NCAAbbs

This trend at Southern Miss will either have to stop or we are headed for 1AA....this measure of inconsistency in mediocrity has gotten out of hand...we must seek an alternative or accept our doom...We suck! So does most of the conference..woohoo..let us have our 13th winning season, getting trounced by the winners and beating up on patsies like ourselves! If you were real USM fans, you wouldnt accept this pathetic crap! Im sick of this year after year after year! Nobody can do better? BS

Be careful what you wish for you might get your version of John Thompson.

[quote="USMFAN#1"]This trend at Southern Miss will either have to stop or we are headed for 1AA....this measure of inconsistency in mediocrity has gotten out of hand...we must seek an alternative or accept our doom...We suck! So does most of the conference..woohoo..let us have our 13th winning season, getting trounced by the winners and beating up on patsies like ourselves! If you were real USM fans, you wouldnt accept this pathetic crap! Im sick of this year after year after year! Nobody can do better? BS[/quote

Fine, hit the door. You aren't needed. I am sure one of the two instate SEC bottom feeder schools would welcome you.
Fellow CUSA fans. this is an example of what a consistantly winning program does to some people. It makes them spoiled brats and just plain stupid. They are very few, but like all programs we have our morons. ]

I'm a pretty optimistic guy, and seeing us start 3-3 in 2003 only to finish 9-3 with a Liberty Bowl berth has really helped me see a silver lining in the cloud of doom that was Saturday night. Let's win out, beat Tulsa in the C-USA Championship, and whip the snot out of the SEC opponent in the Liberty Bowl to finish 12-3!

GO EAGLES!

I love USM...graduated from USM...want the best for USM...true fans of any program want the best for the school....this is a losing trend...some of you will never see it...beating up on patsies while ALWAYS folding to good teams is not the way...this has gone on way too long

Every time someone posts something like this, they never offer a better alternative. So USMFAN#1, what coach out there is going to be better than Bower? Keep in mind this needs to be a coach that we can actually bring in. Let's hear it.

To the other USM fans that stick behind Bower, I honestly don't know why we're lucky enough to keep Bower. With all the negative attitude that people give, it's a wonder he doesn't just up and leave for a big money job.

a coach who doesnt do this...

1. Bowers play calling.....3rd & 20...right up the freakin middle.
2. Not even trying with 2 minutes left in the half and down 19-6
3. fumbles, false starts, and delay-of-game penalties
4. Can't beat a decent team...and dont even mention TCU
5. Lost this game at halftime...did not make adjustments..typical

USM can afford someone new, someone creative, even if its a freaking highschool coach..i've seen some with more creative playcalling than Bower

So true. So true.

You can't have a discussion with these guys. They for some reason think we should beat every BCS game we play and heaven forbid we lose to a CUSA team. You see, these Bower Bashers see CUSA as way below us.
Of course they are wrong, but to try and help them see the reality of the situation is fruitless. They are spoiled by a coach that has won year in and year out. The don't get the fact that all programs have bad years, i.e Nebraska, Penn State, etc. Bower has managed winning seasons in his bad years.
Also most of these guys don't give squat to the program. They are just pissed off that they can't increase their own personal ego by bragging about USM wins over BCS type programs.
Like I told this guy, if he is so upset, hit the door and find a school that fits his expectations.
I get upset at some of stuff we do at times and I think we can do better, but to throw it all at Bower's feet is a joke.

I just want a coach that will live up to their own standards

Well, I think So.Miss could bring in a decent coach for the same amount of money we pay Coach Bower. Here's a couple that I think would be intrested in the job.

Paul Petrino Offensive Coordinator @ Louisville: One time quarterbacks coach at So.Miss, Enjoyed his time at So.Miss and he's a great Offensive mind, comes from a Coaching family.

Steve Roberts, Head Coach @ Arkansas State: This guy has done a great job at Arkansas State, He's a very talented offensive minded guy who gets the best out of his team.

Charlie Stubbs, Offensive Coordinator @ Tulsa: I think without a doubt that Steve Kragthorpe is the best Head Coach in this league, I think Carlie Stubbs is the closet thing to Coach Krathorpe that we could get.

