BROOKHAVEN — The departure of key players on both sides of the ball will not be an excuse this season for the Southern Miss Golden Eagles.
That was the message head football coach Larry Fedora gave as he spoke to an audience of slightly more than 100 Tuesday night at Rusty’s Family Restaurant in Brookhaven.
Fedora opened with kudos to the Southern Miss baseball team. The Golden Eagles will open their NCAA Division I regional tournament Friday at Plainsman Park in Auburn, Ala., against Clemson.
The Golden Eagles’ third-year coach then turned his attention to football. He said several players, both veterans and newcomers, raised the bar with their performances in spring ball.
Damion Fletcher is gone, but the Southern Miss offense is expected to be strong, Fedora said.
Fletcher ran for a career-low 1,015 yards and scored just eight touchdowns in 12 games in 2009. Criticized for his small stature — he was 5-foot-9, 182 pounds in his senior season — Fletcher went undrafted after not showing at either the Senior Bowl or NFL Combine.
Fedora said senior running back V.J. Floyd “really tore it up this spring” and has earned the starting job. He is expected to be backed up by Desmond Johnson.
Kendrick Hardy also drew kudos from his coach for his physical running style. “He runs extremely hard. I mean he’s bringing the wood every time,” Fedora said. “He’s not one of these guys that’s trying to make you miss. ... He’s trying to punish you every time he carries the football, and I like that about him.”
Quarterback Austin Davis has been cleared to play, Fedora said.
In 2008, Davis became the first freshman quarterback to lead the Golden Eagles to a bowl game. His 2009 campaign was cut short by a foot injury suffered against the University of Alabama-Birmingham. He was backed up by Martevious Young.
Fedora said while Davis is the starter, he is open to losing his job, just like everyone else on the team. He added that he expects a spirited competition at quarterback.
Fedora said a key part in improving the offense entering the spring was replacing four graduated players on the offensive line. The coach said he has identified five linemen who will have a chance to start in the fall.
“They are by no means a finished product and no, they won’t be,” he said. “Those five guys have to eat together, sleep together, go to movies together — you name it — to gel. And it’ll take the entire summer and all of fall camp for those guys to gel.”
Four of the five are right tackle Jason Weaver, right guard Alex Michael, center Cameron Zipp and left guard Joe Duhon.
Fedora said that Michael, a redshirt senior, hasn’t seen a lot of action for the Golden Eagles, but “really turned it on” during spring ball.
“In fact,” Fedora continued, “coming out of spring, he’s one of the guys I said was going to be one of our leaders up front. He did a nice job.”
Fedora said having third-year starter Zipp up front was like having a quarterback in the offensive line.
Two players battled this spring for the starting job at left tackle: redshirt sophomore Darius Barnes and sophomore Lamar Holmes.
After having Shawn Nelson and Leroy Banks as the Golden Eagles’ top two tight ends last season, Fedora said that position will not be the “same kind of animal” this coming season.
This fall, senior Jonathan Massey will take the tight end reins, with freshman Ryan Hanks as his backup.
“We’re going to change what we do at that position and what we do with those guys,” Fedora said.
Deandre Brown will return as the team’s starting wideout. Fedora said this was Brown’s first spring on the Southern Miss football field after missing the previous two years with a broken leg.
Fedora said that while many people believe the 6-foot-6, 240-pound Brown looks skinny, he is deceptively strong. Fedora said Brown bench-pressed 225 pounds 25 times following a workout this week. “There are linemen at the Combine that don’t even do that,” Fedora said. “He is not a frail guy.”
Another change to expect this season will be in the receiving corps. Fedora said the Golden Eagles will likely change from last season’s tight end, three-wide receiver set to four wide receivers.
At wide receiver, the Golden Eagles will replace the graduated Gerald Baptiste and Freddie Parham with Johdrick Morris and Spike Williams. On the outside will be Ryan Ballentine and Quentin Pierce.
Fedora added that Tracey Lampley, who played as a freshman last year, has taken on multiple roles this spring, playing wideout, inside receiver and running back.
“People never know which spot he’s going to be in,” Fedora said, “so that’s going to be a big help to us.”
With nine returning starters, the Golden Eagles are expecting a huge improvement on defense.
Fedora said the entire defensive line will return this season, with the exception of defensive end Roshaad Byrd, who is still recovering from a broken ankle he suffered last season and has not yet been cleared to play.
Fedora said he expects big things this season from defensive linemen Anthony Gray, John Henderson, Terrance Pope and freshman Khyri Thornton.
Cordarro Law is also expected to have a huge season.
“I’m going to be disappointed if he doesn’t lead the league in sacks this year,” Fedora said. “We’re talking somewhere between 12 and 15 sacks on the year to do that. He has the ability to do that.”
After leaving last season weighing 208 pounds, redshirt freshman defensive lineman Octavius Thomas has come in this season at 238 pounds, Fedora said.
“He’s got great speed off the edge. He’s going to be a really good player for us in the future,” Fedora said.
