Charlotte Eagles II W

Early history (1912–1974)

Southern Miss first fielded a football team in 1912, coached by Ronald Slay. That team posted a 2–1 record. A. B. Dille coached the Golden Eagles from 1914 to 1916, posting a record of 6–10–1. USM did not field a football team from 1917 to 1919 because of World War I. Allison Hubert was the Golden Eagles head football coach for six seasons, posting a 26–24–5 record. His Golden Eagles teams were known to be fast and fierce. Hubert departed after the 1936 season to accept the head football coach position at VMI. After Hubert came Reed Green, who coached USM for a total of nine years, from 1937 to 1942 and 1946 to 1948. His final record was 59–20–4. The Golden Eagles did not compete in football from 1943 to 1945 because of World War II. During the coaching tenure of Thad Vann, the Golden Eagles became one of the nation's most elite football programs. Vann compiled a 139–59–2 record, had only one losing season in his 20 seasons in Hattiesburg, his last. His 1953 and 1954 Golden Eagles teams upset Alabama and posted records of 9–2 and 6–4, respectively. The Golden Eagles made it to the Sun Bowl in 1954. Vann's 1958 and 1962 teams claim a national championship. Vann retired after the 1968 season and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 1987. P. W. Underwood returned to his alma mater from his post as an assistant coach at Tennessee. Underwood compiled a 31–32–2 record in his six seasons and engineered one of the biggest wins in school history in 1970, a 30–14 upset of fourth-ranked Mississippi.

Bobby Collins era (1975–1981)

Bobby Collins was the Golden Eagles head football coach for seven seasons, compiling a record of 48–30–2. Collins led the Golden Eagles to two bowl appearances, the Independence Bowl and the Tangerine Bowl after the 1980 and 1981 regular seasons. His 1981 team finished ranked No. 19 in the final Coaches' Poll. Collins left USM after the 1981 season to accept the head football coach position at SMU.

Jim Carmody era (1982–1987)

Collins was succeeded by his former defensive coordinator Jim Carmody, who coached the Golden Eagles for six seasons. Under Carmody's tutelage, Carmody's Golden Eagles compiled a record of 37–29. Only one of those six seasons did the Golden Eagles finish with a losing record, a 4–7 campaign in 1984. The Golden Eagles would only have one more losing season until 2012.

During Carmody's tenure, the Golden Eagles defeated Alabama, 38–29, in Tuscaloosa in 1982, snapping the Crimson Tide's 56-game home winning streak at Bryant–Denny Stadium. It was the first time since 1962 that Alabama had lost there and also proved to be the final loss of coach Bear Bryant's career. Carmody recruited a young Kiln, Mississippi, high school quarterback named Brett Favre to Southern Miss in 1987.

In 1984, Southern Miss, already under NCAA sanctions for prior infractions, admitted to improper recruiting practices pertaining to freshman linebacker Don Palmer. As part of the fallout, Carmody's salary was frozen. Palmer alleged he was given clothing, basketball game tickets, cash, and transportation to the campus by an USM assistant coach.

Curley Hallman era (1988–1990)

Curley Hallman came to Southern Miss from his post as defensive backs coach at Texas A&M. Hallman's .676 winning percentage at USM is the highest of any coach in Southern Miss football history. Hallman coached future NFL star quarterback Brett Favre during his tenure at USM. Hallman's record at Southern Miss is 23–11 in three seasons. Hallman departed after the 1990 season to accept the head football coach position at LSU.

Jeff Bower era (1991–2007)

Jeff Bower came back to his alma mater as head football coach following Hallman's departure. Bower led the Golden Eagles to 14 consecutive winning seasons, the fifth longest streak in college football history and to bowl games 10 of his last 11 seasons. Bower's 119 wins are the most by any head coach in USM football history. Bower led the Golden Eagles to three Liberty Bowl appearances (two wins) in 1997, 1999 and 2003. His 1997 and 1999 teams finished ranked in the top 20 of both the AP and Coaches' Polls. Bower also led the Golden Eagles to two New Orleans Bowl victories (2004 and 2005), a GMAC Bowl victory (2006) and a Mobile Alabama Bowl victory (2000). He led the Golden Eagles to three additional bowl appearances. Bower was named Conference USA's "Coach of the Decade" in 2004. Bower resigned after the 2007 season with an overall record of 119–83–1.

Larry Fedora era (2008–2011)

Larry Fedora was hired away from his post as offensive coordinator at Oklahoma State as the USM head football coach on December 11, 2007. Fedora's four-year contract included a $650,000 per-year base salary, but incentives brought his yearly pay close to $900,000. Fedora made a big splash early in his tenure at USM, landing a commitment from five-star wide receiver prospect DeAndre Brown, who chose the Golden Eagles over offers from SEC members LSU, Ole Miss and Auburn.

In Fedora's first game as head coach, the Golden Eagles set the USM all-time record for yards in a game with 633. Southern Miss would go on to notch its four most explosive offensive seasons in program history in Fedora's four seasons. His players also graduated at the highest rate in USM history. In what turned out to be Fedora's final season, the Golden Eagles upset sixth-ranked and undefeated Houston in the Conference USA championship game en route to a Hawaii Bowl victory and rankings of No. 19 and No. 20 in the final Coaches' and AP Polls, respectively. Fedora also led the Golden Eagles to two New Orleans Bowl appearances (one win, one loss) in his first two seasons and a loss in the Beef O'Brady's Bowl to Louisville in his third. Fedora's record year-by year was back-to-back 7–6 records in 2008 and 2009, 8–5 in 2010 and a USM record 12–2 in 2011. The 2011 season was the first time USM had ever won 12 games in a single season. Fedora left after the 2011 season to accept the head football coach position at North Carolina, leaving Southern Miss with a 34–19 overall record.