Coach Hall: I'm 'biggest fraud' of the last 50 years at Southern Miss

Southern Miss head coach Will Hall referred to himself as the program's "biggest fraud" of the last half-century after losing in his debut.

The Golden Eagles fell 31-7 on the road Saturday to South Alabama, a perennial bottom-feeder in the Sun Belt Conference. The Golden Eagles open the home portion of their schedule this Saturday against Grambling State.

"I hope our guys are excited. I'm not excited; my life's on the line," Hall said. He added, "I feel like every day I wake up that since I've gotten here, I've let a lot of people down, and we've got to overcome that. We've got to play better. Because right now, I'm probably the biggest fraud to come through this place in the last 50 years."

Southern Miss hired Hall on the heels of a turbulent 2020 campaign in which the team went 3-7 and played for three different head coaches. Jay Hopson resigned after one game - also a loss to South Alabama - and interim replacement Scotty Walden bolted for Austin Peay in October, leaving Tim Billings at the helm for the final five contests.

Hall, a Mississippi native, got the Southern Miss job after two seasons as an offensive coordinator at Tulane. The 41-year-old had two stints as a Division II head coach before moving up to Division I.