One of the most underrated things you can do for your players as a head coach is to bring guys that have seen success in all walks of life, back to speak to the team.
At Southern Miss, without a doubt, their most famous alum (at least by football standards) is legendary NFL quarterback Brett Favre.
While Favre needs no introduction to our usual audience, it is worth noting that he showed up to campus in Hattiesburg as the seventh-string quarterback, and by the time he left he held several Southern Miss passing records, and engineered wins over programs like Alabama, Auburn, and a top-ranked Florida State squad.
His message to Southern Miss players that hung on his every word was simple, yet powerful.
"If I had to do it all over again, and Alabama offered me, Auburn offered me, LSU offered me, and Ole Miss and Mississippi State...if all those schools offered me, I'd still go to Southern Miss."
"It worked out pretty good, boy. I think it worked out real good."
"There were a lot of guys that came out the same year as me, out of Mississippi or other places, that were, supposedly, damn good. They went to Alabama, or they went to these other places, and where are they now?" Favre added before shrugging his shoulders.
It wouldn't surprise me to see that sound byte work its way into the recruiting message for Monken and his staff.