SUN BELT FOOTBALL COMPANION GUIDE • ALPHABETICAL 12 OF 14
2026 Season Snapshot • Hattiesburg, Mississippi
7-5 (Sun Belt)
SBC
Live schedule, lines and results for Southern Miss.
Loading schedule…
HEAD COACH
Blake Anderson — 1st season at Southern Miss (3rd stint)
LIFETIME COACHING RECORD
74–55 (FBS, multiple programs)
A former Southern Miss quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator (2008- 11) who went on to lead Arkansas State (51-37) and Utah State (23-17) as head coach, including a Grant Teaff Coach of the Year honor in 2019 after coaching through his wife's death from cancer. Returned to Hattiesburg as OC in 2025, then was promoted to head coach after Charles Huff left for Southern Miss's Sun Belt rival.
SOUTHERN MISS ATS RECORD
No single published career ATS figure
Southern Miss finished 2025 at 7-5 under Huff, a dramatic turnaround from a 1-11 2024 season and one win from a Sun Belt title game appearance — then lost that entire coaching staff and most of the roster within weeks.
HEAD COACH SALARY (2026)
$850K
TEAM NIL VALUATION (EST.)
Not disclosed
PRIMARY NIL COLLECTIVE
Not publicly named
Coach salary per HERO Sports (4-yr deal, $850K annually flat, a pay cut from predecessor Charles Huff's $950K). Southern Miss has not disclosed a team NIL figure.
OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR
Kyle Cefalo • 1st season • Multiple
Arrives from Cal, where he worked with a solid receiving corps, tasked with rebuilding an offense that returns almost no meaningful production from a 2025 team that was competitive in the Sun Belt middle tier. The QB competition is genuinely open entering fall camp.
DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR
Multiple • Full rebuild
Southern Miss's defensive rebuild is described by outside evaluators as even more dire than the offensive side — a real, total reconstruction after the 2025 staff and most contributors departed following Huff's exit.
2025 RECORD
7–5 (Sun Belt)
One win from the Sun Belt Championship Game under Charles Huff, capping a stunning turnaround from 1-11 the year before — then virtually the entire team and staff turned over when Huff left for a Sun Belt rival.
HOME FIELD
M.M. Roberts Stadium ("The Rock")
Artificial turf (Shaw Sports Momentum Turf), Hattiesburg. A program riding real 2025 momentum into a genuinely uncertain 2026, with Anderson himself acknowledging the roster-continuity model he knew from his prior stint no longer applies.
| SLOT | PLAYER | YEAR | HS Stars | NOTES / NFL OUTLOOK |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| QB1 | Open competition | — | ★★★★★ | Outside evaluators call the quarterback competition genuinely wide open entering fall camp under new OC Kyle Cefalo — confirm the Week 1 starter closer to the season opener. |
Outside evaluators call the quarterback competition genuinely wide open entering fall camp under new OC Kyle Cefalo — confirm the Week 1 starter closer to the season opener.
| PLAYER | POS | YEAR | HS Stars | NOTES |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Broderick Roman | C | Sr | ★★★★★ | Flagged as Southern Miss's key returning player for 2026 by outside evaluators; the clearest single piece of continuity on an offense otherwise rebuilt from near scratch. |
Flagged as Southern Miss's key returning player for 2026 by outside evaluators; the clearest single piece of continuity on an offense otherwise rebuilt from near scratch.
| PLAYER | POS | NOTES |
|---|---|---|
| Front seven rebuilt from scratch | DL | Described by outside evaluators as in even worse shape than the offense for returning production; a total defensive reconstruction under the new staff. |
Described by outside evaluators as in even worse shape than the offense for returning production; a total defensive reconstruction under the new staff.
| PLAYER | POS | HS Stars | NOTES / NFL OUTLOOK |
|---|---|---|---|
| Secondary rebuilt from scratch | DB | ★★★★★ | Part of the wholesale defensive reset; specific 2026 starters to be confirmed closer to Week 1. |
Part of the wholesale defensive reset; specific 2026 starters to be confirmed closer to Week 1.
2025 ATS
5-7-1
41.7% cover rate — 57th of 82
2025 Straight up
7-6
Point differential +18
Scoring environment
56.2
Combined points per game — 19th highest of 82
Home / road ATS
4-3 · 1-3
Totals 6-7 O/U (4-3 home, 2-3 road)
Points scored / allowed
28.8 per game scored (40th) · 27.4 allowed (58th)
Margin & schedule
Margin of victory +1.4 (45th) · Strength of schedule -12.7
SRS power rating
-11.6
73rd of 82 — projected points vs. a league-average team on a neutral field
Offensive SRS
-5.7
67th of 82
Defensive SRS
-9.5
75th of 82
Points (margin of victory)
+1.4 · 45th of 82
Against the spread
5-7-1 (41.7%) · 57th of 82
Totals (combined PPG)
56.2 · 19th of 82
Computed from CollegeFootballData 2025 results and closing consensus lines.
Saved Just J research for Southern Miss.
Anderson has publicly called the current transfer-portal, NIL environment "completely uncharted territory," a genuine departure from the 5-year, same-QB continuity he experienced in his prior USM stint.
Outside evaluators describe Southern Miss as having "almost nothing coming back" on offense and an even worse situation on defense — one of the most complete roster resets in the conference.
New OC Kyle Cefalo (from Cal) inherits a genuinely wide-open QB battle, with no clear incumbent after the 2025 staff and top skill talent departed.
With almost the entire offense rebuilt around one returning senior center, treat Southern Miss's offensive line — and the offense as a whole — as a genuine unknown into 2026.
Notes are maintained in the Admin area — no code changes required.
