Tickets still remain for the contest, by going online at SouthernMissTickets.com or by calling 1-800-844-TICK (8425).
Here is some of what Hall said to the media on Tuesday morning:
Opening Statement…
"Good, solid day. A lot of mental work. Excited to be able to spend Thanksgiving together with a great group of kids that have done so much for this university. Excited about Senior Day this week where we can honor a bunch of young men that didn't quit on this university through a lot of tough times when a lot of people would. We want to honor them this week, we've got to prepare the right way and try to get another win and send them out the right way. That's what we're concentrating on."
On his thoughts from the LA Tech game...
"I'm just proud of how the kids have handled the season. We've never quit. You guys have been at practice, they continue to strive and push forward. Life is about controlling what you can control and playing whatever the hand, the good Lord gives you the best you can play it. These kids have done that for the most part and I'm just proud of them for it. We've got one more week, we have learned a lot this year. One thing we've learned is we've learned how to make plays at the end of a game to win, which is something we've not done a lot around here over the last few years. We've got to carry that over again next week and finish the year the right way."
On Frank Gore Jr.'s status heading into this weekend...
"Should be good, should be better than last week. He didn't really get banged up in the game, and then we played on Friday, which is a short week, so now he's got a long week to get ready. So, he should be dang near 100 percent, I would think, by Saturday."
On the shift he mentioned before the UTSA game...
"Just our young kids learning how to play college football and learning what it takes to win a game. You saw that. The biggest thing that's happened in this program in a long time was when the game got cut to two the other night. The game gets cut to two, the old Southern Miss, the Southern Miss that people have seen for the last two years, stretching all the way back to the end of 2019, would've folded the tent and lost. We went right down the field, made a great run on first down to break a 30-yard gain. Frank hits an over-route, (Antavious) Rambo (Willis) hits Grayson for a touchdown, we take the lead. They drive it down the field, Natrone Brooks makes a great pass deflection, Cam Harrell makes a pass deflection, (Dominic) Quewon and TQ (Newsome) get a pressure and boom, we stop them. That's what winning teams do. That's what Alabama does week in and week out, when the game is on the line they find a way to make a play. That's a learned trait, and we're learning how to do that and that was huge, man."
On what went into the play that Grayson Gunter scored on...
"Just a lot of experience. I'm 41 years old, but I'm going on my 36th year of being on the sidelines and I'm going on my 18th or 19th year of calling plays. So experience of just the situation and knowing how to hide a guy right there and maybe spring them open. It's all the kids man, Rambo executed exactly how we told him to do, the O-Line protected, the wideouts brought the safeties over and Grayson slipped out. It was just a well-executed play by the kids all the way around."
On how the Super Back came to be...
"From what I gathered, originally, it goes all the way back to Steve Campbell and Mark Hudspeth from Delta State when they won the national title in 2000. Maybe before that, you'd have to ask them. I played for Coach Hud at North Ala., we had a super back. It's what we've always called that position through all my years coaching. It's really a guy who plays in the slot and in the backfield. Obviously, he has the skill set where he can play Wildcat quarterback. We've used it forever, everywhere we've been and, obviously, it's kind of taken on a whole new meaning with the adversity we've had this year."
On if he would take credit on the creation of the Super Back...
"No, I've got to give credit where it's due. I'm not a credit guy, but I would just say that I learned it from Coach Hud, as far as the term. Now, the position, we've always had it in our offense from Southwest Baptist, all the way to Monticello to West Ala. to West Georgia. Denarius Appling played super back for us at West Georgia, he's in the Hall of Fame at West Georgia - was a great one. We had Cheeto Johnson from right down the road, y'all know Cheeto, Pearl River, he played for us at West Ala. Reggie Hall played at Northeast Community College, and all those kids played super back for us in the past. Amare Jones at Tulane was a really good one for us, so it's a position that's been a feature in our offense. Chandler Pittman was doing that for us until he got hurt early in the year and it'll continue to be something that we use."
On the closing season with two victories and the impact on recruiting...
