Jeremy McClain reintroduced at USM

When it comes to the hiring process for USM’s director of athletics position, there’s always a catch-22 because Southern Miss always seems to hire the right person which means said person always seems to leave a little too soon.

But maybe not Jeremy McClain who was reintroduced as USM’s next AD this evening. McClain held the same position at Troy for three-and-a-half years, following a three year run as USM’s deputy director of athletics.

Since 2013 there’s been a run of Jeff Hammond, Bill McGillis and most recently Jon Gilbert, leaving the Golden Eagles with a pretty high turnover rate at the top of the food chain.

That’s where McClain comes in to hopefully break that chain. “I’m not a guy who’s out looking for a job. And I wasn’t out looking for this job. Things lined up and I got a phone call. But if I’m going to come to a place I want to be committed to it, and that’s what I’m going to do here is be committed here to being here long term. And there’s nothing I think worse than walking away from something when you haven’t gotten to the finish line and completed what you want to complete. And so what I can say to you today is I want to get us to the finish line on a lot of things we’re trying to do, and that’s going to take a while. That’s why I plan on being here for a while.”

McClain will get started no later than July 1^st, pending IHL Board approval, but he says he hopes to rejoin USM’s staff in May.