Jimbo Fisher, Offensive Coordinator @ LSU: He's a bright young coach a hella of a recutier. He knows the area and he knows the conference.

Al Borges, Offensive Coordtinator @ Auburn: This guy knows offense and has done a great job with the offense at Auburn.

Now with those names thrown out there, Let me be the first to say. Im not so sure its Jeff Bower, I dont have nothing against Coach Bower has a person and not really as a coach I disagree with alot of the things he does come game time but all fans do that. I think he should bring in more expirence assistant coaches. Our offensive line coach is a really good football coach, Derrick Nix is a really good running backs coach and Bill Wilt is a really good defensive line coach but outside of those three im not overly impressed with any of the other coaches on staff. Thing is what you say bothers me. You act like So.Miss could not lure a good football coach to come coach our team. No offense Tulsa fans but I think before Tulsa got good. A Job at Southern Miss would be the job more assistant coaches would've rather had. Again im not calling for Jeff Bower's head.. But i am calling for changes and I am saying that if the adminstration at the school felt it was best to make a change at the top, So. Mississippi would attract good coaches to apply for the job.

Yes...you Bower toters will never change either..that is what is sad...so satisfied with being the little fish..it all starts at the top....Bower has remained year after year of firing his staff...changes have been made everywhere except at the top....mediocrity didnt use to be the standard...now it is...pitiful

Btw, im an alumni and contribute my fair share to the school..just so you know

What do you call your fair share?? a $12 ticket at the top of the rock?

If you give so much then you must know that the EC is a place to voice your opinion instead of a messeage board for all to hear.

I'm not downing our school, but the only ones of those we have a realistic shot at getting with a salary on Bower's level are Stubbs and Roberts. Jimbo Fisher? People have thrown money at him for awhile. It would take a million/year plus to get him to consider leaving LSU.

Go ahead and push for the change. Just don't act as miserable as you guys do now when our program goes down the sh*tter.

You guys seriously need to get a grip. Tulsa hit a home run yes but I think it is much more likely you strike out. You could just as easily hire a John Thompson or Greg Robinson type that will run your once consistent proud program into the ground. I think you have a much better shot at returning to your 9-3 type nationally ranked seasons with Jeff Bower who knows how to recruit at USM and has been there in the past rather than firing him and blowing up the program to start over with an unproven coach that could turn out to be a dud.

Also Bower has proven he isn't going to leave. You get anyone of those other guys and more than likely the first opportunity to step all over your stepping stone program they are out of there and you will be starting from scratch again. Look around at programs like Arizona, Texas A&M, Syracuse, ECU and see where firing long time successful head coaches got them. We were lucky because Holland ended the 2 year ERROR of John Thompson sooner than later and we think got us a good one, but why would you think of blowing something up like you have. You could just as easily end up with John Thompson as you could with Urban Meyer, and even if you got Meyer how long would that last 2 years???

LOL! 12 Winning seasons in a row. 4 CUSA championships. 8 bowls games in 9 years. No hint of ncaa trouble. And top 5 grad rates in the nation. Yeah, he's doing a horrible job.

You know some people might not like this but i think Frank Solich would be a great fit for USM. I also like Steve Roberts from Ark State and Paul Petrino.

Ding! Ding! Ding! We have a winner. My thoughts exactly. I think they just want something to brag to their Ole Miss and MSU friends about.

First of all, Like I said in my orignal post I dont have nothing against Bower. I think he's a decent football coach. I just think he doesnt do somethings well. Everyone feels that way about their coach. As far as hoping for changes, Yes i think we need to hire some better assistant coaches. Secondly I dont act all that miserable I think with the proper changes and better assistants Coach Bower and Southern Miss could do even better than they are doing now.

My questions for you, Are you happy with the current status of So.Miss football ? Dont say anything about 12 consective winning seasons, the 4 C-USA championships or the graduation rates I mean the current 2006 edition of the Southern Miss football team? And what is it about Coach Bower's FOOTBALL Coaching skills are you most impressed with ? Again dont say nothing about how he graduates players or how he recurits kids. Tell me what you like about his Coaching abilities ? Time Management, In game Offensive play calling and adjustments, defensive play calling or how he coaches our special teams.. ? What is it you like ?

