Talking Southern Miss defensive line with new DL Coach Fred Wyatt

Southern Miss ranked No. 5 for total sacks in FBS football in the 2022 season. But after the breakout campaign, things took a steep dive. The group managed just 25 sacks in 2023 along with 179+ rushing yards per game.

In steps new defensive line coach Fred Wyatt from Eastern Illinois, where he held the same position.

Heath: Coach Wyatt, how has everything been since moving down to Southern Miss?

Fred Wyatt: It’s been awesome so far. I think I’ve been blessed with the people that I’ve been around and that staff that brought me in with Coach Hall. And obviously following Clay here – just everybody else on the staff has been fantastic.

Getting a chance to be around the players back in January and the room that I was fortunate enough to inherit – it’s a great group of guys that I’ve enjoyed working with. It’s a nice mix of old and new, young guys and guys that have been here for a few years.

So, it’s nice to have a group that’s all different but all working for the same thing. It makes my job a little more enjoyable. At the end of the day, the goal is to go out there and win and they’ve all been working towards that. It’s been a fun couple of months.

Heath: Let’s talk about the defensive line group. How has that transition been to this new defense?

Wyatt: I think they’ve enjoyed it. The first thing is we brought together all of our different guys into one room. In past years, the outside linebacker body type guys have been their own position group, or d-tackle or d-end by themselves. But this year, we brought them all together in one room. I think they like it because they’re thirsty for knowledge. They want to make sure they’re lining up and want to know what the guy next to them is doing too.

So, they’re getting the same information, taught the same way so they’ll be on the same page. It also allows guys like Jalen Williams to get pushed by a Jahlil Clemons. Rather, last year, they weren’t in the same room and now they have a chance to push each other. I think that’s paying some dividends.

Heath: Who are some guys on the defensive front that you’re really looking at that will be able to take that next step this year?

Wyatt: I’ve got a plethora of riches, I think. I’m very blessed with the depth I’ve got in the room. There are a number of guys who I think can have breakout years for us this season. You named some of them.

Excited to see Demeco [Roland] and what he can bring to the table. He’s gonna have more responsibility this year so I'm excited to see what he does with that. He’s a big, talented interior d-lineman and will catch some people off guard with how athletic he is.

On the edges, it’s Jahlil [Clemons], it’s Jameer [Lewis] – those guys in the boundary. Even young guys like Tre’Mon Henry. We’ve got a lot of talented guys in the boundary that are really athletic. And I think Jalil’s at the top of the list. He’s set some nice standards for himself and has been pushing those standards.

Booth is the steady hand in the room and he’s the leader of the group, the level head. He’s gonna go out there and be able to control games and make sure the rest of the guys are under control. In big games, he’ll be able to make sure everybody’s got cool heads and not let the moment get to us.

Eric Thomas has been slowly climbing the radar. He’s been doing a lot of good things this offseason ahead of his last year.

I could go on and on. The front three of my group is very talented and impressive. I’m excited to have that and the depth this fall.

Heath: Iliyas Fuavai comes from a great athletic legacy. How have things been for him?

Wyatt: Iliyas’s been injured a bit since I’ve been here. So, I’ve only really worked with him in bits and pieces. I think he’s probably got one of the strongest sets of hands and punches in my entire group – just doing the limited drills I’ve been able to do with him.

He’s got some tools that he can bring to the table and he’s finally back in the mix this second half of the summer ahead of fall camp. So, those first few days of fall camp will be really telling to see where he’s at.

We moved him inside and he’ll play some three-technique for us. I think that’s a little bit more fitting for him and from a scheme standpoint. He enjoyed the switch too. He was thinking about that in the past and moving him there he was smiling after that conversation. I’m excited to see what he can do inside.

Heath: What’s one thing this fanbase may be surprised about when they see this defensive front come out for the opener?

Wyatt: I think they’re gonna see wave after wave of guys on the field that maybe they didn’t know about. We’ve got a handful of seniors that I’m sure the fans know, but there’s gonna be probably 10-12 bodies every game.

And there’s no big drop-off. Even the guys running with the threes, I wouldn’t be shocked if some of them wouldn’t be able to start for some other Sun Belt teams. One of the big changes is Bignell allows the defensive line to be aggressive and we have a chance to make plays for ourselves. We’re not just gonna let the linebackers and safeties have all the fun. We’re gonna have some fun too. We’re gonna cut it loose.

Heath: So, you’re more of an aggressive personality on the line. Is that a good way to describe the coaching style?

Wyatt: It is. You know, we still got to make sure we control. We can’t just freelance the entire time. We gotta make sure we control the gaps. But I want to play in the backfield.

I preach physicality and aggressiveness. I want to put the offensive lineman three yards in the backfield every time. Even if I’m not making plays, I want to disrupt the play to allow everybody else to roll downhill fast to join in on the party instead of letting things get downhill.

Us playing in the backfield makes it a little harder for the offense to establish that run game. And that’s one of the biggest things that Bignell and the style of defense that he has does. We want to disrupt as much as we can. That starts with us up front.