Fielder’s Choice

Will Hall was raised on football.

Back in 1998, I was blessed to cover the Amory Panthers during my tenure with the newspapers in Monroe County.

The Panthers were led by head coach Bobby Hall, who had a talented quarterback he was very familiar with, his son Will. I followed them all the way to the Class 3A state championship.

That football season was one of the highlights of my journalism career. In fact, another Monroe County school, Smithville, won the 1A state championship the same year. I covered that one, too.

I used to talk with Bobby a lot about football and also about his 17-year-old son.

He was a proud dad, as he should have been. Will learned from one of the best.

Bobby Hall was my kind of coach – old school, confident and tough. He’s a high school coaching legend in Missis sippi.

And he was always good for great quotes. He was a sportswriter’s dream.

But this article is not about Bobby, it’s about his son.

Last week, Will Hall, now 40, was named the new head football coach at the Univer sity of Southern Mississippi.

It’s like a full circle sort of thing for me.

The young man I took photos of and wrote about during his high school playing days is now the coach at one of my favorite universities.

And that’s not all.

Will was a standout quarterback at nearby Northwest Community College. He was named a NJCAA Football All- American. He still holds a lot of passing records at North west.

Then he moved on to the University of North Alabama, my alma mater. He won the Harlon Hill Trophy, Division II’s equivalent to the Heisman, in 2003. He led the Lions to a 13-1 finish and to the semi-finals of the playoffs. That season, he completed 71.8 percent of his passes in throwing for 3,531 yards and 30 touchdowns. He also rushed for 467 yards and five touchdowns.

Some thought Will Hall was too short to be a successful college quarterback. He certainly proved the nay sayers wrong.

They certainly misjudged his heart, his grit, his determination. Perhaps they didn’t realize the importance of a quarterback’s football knowledge, taught to him by his dad.

Will Hall, simply put, is a winner. He was a winner as a player, and he’s been a winner in his coaching career – at the Division II level and then leading some top-notch offenses as coordinator at several Division I schools, the latest being Tulane and a few years ago at nearby Memphis. And he’s an outstanding recruiter - Mississippi born and bred.

Coach Pat Byrd was on Bobby Hall’s staff at Amory. He’s now head coach at Winston Academy.

He Tweeted – “To borrow a line from an old coach, USM ‘just got back in the football business.’ Couldn’t have picked a better man to lead them going forward.”

The Burlesons love Southern Miss. Daughter Emma and son Andy graduated from there. Erin is a freshman there.

USM’s history of football success certainly outweighs the recent struggles.

Here’s hoping Will Hall gets the Eagles back on track. I, for one, am a believer

Winning is in his genes.