And he is a loyal alum that has turned down opportunities to stay at USM.

Oh boy the "grass is greener" crowd invades this board now. Take this crap back to EaglePost, where it belongs. If you supported your team up in Blacksburg like I did, then you seen what it takes to build a program. You "Fire Bower" boys will be the first to take flight if his replacement turned into a Thompson like deal as the ECU fans have stated.
For your money you are getting a hellva deal, at worst your moneys worth. Look at our budget, you will find it middle of the pack in CUSA.
You complainers should move your support up to the north part of the state. They will give you plenty to cry about. Despite the past two seasons, we have the best average attendence we have ever had. Less than 1,000 from being sold out for homecoming. When is the last time that has happened? Never.

Never said i wanted Bower fired, Said i want better assistant coaches at our program. I also said that if the program decided they wanted to make the move they would get good coaches applying for the job. I wonder about you guys who act like Southern Miss is the worse coaching job in america and that if Jeff Bower left we could do no better than a coach like JT. Why is it that you think So.Miss would hire someone like Thompson to replace Bower ? Do you NOT think Bower has done a solid enough job here to make other coaches wanna come to So.Miss and coach our program if he choose to retire or if he was to be replaced? Do you not trust in Richard Ginnanni's leadership in finding the right coach to replace Bower if he chooses to do so ? I mean if im not mistaken ECU fans thought the athletic director who hired JT was one of the dumbest AD's in that programs history. Are you saying that Richard Ginnani is that dumb ? Are you saying the Head Coaching Gig at Southern Miss is really THAT BAD ?? I realize what Coach Bower is going through I hope all those "FIRE BOWER" ppl also realize that he's got a young team this season so naturally we're going to struggle. I know that like I have said im not "Anti" Bower.. I just wish he'd get older more expirenced assistant coaches in there to help him run our program.

At least you beat the teams you are supposed to beat.

Quit Whining!!!

First off, quit acting like every post here is a reply to your posts. You didn't call for Bower's head, but several guys did. Secondly, Southern Miss isn't the worst coaching job in America, but it is the worst paying job in America. Particuarly when you have to deal with Bama-like fans that are never saitisfied (see the jokers in this thread).

NC State beat two ranked teams after we destroyed them. They lost the next two ACC games by close scores in good games. We've just had our best ever recruiting season and Bower is actually playing Freshmen. A lot has changed this year. I hate that VT killed us, but it wasn't our season.

First off, Im gonna reply to any post in here that I want to or that has been directed to me, As you will read in my first two post after my orginal post I was responding to some who had responded to my post. Secondly I never said Southern Miss is the worse head coaching job in america. I said alot of you ppl act as if Southern Miss could not hire another good coach. Now with that said I agree with you its a poor paying job but you cant be to upset at those fans who are not saitisfied because they just want better for our unversity. I dont always agree with them or their views but I respect their opioins like I respect yours. Its like the man said "opioins are like a$$holes, everyone has one" Have a good day..

John Thompson's bio would have lead you to believe he could have been a decent hire. Successful defensive coordinator at places like Florida, Arkansas, and LSU. Sounds no different than the candidates you suggested with no head coaching expereince.

http://uscsports.cstv.com/sports/m-footb...ohn00.html

Spurrier hired him even after our disaster and he isn't a moron. S. Miss had employed him before as well. Nothing prepares you for being a head coach except being one I have heard both Logan and Holtz say. Bottom line is some people aren't cut out for it and can't handle it and you don't know until they are put in the situation.

You are right on about that man. You dont know until you hire the man and see what he can do. Its like any job you dont know what you have working for you until you see them perform the job for yourself. I agree with you too about John Thompson you would've thought he would've been a pretty good head coach. I think J T's undoing was hiring a really BAD staff his two years there. I think he would've been wise to retain Shankwiler and a couple other Logan assistants. BTW looking forward to that game this week with you guys. Think this might end up deciding who wins the East. Its great to see So. Mississippi and ECU on primetime again playing in a game that means alot to both teams. Kinda like 99 hopefully it turns out like 99 for us. I've always had a great deal of respect for you're program. Good Luck from here on out.. Well accept for this upcoming week..

