We're on our 3rd interim coach of the year, Tim Billings. Per Pete Thamel/Twitter.

https://twitter.com/PeteThamel/status/13...59080?s=20

(10-27-2020 11:16 AM)TTT Wrote:  We're on our 3rd interim coach of the year, Tim Billings. Per Pete Thamel/Twitter.

https://twitter.com/PeteThamel/status/13...59080?s=20

That is a bad look Southern Miss. You should not be losing your acting coach to an FCS program.

(10-27-2020 11:26 AM)Side Show Joe Wrote:  

(10-27-2020 11:16 AM)TTT Wrote:  We're on our 3rd interim coach of the year, Tim Billings. Per Pete Thamel/Twitter.

https://twitter.com/PeteThamel/status/13...59080?s=20

That is a bad look Southern Miss. You should not be losing your acting coach to an FCS program.

If he knew he wasn’t in the running then head coach at AP is not a bad place to start your head coaching career.

What in the hell is going on in Hattiesburg?

(10-27-2020 11:26 AM)Side Show Joe Wrote:  

(10-27-2020 11:16 AM)TTT Wrote:  We're on our 3rd interim coach of the year, Tim Billings. Per Pete Thamel/Twitter.

https://twitter.com/PeteThamel/status/13...59080?s=20

That is a bad look Southern Miss. You should not be losing your acting coach to an FCS program.

That's silly. Anyone who knew they would in all likely hood be out at USM altogether next year when a new HC comes in and brings their staff would have taken an FCS head coaching job.

This situation happens fairly often in the corporate world, and you give pay-to-stay bonuses to ensure that you keep the resources you need to get you through the interim period until you can put the future state plan into effect. Does USM think that at this point anyone can coach the team and it just doesn't matter, or can they not afford to make it a win-win where coaches will stay for a couple of months? I certainly don't have all of the information, but from the outside looking in this program seems to have thrown in the towel. I am still wishing you good luck though, so get this back on track.

It's only a "bad look" for people who haven't followed USM or bothered to do a little research...

Everyone and their mama knew 30-year old Scotty Walden (w/ zero FB head coach experience) wasn't getting offered the HC position at the end of the year. This is why he went ahead and accepted the AP position.

He was hoping to get the head coaching job. He basically had to do things almost perfectly as most alum are not happy with how the last head coach to come from lower division coaching ranks went. And then 2 play calls against LA Tech basically doomed him (the going on 4th down instead of field goal and the 2 point conversion attempt). And he knew it.

Plus the AD has burned up the phone lines and supposedly has some commitments from several alum that didn't donate in the past, or donated "little" to start to give. But their opinion is to hire someone that has some decent FBS experience to try to build this.

This is also how they look to be offering more than 900,000 base salary to the next head coach (vs the 500,000 Hopson was getting). Also rumor is Hugh Freeze wants to come back home and if the assistant coaching salary is where he wants he would do it for the amount USM is talking of offering.

I was surprised when I saw it. I figured he'd try to earn the USM job. Must have known he had no shot. Either he has no confidence in himself or he doesn't think he'd get a fair shot at USM.

I mean, what's happening is really obvious to USM fans.

Hopson went to our AD after the USA game and told him he wasn't meeting the standards he set for himself and that he'd lost the fanbase, so he resigned on his own accord. I have people very close that have confirmed this was the situation and there was no pressure on him to resign, he did it on his own.

While Walden would have loved the USM job, he didn't win (regardless of whether that's his fault, it does matter to people). He didn't want to be stuck without a job at the end of the season and he was looking to be a head coach, not a coordinator, so he went to the only place that would hire him.

And despite both of those things, USM somehow still controls its destiny in CUSA.


There's no dumpster fire, though our leadership at the top is weak. It's just how things are going amidst uncertainty and sure change incoming.

(10-27-2020 11:45 AM)TTT Wrote:  It's only a "bad look" for people who haven't followed USM or bothered to do a little research...

Everyone and their mama knew 30-year old Scotty Walden (w/ zero FB head coach experience) wasn't getting offered the HC position at the end of the year. This is why he went ahead and accepted the AP position.

If he's too young and inexperienced to be HC he shouldn't have been named interim HC.

(10-27-2020 11:33 AM)mturn017 Wrote:  

(10-27-2020 11:26 AM)Side Show Joe Wrote:  

(10-27-2020 11:16 AM)TTT Wrote:  We're on our 3rd interim coach of the year, Tim Billings. Per Pete Thamel/Twitter.

https://twitter.com/PeteThamel/status/13...59080?s=20

That is a bad look Southern Miss. You should not be losing your acting coach to an FCS program.

That's silly. Anyone who knew they would in all likely hood be out at USM altogether next year when a new HC comes in and brings their staff would have taken an FCS head coaching job.

Exactly. He had been the interim for 6 weeks or so and was still interim. We are 1-4, multiple players opted out and the weekly loss of Covid players being out is there so the prospects of him being promoted to Head Coach weren't looking good. He took a guaranteed job that will pay him for at least the next 4 years instead of just the next 2 months. I hate it and it is a bad look but I don't blame him one bit and wish him the best.

(10-27-2020 11:48 AM)Saint Greg Wrote:  

(10-27-2020 11:45 AM)TTT Wrote:  It's only a "bad look" for people who haven't followed USM or bothered to do a little research...

Everyone and their mama knew 30-year old Scotty Walden (w/ zero FB head coach experience) wasn't getting offered the HC position at the end of the year. This is why he went ahead and accepted the AP position.

