I met Larry Fedora last spring when Fedora was the featured guest and keynote speaker at the Miss-Lou Chapter of the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame’s annual football banquet.

For those that don’t know, the banquet is something the foundation hosts at the Eola Hotel each spring to present six local prep athletes with scholarship money — money raised by the annual Joe Fortunato Golf Tournament.

Each year, a head football coach from a major Mississippi college is always featured, and as head coach of Southern Mississippi football team, Fedora was asked to speak at last spring’s banquet.

Needless to say, everyone came away highly impressed with Fedora, myself included.

Fedora made no bones about his strong faith in God being his guiding compass in life. Fedora also talked a lot about setting goals to the athletes in attendance, talking about the fact that goal-setting was something he has been doing since high school.

I’d be curious to see what kind of goals his Golden Eagle players set for themselves this season, because I imagine every one of them were met, if not exceeded.

Southern Miss finished with an 11-2 record and a Conference USA title, secured after the Golden Eagles beat the then No.6-ranked Houston Cougars 49-28 Dec. 3. The move earned the Golden Eagles a berth in the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl Dec. 24.

It also earned Fedora a chance to coach at the University of North Carolina football team, a position he accepted late in the week this week. The move is bittersweet for Golden Eagle fans, because while Southern Miss has had one of its strongest seasons in a long time — perhaps ever — the season caught the eye of schools with job openings, and one eventually came calling that Fedora couldn’t turn down.

To be fair, Fedora’s name also popped up when Ole Miss had an opening, before the Rebels eventually hired Arkansas State head coach Hugh Freeze. His name was also mentioned in regard to several other openings, including Texas A&M and Arizona State.

That’s not to say Fedora is at fault for taking the North Carolina job. Ultimately, he has to do what he feels is best for his family and his career. For the Golden Eagles, though, there’s now uncertainty as to where the Southern Miss administration should go to find a new head coach, both short- and long-term.

I’d have to think a current assistant will be hired as interim head coach for the bowl game. Offensive coordinator Blake Anderson is a possibility, both as a potential short-term fix and a possible long-term solution.

Southern Miss could also choose to hire an up-and-coming assistant coach from another school, much like Fedora was when the school hired him away from Oklahoma State in 2007, when he was the Cowboys’ offensive coordinator.

Whichever direction the Southern Miss administration decides to go in, the new coach should be walking into a good situation. Instead of leaving the program in shambles, Fedora seems to have built a solid foundation in Hattiesburg.

Hopefully, the next coach can keep the Golden Eagles competing for Conference USA titles for the foreseeable future.

 

MICHAEL KEREKES is the sports editor for The Natchez Democrat. He can be reached at 601-445-3633 or at michael.kerekes@natchezdemocrat.com.