We have to wait a while until we are actual members, but in the meantime we will be watching SBC games to help with streaming numbers and ratings, playing you guys in OOC (hello Cajuns, Jags and Warhawks in hoops) and looking forward to full participation in 2023. Thanks for all the welcomes and cheers, all!

Welcome

Couldn’t be more pumped up.

Welcome Neighbors! We, here in Mobile and at South Alabama and all of the JagNation welcome the University of Southern Mississippi are excited that you all will finally become Sun Belt Conference mates. It's going to be exciting times competing each other in all of out common athletics. Best of luck to the Golden Eagles with remaining months in C-USA. Kick some coosa butts, but go easy on ODU and Marshall.

Best thing to happen to USM in a decade, easily.
Thanks for making room.

I watched that press conference and (I know I said this in another thread but..) everyone at that press conference looked completely psyched at the move.

I really hope it gets you guys back on your footing you've been known for. You're right in the thick of it so I hope you're bussing your fans to Mobile, Monroe and Lafayette games and making an electric atmosphere.

And I'm also looking forward to seeing who bleeds black and gold at The Rock better

Glad y’all are here!!!

I'm so excited Marshall and So Miss will continue to share a conference together. We haven't been in the same division for a while now, but I'm glad we are still in the same conference. Nothing but respect for the So Miss football program. Can't wait to see you guys get things turned back around and hopefully meet in the SBC championship at some point in the future.

Welcome Golden Eagles!

Welcome aboard. Glad to have you guys in the Belt.

I admit I haven't kept up with Southern Miss in the past decade as much as I should have, but curious as to what happened to your football program, from your fanbase's vantage point anyways. I remember the Ellis Johnson hiring and firing after Fedora had a good thing going, and what appeared to be a complete implosion. I remember ppl in South Carolina thinking that was gonna be such a great fit. Was it just a terrible hire, or is there more to the story from your guys perspective? That's my biggest fear with Chadwell rumors floating around that you follow some success up with a bad hire and lose all that momentum.

Welcome aboard…USM has always been a program I have admired and had always thought it would be a good school to be in a conference with…good proximity and I have a few friends that are USM grads.

We’re excited about the future in the Sun Belt. This is truly a blue color tough as a pine knot south eastern conference loaded with hungry programs. GS is down now but we’re in good shape. The new AD gives confidence that we can get the train back on the tracks. Hearing good things. Recruiting should take a nice turn for all of us with stout competition great exposure and close enough travel for family and friends. The recruiting battle against mid and lower tier P5s just got pushed further in our favor by a little luck this time and a conference loaded with identity history and tradition. It’s been a long tough road for most of us certainly Southern Miss to continue to climb and not settle. Looking forward to getting after it..

Welcome USM

Welcome aboard Golden Eagles!

Been wanting this to happend for many years. Welcome.

(10-26-2021 08:06 PM)hotrod2001 Wrote:  I watched that press conference and (I know I said this in another thread but..) everyone at that press conference looked completely psyched at the move.

I really hope it gets you guys back on your footing you've been known for. You're right in the thick of it so I hope you're bussing your fans to Mobile, Monroe and Lafayette games and making an electric atmosphere.

And I'm also looking forward to seeing who bleeds black and gold at The Rock better

Y'all are the only ones that wanted on from the jump. The conference has been as excited as y'all have been to join. Just a great add for a team steeped in history. Can't wait for y'all to turn it around and return to glory days. Hopefully after we beat you a couple times.

Welcome USM! Nothing but a ton of respect for your school and fans. Can't wait to meet up on the gridiron!

(10-26-2021 08:32 PM)CCUBrad Wrote:  Welcome aboard. Glad to have you guys in the Belt.

I admit I haven't kept up with Southern Miss in the past decade as much as I should have, but curious as to what happened to your football program, from your fanbase's vantage point anyways. I remember the Ellis Johnson hiring and firing after Fedora had a good thing going, and what appeared to be a complete implosion. I remember ppl in South Carolina thinking that was gonna be such a great fit. Was it just a terrible hire, or is there more to the story from your guys perspective? That's my biggest fear with Chadwell rumors floating around that you follow some success up with a bad hire and lose all that momentum.

Two terrible hires- Ellis (Elloss) Johnson and Jay Hopson, made four years apart. Elloss destroyed all of Fedora’s momentum in months, and Hopson inherited a solid base after the rebuild from Todd Monken and failed to move forward, then his recruiting fell off a cliff after he tried to hire Art Briles. He was mailing it in his last couple of years. Couple that with two bad AD hires and a bad president proceeding Rodney Bennett, we’ve had a pretty grim last decade. Better leadership is in place now.

(10-26-2021 08:32 PM)CCUBrad Wrote:  Welcome aboard. Glad to have you guys in the Belt.

I admit I haven't kept up with Southern Miss in the past decade as much as I should have, but curious as to what happened to your football program, from your fanbase's vantage point anyways. I remember the Ellis Johnson hiring and firing after Fedora had a good thing going, and what appeared to be a complete implosion. I remember ppl in South Carolina thinking that was gonna be such a great fit. Was it just a terrible hire, or is there more to the story from your guys perspective? That's my biggest fear with Chadwell rumors floating around that you follow some success up with a bad hire and lose all that momentum.

Honestly, I haven't kept up with Southern Miss much after the Ellis experiment, C-USA 3.0 (4.0?) didn't help either. I've been tuned out for a while, my time off is too precious to spend being miserable and disappointed on Saturdays. Looks like they're finally trying to turn things around by making good decisions... honestly can't believe I'm excited to be joining the Sunbelt, that definitely wasn't my attitude 10 years ago.

(10-26-2021 09:56 PM)FairwayEagle Wrote:  

(10-26-2021 08:32 PM)CCUBrad Wrote:  Welcome aboard. Glad to have you guys in the Belt.

I admit I haven't kept up with Southern Miss in the past decade as much as I should have, but curious as to what happened to your football program, from your fanbase's vantage point anyways. I remember the Ellis Johnson hiring and firing after Fedora had a good thing going, and what appeared to be a complete implosion. I remember ppl in South Carolina thinking that was gonna be such a great fit. Was it just a terrible hire, or is there more to the story from your guys perspective? That's my biggest fear with Chadwell rumors floating around that you follow some success up with a bad hire and lose all that momentum.

Two terrible hires- Ellis (Elloss) Johnson and Jay Hopson, made four years apart. Elloss destroyed all of Fedora’s momentum in months, and Hopson inherited a solid base after the rebuild from Todd Monken and failed to move forward, then his recruiting fell off a cliff after he tried to hire Art Briles. He was mailing it in his last couple of years. Couple that with two bad AD hires and a bad president proceeding Rodney Bennett, we’ve had a pretty grim last decade. Better leadership is in place now.

I think you should have hired Blake Anderson instead of Ellis Johnson. Would have saved both our programs from being where we are now...