"It would just be huge for us. When's the last time we had a win streak here? I don't know, I told (SID) Jack (Duggan) to look it up for me, and he's going to look it up for me. To finish the year right, you want to finish well. We won a huge rivalry game - a game that means so much to so many of our people and then to win another one going down the stretch, finish the year with two straight wins with everything we've been through, going into the offseason, I think would just show a lot of naysayers the trajectory of this program. I don't know how much it'll hurt or affect recruiting. Kids understand the history of this program. They understand this staff and this staff's history. I think recruiting is solid no matter what, but I think it would be huge to develop a little momentum going into the offseason."
On the passing of coach Bobby Collins and winning a game within the same week...
"One thing that has been sitting in the back of my head was Coach Collins' second year here. They were 0-9 and they had faced a ton of adversity. They won their last two games and they never looked back. There we were, we were 1-9. We have faced an unbelievable amount of adversity and now we have a chance to win our last two and never look back. I have the utmost respect for Coach Collins, he was a true gentleman. Everybody loves him and loves what he did here and our blueprint is very similar to his. We wore a patch on our helmet this past week and we will do it again this week. We're building this program back and he's up in heaven smiling with where we're headed."
On being double-digit favorites over FIU...
"I haven't focused much on that. I guess they think we're going to win, but we have to earn the right to win this week. Winning is hard and it's especially hard in the situation that we're in, so we have to do what it takes to win and can't take anything for granted."
On the morale boost from recent success...
"I just think it's been consistent, learning experiences over and over and over again throughout the year. No different than a guy that starts a new job. Day 36, he's way better at understanding the expectations and what's needed to perform at that job than he was day one. These kids are so young and we're getting a little better incrementally all year long. We're just better at doing what we're supposed to do now than we were earlier in the year."
On what he will eat for Thanksgiving...
"Oh man, I'm a big chicken guy over turkey. I'm sorry if I offend people on that. We'll smoke some chicken and a little hashbrown casserole and some shoepeg corn casserole. My wife is a phenomenal cook that stems down from north Mississippi, her side of the family and mine, so it'll be good."
The Golden Eagles play the Panthers at 2 p.m., contest at M.M. Roberts Stadium. The game can be viewed via ESPN3 and also be heard on an affiliate of the Southern Miss Sports Network from Learfield. Tickets still remain for the contest, by going online at SouthernMissTickets.com or by calling 1-800-844-TICK (8425).
Here is some of what Hall said to the media on Tuesday morning:
Opening Statement…
"Good, solid day. A lot of mental work. Excited to be able to spend Thanksgiving together with a great group of kids that have done so much for this university. Excited about Senior Day this week where we can honor a bunch of young men that didn't quit on this university through a lot of tough times when a lot of people would. We want to honor them this week, we've got to prepare the right way and try to get another win and send them out the right way. That's what we're concentrating on."
On his thoughts from the LA Tech game...
"I'm just proud of how the kids have handled the season. We've never quit. You guys have been at practice, they continue to strive and push forward. Life is about controlling what you can control and playing whatever the hand, the good Lord gives you the best you can play it. These kids have done that for the most part and I'm just proud of them for it. We've got one more week, we have learned a lot this year. One thing we've learned is we've learned how to make plays at the end of a game to win, which is something we've not done a lot around here over the last few years. We've got to carry that over again next week and finish the year the right way."
On Frank Gore Jr.'s status heading into this weekend...
"Should be good, should be better than last week. He didn't really get banged up in the game, and then we played on Friday, which is a short week, so now he's got a long week to get ready. So, he should be dang near 100 percent, I would think, by Saturday."
On the shift he mentioned before the UTSA game...
"Just our young kids learning how to play college football and learning what it takes to win a game. You saw that. The biggest thing that's happened in this program in a long time was when the game got cut to two the other night. The game gets cut to two, the old Southern Miss, the Southern Miss that people have seen for the last two years, stretching all the way back to the end of 2019, would've folded the tent and lost. We went right down the field, made a great run on first down to break a 30-yard gain. Frank hits an over-route, (Antavious) Rambo (Willis) hits Grayson for a touchdown, we take the lead. They drive it down the field, Natrone Brooks makes a great pass deflection, Cam Harrell makes a pass deflection, (Dominic) Quewon and TQ (Newsome) get a pressure and boom, we stop them. That's what winning teams do. That's what Alabama does week in and week out, when the game is on the line they find a way to make a play. That's a learned trait, and we're learning how to do that and that was huge, man."