If he's too young and inexperienced to be HC he shouldn't have been named interim HC.

He was the only man with previous head coaching experience (not at D1) that we had, so it fell on him. He was given a shot, but he's won like one game so far. When administration is trying to excite an apathetic fanbase, they aren't going to hire the guy who took over and lost. It fails at what they're trying to accomplish.

(10-27-2020 11:48 AM)Saint Greg Wrote:  

(10-27-2020 11:45 AM)TTT Wrote:  It's only a "bad look" for people who haven't followed USM or bothered to do a little research...

Everyone and their mama knew 30-year old Scotty Walden (w/ zero FB head coach experience) wasn't getting offered the HC position at the end of the year. This is why he went ahead and accepted the AP position.

If he's too young and inexperienced to be HC he shouldn't have been named interim HC.

That's a fair argument. I was shocked w/ they named Walden the interim instead of Billings.

With the article that came out yesterday quoting Jeremy McClain and the $$$ figures that will be spent on a new coach, sounds like Walden/Austin Peay had been talking for weeks.

(10-27-2020 11:45 AM)ElectroEagle Wrote:  This is also how they look to be offering more than 900,000 base salary to the next head coach (vs the 500,000 Hopson was getting). Also rumor is Hugh Freeze wants to come back home and if the assistant coaching salary is where he wants he would do it for the amount USM is talking of offering.

Walden could have been had for $500K or less. Once word was out that they were going to pay $900K+ to the next HC it was obvious it wouldn't be Walden. No surprise in all of this. I wish we had a coach with that level of energy, it may be off-putting to some fans, but it's also very contagious for football players on a sideline.

(10-27-2020 11:49 AM)usm99 Wrote:  

(10-27-2020 11:33 AM)mturn017 Wrote:  

(10-27-2020 11:26 AM)Side Show Joe Wrote:  

(10-27-2020 11:16 AM)TTT Wrote:  We're on our 3rd interim coach of the year, Tim Billings. Per Pete Thamel/Twitter.

https://twitter.com/PeteThamel/status/13...59080?s=20

That is a bad look Southern Miss. You should not be losing your acting coach to an FCS program.

That's silly. Anyone who knew they would in all likely hood be out at USM altogether next year when a new HC comes in and brings their staff would have taken an FCS head coaching job.

Exactly. He had been the interim for 6 weeks or so and was still interim. We are 1-4, multiple players opted out and the weekly loss of Covid players being out is there so the prospects of him being promoted to Head Coach weren't looking good. He took a guaranteed job that will pay him for at least the next 4 years instead of just the next 2 months. I hate it and it is a bad look but I don't blame him one bit and wish him the best.

I totally understand why he did it. I just can't believe USM didn't ensure he would finish his interim gig before actually leaving for a new job. It just looks bad.

(10-27-2020 11:53 AM)DogsWin1 Wrote:  

(10-27-2020 11:45 AM)ElectroEagle Wrote:  This is also how they look to be offering more than 900,000 base salary to the next head coach (vs the 500,000 Hopson was getting). Also rumor is Hugh Freeze wants to come back home and if the assistant coaching salary is where he wants he would do it for the amount USM is talking of offering.

Walden could have been had for $500K or less. Once word was out that they were going to pay $900K+ to the next HC it was obvious it wouldn't be Walden. No surprise in all of this. I wish we had a coach with that level of energy, it may be off-putting to some fans, but it's also very contagious for football players on a sideline.

That "word" came out yesterday...there's no way in hell Walden read that article yesterday morning, called Austin Peay, put his hat in, interviewed, got offered, accepted, all in the matter of a few hours.

Sounds to me like Walden was in talks w/ Austin Peay for a week or longer (Walden was out of practice all last week due to an alleged covid+ test, at least that's what we're supposed to believe)...this would explain WHY Jeremy McClain would actually come out and make the $$$ figures publicly known. My first thought when I read the article yesterday was, "well, I guess they have made their mind up about Walden"...meanwhile, I'm sure McClain has known about Walden interviewing for AP for a while now....the timing of all of this all makes complete sense now.

Again, this is only a tough look if you haven't looked closer at the USM situation. The devil is in the details.

(10-27-2020 12:06 PM)Side Show Joe Wrote:  

(10-27-2020 11:49 AM)usm99 Wrote:  

(10-27-2020 11:33 AM)mturn017 Wrote:  

(10-27-2020 11:26 AM)Side Show Joe Wrote:  

(10-27-2020 11:16 AM)TTT Wrote:  We're on our 3rd interim coach of the year, Tim Billings. Per Pete Thamel/Twitter.

https://twitter.com/PeteThamel/status/13...59080?s=20

That is a bad look Southern Miss. You should not be losing your acting coach to an FCS program.

That's silly. Anyone who knew they would in all likely hood be out at USM altogether next year when a new HC comes in and brings their staff would have taken an FCS head coaching job.

Exactly. He had been the interim for 6 weeks or so and was still interim. We are 1-4, multiple players opted out and the weekly loss of Covid players being out is there so the prospects of him being promoted to Head Coach weren't looking good. He took a guaranteed job that will pay him for at least the next 4 years instead of just the next 2 months. I hate it and it is a bad look but I don't blame him one bit and wish him the best.

I totally understand why he did it. I just can't believe USM didn't ensure he would finish his interim gig before actually leaving for a new job. It just looks bad.

With what contract?

Not a good look. USM needs a homerun hire.