It is Saturday afternoon, inside of 100 hours to National Signing Day, and Southern Miss does not have a head coach.
The school was put in this particular lurch when head coach Todd Monken bailed Sunday for an assistant job with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and on Saturday Bruce Feldman of Fox Sports the Golden Eagles’ top candidate -- Doug Nussmeier, currently Florida’s offensive coordinator and previously the offensive play-caller at Alabama and Michigan -- is now out of the running.
#Florida OC Doug Nussmeier who was considered the top candidate to be new head coach at #SoMiss is staying at #UF, source told @FOXSports
— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) January 30, 2016
Feldman also reported there is “strong support” in Hattiesburg for Alcorn State head coach Jay Hopson.
Hopson is 32-17 in four seasons at Alcorn State, but 19-7 in his last two, with SWAC East Division titles to cap each campaign. Hopson is a Mississippi native that played at Ole Miss and Division II Delta State and, save for stints at Marshall and Michigan, spent his entire life in the South -- including a three-year run as the Golden Eagles’ defensive coordinator from 2005-07.
With the clock tick-tick-ticking, it’s a good bet Southern Miss gets something done today.