Why Southern Miss football was the right fit for John White, a QB with something to prove

HATTIESBURG — The night before Southern Miss football coach Will Hall won the Harlon Hill Trophy as Division II college football's top player, the 5-foot-9 North Alabama quarterback reminisced about the doubters he'd encountered on his path.

"Everybody thought I was too short to play," he told the Associated Press in 2003.

Hall's newest quarterback commit can relate.

Madison-Ridgeland Academy signal-caller John White says he currently stands at 6-foot, 200 pounds. He's got three inches on his future coach, but still falls outside the physical mold embraced by college football's top tier.

Of the 47 high school quarterbacks signed by SEC programs over the last three recruiting cycles, 44 were taller than White.

"That's why some other coaches hadn't offered me," White, who committed to Southern Miss on Sunday. "They've told me they wish I was taller. It doesn't make sense to me. I think if you're a player and you can make plays, a coach shouldn't worry about your size."

White became the Golden Eagles' first pledge in the Class of 2024, choosing Southern Miss from a list of offers that included Alabama A&M, FAU, Liberty and Toledo.

As a sophomore in 2021, he led Madison-Ridgeland to the Mississippi 6A state championship. He completed 243 of his 358 passes on the season for 3,965 yards and 39 TDs.

Just like Hall back in the day, there's little doubt that White can sling it. And he lets the question marks over his size fuel him.

"You’ve got guys that are bigger and taller than me, but as a player I know that I’m better than them," White said. "It makes it easier for me to play harder because I got something to prove."

Madison-Ridgeland head coach Herbert Davis is a fan of quarterbacks like Drew Brees and Russell Wilson, both future Hall of Famers who stand at 6-foot and 5-foot-11, respectively.

Spurning the idea of the cookie-cutter quarterback, Davis values those like White who meet the intangible requirements of the position. White emerged as a leader last season and his voice is growing in the build-up to his junior campaign.

Mentally, White feels he can effectively read defenses and anticipate throwing windows. Physically, he puts the ball where it needs to go.

"He's very accurate and very intelligent," Davis said. "We throw the vertical passing game a lot. At the same time, he completed almost 68 percent of his passes last year. So, that's the accuracy I'm talking about."

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Davis believes Madison-Ridgeland's offense mirrors some of what White will be asked to do at the next level. With run-pass options and in the drop back game, Davis doesn't handcuff his team's passing attack as other high school coaches might. White has the freedom to spray the ball around the field.

As a quarterback and the first member of Southern Miss' 2024 class, White finds himself in a position to bear the standard for the Golden Eagles in that cycle.

He's already had conversations with Hall about peer recruiting,  White said that's a role he welcomes.

"He can talk with me about who I think is good and we can agree on who I like," White said. "I can maybe encourage some guys who are in my class to maybe join it and help them realize what I realize: That it is a great place to be."

Hall and White bonded over their shared experience as undersized quarterbacks throughout the recruitment process, White said.

Hall gets it. That's part of the reason White said he knew Southern Miss was right for him.

"It felt like I finally maybe made a statement to some other coaches who kind of overlooked me and some rankings and stuff who maybe don’t have me as high as I think I should be," White said. "But I’m ready for this season, because I’m gonna play as hard as I can and we’re gonna try to win another state championship."

Reach Southern Miss writer David Eckert at deckert@gannett.com or on Twitter @davideckert98.

This article originally appeared on Hattiesburg American: Why Southern Miss football was the right fit for QB John White