Will Hall Media Availability – The Troy Game
11/21/2023 11:43:00 AM | Football
HATTIESBURG, Miss. – Head football coach Will Hall spoke with members of the media following practice on Tuesday, Nov. 21, at M.M. Roberts Stadium at Carlisle-Faulkner Field. Hall discussed last week's game against Mississippi State and previewed Saturday's season finale against Troy.
The Golden Eagles kickoff against Troy at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 25, at The Rock. The game will be televised to a national audience on ESPNU. Tickets for the game are available for purchase by calling 1-800-844-TICK (8425), by visiting SouthernMissTickets.com or by visiting the Ticket Office at the Pat Ferlise Center on campus.
Here is what Hall said to the media:
Opening Statement…
"Great Tuesday today man, great weather. Thank the Good Lord for that. Just rockin' and rollin,' we got a great a opponent this weekend. They've already won the Sun Belt West. I've got a lot of respect for what they've done. They've got a lot of old guys, they're a really old team. They've got a lot of guys that have played a lot of snaps at Troy. [They] do a good job of running the football, making play action shots and taking shots down field and they're great on defense. They're really old, they're really well coached and they tackle well, so we've got a tremendous challenge in front of us and we're working to do it. We want to send these seniors out the right way."
On if he views the team differently this week as opposed to others…
"This is a week that really matters to us. We're 2-0 on the week since we've been here. We really really accentuate Thanksgiving and what it means—the things we have to be grateful for. Enjoying these seniors, is something we've always talked about this week. Enjoying being around each other, so it is a special week. Playing on Thanksgiving is a special special week and being with these seniors is a special week."
On what this group of seniors mean to him…
"Lot of old guys that just wouldn't give up football, you know what I mean. They just kept playing. Some of them are sixth-year guys, some of them have been through so many injuries, from Swayze to Habas to Cole to more than that—Josh Carr, who's playing his lights out right now. I just appreciate all of them because a lot of them could've left when we first got here an the coaching change happened, but they stuck with it. Won a bowl game last year and are leaving the program in a much better stable situation than what they found it in, so we are certainly grateful for them."
On TQ Newsome's potential to return next season…
"You'll have to ask him that, but he got accepted to Med School, so that's a hard thing to turn down. That's what he wants to do with his life. You know, you go to college to figure out what you want to do and to set yourself up for success and he has done that. We're proud of him and proud of what he's going to become. The future's really bright for him."
On Troy's defense…
"They're very similar to Tulane. They're D-coordinator last year is at Tulane now. Head coach Jon Sumrall is very involved in it, but very similar to Tulane from a front structure, coverage structure. Subtle differences, everyone's got their own flavor to it, but similar to Tulane from a structure standpoint. Their defensive front, the two best defensive lines in this league will be playing this week. Their guys are really old, they've played a ton of snaps at Troy for them. Three of them are seniors. Really, really good football players."
On Cameron Mackey's play on Saturday…
"He did good, man. He is going to be a good football player. He's from Clarksdale, Miss., and he's played in three games for us, so he's going to get his fourth. He'll still be able to redshirt, but he'll play for us this week. He's got a bright future."
On vision for Mackey's future…
"He'll get bigger, all of them do as they're in college. And he'll get bigger with Ancar. He'll go through his first spring with us next semester. Another guy we won a lot of recruiting battles with. He had offers from almost every Sun Belt team and freaking Conference USA. All of these young guys that we're recruiting, we had to win in recruiting to get them. When you start winning in recruiting, you usually start winning on the field. He's a good one."
On Ethan Crawford's Availability…
"We're evaluating that. As long as he's healthy though, he's going to play."
On how Crawford's injury against Mississippi State affected the gameplan…
"It affected it a lot. He was playing well when he went down too. Outside of the play that he got hurt on—he didn't send the protection right, that should have been picked up—if that doesn't happen, the go-ball early in the game, the zone-read run game, the scrambling, he was playing really well. It was good to get that start under his belt and I think he's got a bright future."
