Hefferman announces he's leaving The Southern to enter sales after the Dec. 2 UE game. He's going to the playoff football game this weekend as his last football game. This will leave a major hole mid season and with the recent downslide of The Southern I don't know if they'll attract anyone decent mid-season or just fill within/use provided SIU press releases.
Back in the day, a lead beat on a D1 sports program used to mean something but this will be probably be a budget-saving move by The Southern. I would expect Bucky Dent or one of their high school writers will just handle the SIU beat. Someone good to help drum up support for the programs with interesting features, behind the scenes notes and a watchful eye when something doesn't sound or smell right would do wonders, but I don't have faith in them to pick the right person or hire from the outside.
As much as we all poke fun at Hefferman for some of his shortcomings as a beat writer, he will be missed based off what the future probably holds.
https://twitter.com/THefferman/status/1463208502738960387?s=20
