Southern Miss head coach Will Hall informed members of the media on Monday he will announce a starting quarterback by the end of the week.
“I think we’ve probably known what we’re going to do for a while, but we want to let these kids compete,” Hall said after practice. “I’m not going to announce that today. I’ll do it at some point this week when we announce everything.”
Competing for the starting job are Florida State transfer Tate Rodemaker and sophomore signal-caller Ethan Crawford, although Rodemaker took the majority of first-string reps during fall camp.
Rodemaker joined the Golden Eagles after three years in Tallahassee. While the redshirt junior was never an everyday starter for head coach Mike Norvell, he appeared in 23 games and stepped in after a season-ending injury to Jordan Travis in 2023. He led the Seminoles to wins over Florida in the final regular season game and Louisville in the ACC championship before opting out of the Orange Bowl against Georgia.
Crawford saw most of his playing time as a true freshman in 2023 toward the latter half of the season, starting two games and appearing in six. The Tuscaloosa product finished the year with 240 passing yards, 96 rushing yards, and four total touchdowns.
True freshman John White out of Madison-Ridgeland Academy has also seen snaps at quarterback since arriving on campus last spring.
“The thing is I think we’re really good at that spot,” Hall said. “I think we’re dynamic. I think all of them bring something different.”
During Sun Belt Media Days in July, Hall noted that 2024 could be a breakout year for Southern Miss – especially with a level of comfortability at the quarterback position he hasn’t had since accepting the job in 2020. The Golden Eagles kick off the season on Aug. 31 at Kentucky.