On MJ Daniels improvement over the season…
"Another guy that's a junior, but he hadn't hardly played any football til he got here. Young guy that has played at a high, high level right now. Zay Franks is playing at a high, high level and Michael Carraway is playing at good level too, so that's three corners that coming into this year had played a limited number of snaps of four-year college football that are playing at a high level that can really be a formidable group next year. Then you get Brendon Toles back next year and Sentario Willis back, that group has a chance to special going into next year."
On if Daniels could get back an extra year of eligibility…
"I don't think so, he played in five. One snap in one game. Tough deal, tough deal. The rules are the rules so it is what it is. Tough deal for him. He wasn't here when that happened either, I want to make that clear."
On entering into the offseason with momentum if Southern Miss loses on Saturday…
"We're not thinking about that. We want to win. As far as that, once the season is over, we'll address everything we need to address moving forward. Like I said from the get go, next year we're in line to have over 50 guys that have been with us over three years. The team at that point will have become mostly guys that we brought in here and won in recruiting. We feel good about the youth and growing them for another year. We've got to add to it in recruiting, which is going well right now. I just think that we've got a chance with the way we've built it to start reaping some serious rewards next year. Now, we've got to improve in a lot of areas. We've got to get to where we're winning those close games, I certainly understand that. We've got to get better in several phases situationally and just base downs. We'll address those and we'll get moving and we've got to recruit, then we're going to have the best offseason this school has ever had and go into next year feeling really good about it."
On outside pass to Ti Mims that resulted in a penalty at Mississippi State…
"I don't know. I don't want to talk about it no more, really. It is what it is. Moving on."
On his pinkie ring…
"This is my dad's, well actually it was my grandfather's on my mother's side who was a car dealer in North Mississippi—Baldwin, Miss. for a long time. When he passed, he passed it on to my dad and my dad wore it forever and ever. When my mom died it kind of went with here and then my sister found it about four-or-five weeks ago. So I started wearing it. My dad won a bunch of games wearing this ring."
On the team's Thanksgiving meal plans…
"We do the same thing we've done the past two years. We've got a lot of kids that are local, so we let them go home and we encourage them to take somebody with them. The ones that don't have anywhere to go, they go to their coach's house and eat with them. We also have a good meal here too."
The Golden Eagles kickoff against Troy at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 25, at The Rock. The game will be televised to a national audience on ESPNU. Tickets for the game are available for purchase by calling 1-800-844-TICK (8425), by visiting SouthernMissTickets.com or by visiting the Ticket Office at the Pat Ferlise Center on campus.
Here is what Hall said to the media:
Opening Statement…
"Great Tuesday today man, great weather. Thank the Good Lord for that. Just rockin' and rollin,' we got a great a opponent this weekend. They've already won the Sun Belt West. I've got a lot of respect for what they've done. They've got a lot of old guys, they're a really old team. They've got a lot of guys that have played a lot of snaps at Troy. [They] do a good job of running the football, making play action shots and taking shots down field and they're great on defense. They're really old, they're really well coached and they tackle well, so we've got a tremendous challenge in front of us and we're working to do it. We want to send these seniors out the right way."
On if he views the team differently this week as opposed to others…
"This is a week that really matters to us. We're 2-0 on the week since we've been here. We really really accentuate Thanksgiving and what it means—the things we have to be grateful for. Enjoying these seniors, is something we've always talked about this week. Enjoying being around each other, so it is a special week. Playing on Thanksgiving is a special special week and being with these seniors is a special week."
On what this group of seniors mean to him…
"Lot of old guys that just wouldn't give up football, you know what I mean. They just kept playing. Some of them are sixth-year guys, some of them have been through so many injuries, from Swayze to Habas to Cole to more than that—Josh Carr, who's playing his lights out right now. I just appreciate all of them because a lot of them could've left when we first got here an the coaching change happened, but they stuck with it. Won a bowl game last year and are leaving the program in a much better stable situation than what they found it in, so we are certainly grateful for them."