On what went into the play that Grayson Gunter scored on...
"Just a lot of experience. I'm 41 years old, but I'm going on my 36th year of being on the sidelines and I'm going on my 18th or 19th year of calling plays. So experience of just the situation and knowing how to hide a guy right there and maybe spring them open. It's all the kids man, Rambo executed exactly how we told him to do, the O-Line protected, the wideouts brought the safeties over and Grayson slipped out. It was just a well-executed play by the kids all the way around."
On how the Super Back came to be...
"From what I gathered, originally, it goes all the way back to Steve Campbell and Mark Hudspeth from Delta State when they won the national title in 2000. Maybe before that, you'd have to ask them. I played for Coach Hud at North Ala., we had a super back. It's what we've always called that position through all my years coaching. It's really a guy who plays in the slot and in the backfield. Obviously, he has the skill set where he can play Wildcat quarterback. We've used it forever, everywhere we've been and, obviously, it's kind of taken on a whole new meaning with the adversity we've had this year."
On if he would take credit on the creation of the Super Back...
"No, I've got to give credit where it's due. I'm not a credit guy, but I would just say that I learned it from Coach Hud, as far as the term. Now, the position, we've always had it in our offense from Southwest Baptist, all the way to Monticello to West Ala. to West Georgia. Denarius Appling played super back for us at West Georgia, he's in the Hall of Fame at West Georgia - was a great one. We had Cheeto Johnson from right down the road, y'all know Cheeto, Pearl River, he played for us at West Ala. Reggie Hall played at Northeast Community College, and all those kids played super back for us in the past. Amare Jones at Tulane was a really good one for us, so it's a position that's been a feature in our offense. Chandler Pittman was doing that for us until he got hurt early in the year and it'll continue to be something that we use."
On the closing season with two victories and the impact on recruiting...
"It would just be huge for us. When's the last time we had a win streak here? I don't know, I told (SID) Jack (Duggan) to look it up for me, and he's going to look it up for me. To finish the year right, you want to finish well. We won a huge rivalry game - a game that means so much to so many of our people and then to win another one going down the stretch, finish the year with two straight wins with everything we've been through, going into the offseason, I think would just show a lot of naysayers the trajectory of this program. I don't know how much it'll hurt or affect recruiting. Kids understand the history of this program. They understand this staff and this staff's history. I think recruiting is solid no matter what, but I think it would be huge to develop a little momentum going into the offseason."
On the passing of coach Bobby Collins and winning a game within the same week...
"One thing that has been sitting in the back of my head was Coach Collins' second year here. They were 0-9 and they had faced a ton of adversity. They won their last two games and they never looked back. There we were, we were 1-9. We have faced an unbelievable amount of adversity and now we have a chance to win our last two and never look back. I have the utmost respect for Coach Collins, he was a true gentleman. Everybody loves him and loves what he did here and our blueprint is very similar to his. We wore a patch on our helmet this past week and we will do it again this week. We're building this program back and he's up in heaven smiling with where we're headed."
On being double-digit favorites over FIU...
"I haven't focused much on that. I guess they think we're going to win, but we have to earn the right to win this week. Winning is hard and it's especially hard in the situation that we're in, so we have to do what it takes to win and can't take anything for granted."
On the morale boost from recent success...
"I just think it's been consistent, learning experiences over and over and over again throughout the year. No different than a guy that starts a new job. Day 36, he's way better at understanding the expectations and what's needed to perform at that job than he was day one. These kids are so young and we're getting a little better incrementally all year long. We're just better at doing what we're supposed to do now than we were earlier in the year."
On what he will eat for Thanksgiving...
"Oh man, I'm a big chicken guy over turkey. I'm sorry if I offend people on that. We'll smoke some chicken and a little hashbrown casserole and some shoepeg corn casserole. My wife is a phenomenal cook that stems down from north Mississippi, her side of the family and mine, so it'll be good."
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