HATTIESBURG — Spring practice for Southern Miss football began Tuesday morning, and so did another competition for the starting quarterback spot.
Fourth-year coach Will Hall said after Tuesday's practice that the quarterback, offensive line, tight end and punter positions are all up for grabs as the Golden Eagles aim for a better 2024 season.
Hall named four players in the quarterback race: Tate Rodemaker, Billy Wiles, Ethan Crawford and John White.
But that's not all that surprising considering he ended the 2023 season (3-9, 2-6 Sun Belt Conference) in that position.
Wiles, a redshirt junior, started the first 10 games, but gradually lost playing time to Crawford, a freshman who provided a change of pace as a dynamic runner. He started the final two games of the season and appeared to be hitting his stride.
Southern Mississippi State adds White, a three-star prospect out of Madison Ridgeland Academy who broke Mississippi's high school passing yards record last fall. He has enrolled and is participating in spring practice.
Then there's Rodemaker, a transfer from Florida State.
“I'm excited for Tate,” Hall said. “He's a player who played in 23 games. He's played against some elite competition and won. Louisville, Florida, those are really good football games that he put up, played against and won games. It’s a team.”
One two-hour practice session is too small a sample size to declare a top candidate. All four reps were split pretty evenly, with highlights and lowlights. Southern Miss is currently focused on implementing new offensive and defensive schemes.
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Hall also emphasized that the Golden Eagles have other areas they need to improve and that solving the quarterback position won't magically solve everything.
One of the expectations is that the new members of the coaching staff, offensive coordinator/tight ends coach Chip Long, defensive coordinator/safeties coach Clay Bignell, running backs coach Michael Spurlock, and defensive line coach Fred Wyatt, will , please help us come up with some sort of solution.
“We have to play better, especially from quarterback,” Hall said. “We're a quarterback-centric program, and we want to play well around him and help him be successful and make the game a little bit easier for him. That's what we want to do with the addition of Chip. This was emphasized by the cooperation of the entire offensive staff.”
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Ty Mims injured on opening day.
The start of spring practice also brought misfortune.
Ty Mims, who had 39 receptions and led the team in receiving yards (445) for the Golden Eagles last season, injured his shoulder on one of the first receptions of the morning.
It happened when Mims dived to make the catch but landed awkwardly on his right shoulder. He was protected with tape by team trainers and returned to practice, but his symptoms worsened while diving for another ball. He sat outside for the rest of the day.
Mims is expected to be the starting wide receiver while other notable pass-catchers have left the team, including Jacarius Caston, La'Trelle Jones, Cole Cavallo and Tiquan Henderson.
Coach Hall said Southern Miss will be free until the spring, with the exception of four defensive backs, Brendan Toles, Kes McNeil, Centario Willis and Elijah Sabatini, who are still rehabbing from a torn ACL suffered in the fall. He said he was relatively healthy.
Sam Sklar is the Southern Miss beat reporter for the Hattiesburg American. Email ssklar@hattiesb.gannett.com and follow us at @sklarsam_.
