/Hall – a ‘Mississippi boy through and through’ – checks all the boxes at Southern Miss

Hall – a ‘Mississippi boy through and through’ – checks all the boxes at Southern Miss

Let’s begin with his family. Bobby Hall, his father, is one the most successful high-school football coaches in Mississippi history. Marcus Boyles, his babysitter, is a successful coach at Petal. Drew Causey is his college coach and best friend. This is just a start. There are many more. Bobby Hall says, “There isn’t a high school coach from Mississippi that Will or me don’t know.” Boyles babysat Will Hall at Raleigh when Will was still in diapers. “I have been following him his whole life.” His entire life has been surrounded by great coaches, including his father. He is a former head coach. He has successfully recruited Mississippi wherever he has been. He has built relationships with Mississippi coaches. He has won every game he has played.” This is what Will Hall, Green Wave’s offensive coordinator for the past two seasons, said about Boyles: “He’s won wherever he’s gone.” All three of them are starters. Southern Miss did not recruit them. These players were instrumental in Tulane’s win over Southern Miss 66-24 at Hattiesburg earlier in the season. Hall’s offense ran for 427 yard with Trey Tuggle (a freshman right tackle who Hall recruited from Mize). Hall recruited Kenny Gainwell from Yazoo County as an assistant to Memphis. Gainwell was a high-profile player in Mississippi, and gained more than 2,200 all-purpose yards for the Tigers last season. Hall coached Malcolm Butler from Vicksburg while he was at West Alabama. Butler was a Super Bowl legend. Will Hall recruited Ty Keyes from Taylorsville to Tulane. You can read many more Mississippi recruiting success stories. Causey’s Oak Grove Warriors are playing in the Class 6A Championship match again this weekend. “Whether he was at West Alabama, West Georgia, Louisiana-Lafayette, Tulane or Mississippi, Will has always recruited Mississippi hard, and he has always gotten great players. He is well-connected in Mississippi. He is the hardest worker in Mississippi.” Bobby Hall said it again: “Will is a Mississippi boy through-and-through. He drinks, eats, and sleeps football. “He was there at practice from the time he was in kindergarten to when he played with me.” That’s a great story. Will Hall was his father’s quarterback and led Amory to a Class 3A championship. He could run it, and throw it. He was only 5’9″ tall. He was not recruited by any colleges. Itawamba, the JUCO with the first Amory player pick back then, also didn’t want him. Bobby Hall sent Bobby Ray Franklin a film asking him if he would consider a quarterback. Franklin watched the film and agreed that he could. Will Hall, a Northwest student, set records and was an All American twice. Will Hall was denied D-I offers so he went to North Alabama and won the Harlon Hills Trophy, Division II’s equivalent to the Heisman trophy. Causey, who was a team guard, said that while Will was small for a quarterback, he was extremely talented and a great leader. He was believed by the team. He was proud of his offensive line and that is what he admired, so he had that going. North Alabama won 13 games and reached the national semifinals in his senior year. Will Hall’s coaching experience has been similar: He began small and worked his way to the top, always proving himself at every level. He was the quarterback coach at Presbyterian and Henderson State, and then he became the offensive coordinator at Southwest Baptist. Next, he was promoted to Arkansas-Monticello to become the offensive coordinator. He then moved to West Alabama, where he served three years as the offensive coordinator, before becoming the head coach. As the West Alabama and West Georgia head coaches, he won 56 games and lost 21 in the difficult Gulf South Conference, SEC of Division II. He was awarded league titles and named Coach of the Year in both states. In a short conversation Tuesday afternoon with Will Hall, he said that Southern Miss was something he wanted. He said, “I know the history, I know that you can win there and it was a good match for me.” “We’re going to get it rolling again, handshake after handshake. Bobby Hall is a bit prejudiced but believes that his son will win big at Southern Miss. Bobby Hall stated, “Will wants it to be there.” “He wants to be the Southern Miss head football coach. It really does make a difference.”