By CURTIS ROCKWELL

Item Sports Editor

Picayune was the home of college football in south Mississippi on Thursday.

The University of Southern Mississippi, that is.

Golden Eagles second year head coach Larry Fedora brought his entire coaching staff to Picayune Memorial High’s Maroon Tide Stadium for one of the USM staff’s seven traveling camps. Thursday’s camp had over 125 participants, the biggest camp so far for the USM staff.

“We liked this location because it was centrally located and we thought we could draw from a wide area,” Fedora, whose first USM team went 7-6 last year including a win in the New Orleans Bowl, said. “The purpose of these types of camps is to get Southern Miss football out to as many prospective student/athletes as possible. Today’s turnout was outstanding.”

Players had to be in grades 10-12 for next season to participate, and Thursday’s event featured not only a large contingent of participants from Pearl River County but others from the Gulf Coast, Slidell and the New Orleans area as well and from as far away as Austin, Texas.

The USM coaches put the players through not only group drills but individual drills and position workouts as well.

“We did this when I was at Oklahoma State and this is our second year to do it at USM,” Fedora added. “We move around all over the state and bring the camp to the players. It’s an outstanding opportunity for us to get to see as many kids as we can.”

Fedora said that South Mississippi was important to his program.

“We are the University of Southern Mississippi, so this part of the state and the coast is a key area for us,” He concluded.