Jeff Bower OUT at Southern Miss?

[RollTide72]

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=3128077

After leading Southern Mississippi to 14 consecutive winning seasons and a bowl game in nine of the last 10 seasons, Jeff Bower won't return as football coach next year, sources close to the situation confirmed Monday morning.

Bower had a 119-82-1 record in 17 seasons at the school. He led Southern Miss to at least a share of the Conference USA title five times since the league was formed in 1996.

It wasn't immediately known whether Bower was forced to resign or was fired. The decision was reached after Bower met with Southern Miss athletics director Richard Giannini on Monday morning.

The Golden Eagles finished 7-5 (5-3 in Conference USA) after beating Arkansas State on Saturday and received an invitation to play in the Papajohns.com Bowl in Birmingham, Ala.

Mark Schlabach covers college football for ESPN.com.

 

[AR182]

this is very surprising..wonder if he has another job lined up...

 

[RollTide72]

So let me get this right....

14 consecutive winning season
9 bowl games in 10 years
Set an all time Season Ticket Sales Record this year

USM had only been to 7 bowl games from 1953-88 going 2-5 in those games.

USM has been to 10 bowl games since Bower became head coach in 1990 going 6-4 in those games.

He is finishing up his 29th year at USM as either a player or coach. He is the 2nd winningest coach in school history.

And they are gonna fire this guy. :shrug: Where do these mid-major schools get off thinking that they are all powerful and wonderful? What type of tradition did USM have before Jeff Bower was the coach? I mean really!

I've been fortunate enough to have met Coach Bower on three occasions and he is a class individual. Where does USM get off thinking that they can do better?

I've gone to the USM message boards and are reading what their fans are saying. Most are disappointed that Bower was forced to resign. A minority are happy and they are the delusional ones. USM is a mid-major school in a mid-major conference. They should be satisfied winning 7-8 games a year. They pull off the occasional upset of an Alabama or an Ole Miss, etc. and should be happy with that. 14 straight winning seasons. They better be careful... Ole Miss got rid of David Cutcliffe three years ago and they are already looking for another coach. The USM administration should be ashamed of themselves today.

http://southernmiss.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/bower_jeff00.html

http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071126/SPORTS/71126014

 

[RollTide72]

From a blog on the Jackson Clarion Ledger...

What is USM thinking?

Southern Miss athletics is about to undergo the worst P.R. nightmare in history of P.R. nightmares, both nationally and locally.

They earned it.

I don't know whether they're going to say Jeff Bower resigned or whether he was fired ? but I know for a fact that he wanted to continue at his alma mater.

Unbelievable: Fourteen consecutive winning seasons, bowls in nine of 10 years, one of the nation's highest graduation rates, virtually a lifetime of service . . . I could go on and on.

I'll be the first to say that USM underachieved this season, BUT after all these years, all that distinguished service, all those victories, you would think they'd give the guy one mulligan, one do-over.

I am appalled, simply appalled.