Program field guide · 2026

Sun Belt · Mississippi

Southern Miss

Golden Eagles

Southern Miss’s Mississippi-developed core fell from 52 to 22 players.

2026 roster · Roster geography

In 2016, 52 of 115 roster spots were filled by Mississippi players with no earlier college team detected. On the 2026 roster, 22 of 110 fit the same definition. Detected transfers went from 3 to 40.

In 2016 the median player grew up 125 mi from campus. Now it is 336 mi.

Of the 40 players who came from another college, 5 are from Mississippi. Those home-state players make up 13% of detected-transfer stock on this roster.

Then → now

2016–18 compared with 2021–25

2016–182021–2546.1%44.3%2.2%22.2%
  • Local-developed core
  • Transfer stock
Measure2016–182021–25
Local-developed core46.1%44.3%
Transfer stock2.2%22.2%

The roster, at a glance

  • 447 miAverage hometown distanceAverage hometown distance among 103 located players.
  • 24.5%In-state24.5% of the roster is from Mississippi.
  • 21.4%Backyard21.4% grew up within 100 miles of campus.
  • 36.4%Detected transfers36.4% of the roster arrived after playing at another school.

Across the FBS

Where Southern Miss ranks

Most In-State#8524.5%Most Transfers#1936.4%Closest to Home#59447 miFarthest From Home#80447 miBiggest Localism Shift#1924.5%Most Backyard Players#6121.4%Fewest Transfers#12036.4%Biggest Transfer Shift#1636.4%

Homecoming Radius over time

The median hometown-to-campus distance, by season. The dotted line is the FBS median.

0100200300400FBS median (250 mi)200920122016201920232026

Roster composition over time

Where the in-state lens draws the line: local-developed, local transfer, outsider developed, outsider transfer, and unknown. This chart begins where stable athlete IDs make transfer detection possible; the radius chart above carries the official-archive geography farther back.

Local-developedLocal transferOutsider developedOutsider transfer200920122016201920232026

Where do Southern Miss's players come from?

SeasonRosterIn-stateTransfer signalRadius
202611024.5%36.4%336 mi
202511127.9%46.8%360 mi
202411563.5%23.5%110 mi
202310866.7%17.6%103 mi
202211563.5%13.9%115 mi
202111746.5%9.4%159 mi
202010746.2%4.7%162 mi
201912147.9%2.5%125 mi
201812245.1%1.6%155 mi
201712950.4%2.3%122 mi
201611547.0%2.6%125 mi
201512143.0%4.1%140 mi
201411540.0%2.6%125 mi
201311236.6%0.9%133 mi
20129728.9%0.0%192 mi
201110228.4%0.0%204 mi
201010637.7%0.0%121 mi
200910541.0%0.0%122 mi

Where the roster grew up

Every 2026 player's hometown, with campus marked and the Homecoming Radius circled.

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Homecoming Radius: 336 mi

(This slider is for exploring — leaderboards use the fixed lenses.)

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