HATTIESBURG — New Southern Miss football head coach Charles Huff has added a familiar face to his staff.

Southern Miss announced Friday that it has hired Jason Semore as its defensive coordinator and linebackers coach. Semore was also Huff’s defensive coordinator at Marshall the past two seasons, before Huff left to take the job at USM.

Marshall ranked second in scoring defense (23.1 points per game) and sacks (36) this season as it won the Sun Belt Conference championship.

Semore has coached college football for 15 years. He previously was the linebackers coach at Georgia Tech, the defensive coordinator at Montana and Valdosta State, and various assistant and staff positions at Oklahoma State, Tulsa, Temple and Colorado School of Mines.

During his lone season as Valdosta State’s defensive coordinator, in 2021, the Blazers won the Division II national championship.