On TQ Newsome's potential to return next season…
"You'll have to ask him that, but he got accepted to Med School, so that's a hard thing to turn down. That's what he wants to do with his life. You know, you go to college to figure out what you want to do and to set yourself up for success and he has done that. We're proud of him and proud of what he's going to become. The future's really bright for him."
On Troy's defense…
"They're very similar to Tulane. They're D-coordinator last year is at Tulane now. Head coach Jon Sumrall is very involved in it, but very similar to Tulane from a front structure, coverage structure. Subtle differences, everyone's got their own flavor to it, but similar to Tulane from a structure standpoint. Their defensive front, the two best defensive lines in this league will be playing this week. Their guys are really old, they've played a ton of snaps at Troy for them. Three of them are seniors. Really, really good football players."
On Cameron Mackey's play on Saturday…
"He did good, man. He is going to be a good football player. He's from Clarksdale, Miss., and he's played in three games for us, so he's going to get his fourth. He'll still be able to redshirt, but he'll play for us this week. He's got a bright future."
On vision for Mackey's future…
"He'll get bigger, all of them do as they're in college. And he'll get bigger with Ancar. He'll go through his first spring with us next semester. Another guy we won a lot of recruiting battles with. He had offers from almost every Sun Belt team and freaking Conference USA. All of these young guys that we're recruiting, we had to win in recruiting to get them. When you start winning in recruiting, you usually start winning on the field. He's a good one."
On Ethan Crawford's Availability…
"We're evaluating that. As long as he's healthy though, he's going to play."
On how Crawford's injury against Mississippi State affected the gameplan…
"It affected it a lot. He was playing well when he went down too. Outside of the play that he got hurt on—he didn't send the protection right, that should have been picked up—if that doesn't happen, the go-ball early in the game, the zone-read run game, the scrambling, he was playing really well. It was good to get that start under his belt and I think he's got a bright future."
On MJ Daniels improvement over the season…
"Another guy that's a junior, but he hadn't hardly played any football til he got here. Young guy that has played at a high, high level right now. Zay Franks is playing at a high, high level and Michael Carraway is playing at good level too, so that's three corners that coming into this year had played a limited number of snaps of four-year college football that are playing at a high level that can really be a formidable group next year. Then you get Brendon Toles back next year and Sentario Willis back, that group has a chance to special going into next year."
On if Daniels could get back an extra year of eligibility…
"I don't think so, he played in five. One snap in one game. Tough deal, tough deal. The rules are the rules so it is what it is. Tough deal for him. He wasn't here when that happened either, I want to make that clear."
On entering into the offseason with momentum if Southern Miss loses on Saturday…
"We're not thinking about that. We want to win. As far as that, once the season is over, we'll address everything we need to address moving forward. Like I said from the get go, next year we're in line to have over 50 guys that have been with us over three years. The team at that point will have become mostly guys that we brought in here and won in recruiting. We feel good about the youth and growing them for another year. We've got to add to it in recruiting, which is going well right now. I just think that we've got a chance with the way we've built it to start reaping some serious rewards next year. Now, we've got to improve in a lot of areas. We've got to get to where we're winning those close games, I certainly understand that. We've got to get better in several phases situationally and just base downs. We'll address those and we'll get moving and we've got to recruit, then we're going to have the best offseason this school has ever had and go into next year feeling really good about it."
On outside pass to Ti Mims that resulted in a penalty at Mississippi State…
"I don't know. I don't want to talk about it no more, really. It is what it is. Moving on."
On his pinkie ring…
"This is my dad's, well actually it was my grandfather's on my mother's side who was a car dealer in North Mississippi—Baldwin, Miss. for a long time. When he passed, he passed it on to my dad and my dad wore it forever and ever. When my mom died it kind of went with here and then my sister found it about four-or-five weeks ago. So I started wearing it. My dad won a bunch of games wearing this ring."
On the team's Thanksgiving meal plans…
"We do the same thing we've done the past two years. We've got a lot of kids that are local, so we let them go home and we encourage them to take somebody with them. The ones that don't have anywhere to go, they go to their coach's house and eat with them. We also have a good meal here too."
– @USMGoldenEagles | @SouthernMissFB –
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