USM progress report under Jon Gilbert

Last January, Southern Miss held a press conference to announce its new athletic director which turned out to be Jon Gilbert. During the holidays, News 25 caught up with the man in charge at Gulfport High School where his son was playing in the Hardwood Holiday Classic for Oak Grove. So far, so good as Gilbert closes in on his one-year anniversary as the seventh AD of the Golden Eagles.
“Excited about where we were in the first year, certainly got a lot of things done.” Picking up where Bill McGillis left off, Jon Gilbert got right to work upon his arrival in Hattiesburg. “The Adidas contract. Beach volleyball, we’ll be kicking that off in the Spring of ’19. Academic center in progress. Wellness center, should be breaking ground on that in the near future.”
On the field, USM has been just as successful, especially with the baseball team hosting its first NCAA regional in 14 years after advancing all the way to the first ever Conference USA Tournament title game to be played at MGM Park in Biloxi.
As for football, the Black and Gold are coming off their third straight bowl game appearance, a 42-13 defeat to Florida State in the Independence Bowl. “I think it was important because we were the only team that was playing at that time of day, so we kicked off at 12:30. Every TV in the country that was watching football was watching our game, and that really speaks to the exposure for the institution as a whole as well as the athletic department. So really pleased about that.”
Also pleased with the career of running back Ito Smith who leaves Southern Miss as the school’s all-time leader in all-purpose yards and total touchdowns.”He’s about to go home and play in the Senior Bowl, which is really a special thing for someone growing up in that town, the long history of the Senior Bowl and to go back and play in it, just a really special way to end his career.”
And a special way to kick off 2018 for the Golden Eagles who already have their New Year’s resolution tied into Gilbert’s vision. “Keep moving forward, everything is about excellence. I want to make sure we’re excellent in the classroom and excellent on the field and we have excellence throughout the community, so excellence is the word for 2018. Excited about what the future holds for the Golden Eagles.”
During his introductory press conference, Gilbert said his three main pillars are education, supporting the student-athlete, and community engagement.