Fine...lets keep Bower...lets continue always losing to decent ball clubs..lets be content with our piece of the pie...wanting bigger and better just isnt for USM! Let's be king of the retards! BTW, a movie quote from Braveheart comes to mind...

"Why? Why is that impossible? You're so concerned with squabbling
for the scraps from Longshank's table that you've missed your God given
right to something better." This is what some of you dont understand...so content with a mediocre season when so much more is possible...but some are too scared to venture further out or support any change

The majority of the staff he assembled were late 20 and early 30 somethings on their first real d1a jobs. That was a huge problem, and not the schools fault both Logan and Holtz have hundreds of years of combined successful experience. You just don't take a team that had 7 eventual NFL guys starting and go 1-11 and almost lose that one to Army, you also just don't punt in the red zone and screw up coin tosses. Disorganized disaster is the only word for it.

I was so happy when we hired Holtz and he at least had a proven track record as a head coach. Logan was even had Junior College Head Coaching experience. I would rather see successful head coaching experience even at these lower levels. I am glad the team is back to being respectable, and maybe in a couple of years we will both be back to 1999ish form. I was not a fire Logan guy but honestly after the JT error it reset my perspective and made those 6 and 7 win season look pretty good again. I thin Syracuse is thinking 6-6 would be pretty nice again as well after the last couple of years.

Hiring a Coordinator is always somewhat of a crap shoot. You don't really know how they are going to handle being Head Coach. I think a lot of USM and I just hope that if you go another direction that you have a better search committee then ECU had following Logan. I would hate to see you guys make the same mistake we made and actually take the whole program completely backwards instead of moving to the next level.

Exactly. What idiot would fire a coach with that record?

UV, if you are content with you program being weak i cant help that...USM's program has been weak for years...C-USA victories cover that up

SO this year you were EXPECTING to roll into Gainsville, Blackburg, and Tulsa and win??? Those are 3 top 25 teams son. Get a grip.

No i was not....i was expecting the very same thing to occur as it has for many years....losing to good teams...not even competing with good teams..

I expect USM to look prepared-winning or losing. We looked like deer in the headlights in these games. Did I expect to beat UF? Probably not. Loose by 27 points? No. Did I expect to beat VT? Better chance than UF, but maybe not. Loose by 30? Absolutely not! Did I expect to beat Tulsa? Yes. If you don't expect to beat your conference mates, you have no business being in the discussion for CUSA champ. We lost by 14 but could have been worse. The point is not so much that we have lost three games but how we lost them. We are not a good team. We are fundamentally poor and not well coached. It is difficult to accept those losses when you know that the effort just wasn't there.

You answered this question in post after this for me. I think he's doing a good job with a young team. We're in position to make a run for a 9-3 record and go for the CUSA championship. Next year, with Jeremy having a season under his belt and Fletcher coming back, I think we can have a huge year.

Yes, I do have some problems with some of Coach Bower's calls. I thought he made some mistakes this past weekend. If anyone thinks that Bower is the only one who makes mistakes, they are very wrong. Funny that everybody will mention Bower's slipups, but when he takes a gamble and it works out, those people are nowhere to be found.

When I made the comment about people acting all miserable, that was more of general comment towards all the negative fans we have, not you in particular.

I say we stop this bickering and just support our team to another championship. If anyone's got a problem with Bower, then take it up with the proper people. Internet bitching will get you nowhere.

Agreed !!!

young team my azz....the entire offensive line is about to graduate

I like Bower--lol--

Nope not the entire offensive line. One Guy has 3 years left, and the other has about a year left. Now with that said you're right the offensive line had some expirence coming back. But outside of the offensive line not to many area's of our team have expirence. Maybe the wide recivers do but hell their dropping everything. Thats why we need a new postion coach.

For those who talk about "state of the program" all things considered, last year was probably the best job Bower has done, take into consideration 2 hurricanes, 3 or 4 games in 16 days. Then he brings in the best recruiting class in years. The season's not over &

I'm not Bowers biggest fan. However I'll give the man his due. I'm sure he can due a better job than anyone that's posted on this thread.

I remember USM hired a GREAT defensive coach named Jim Carmody, he was run off after 6 seasons, Curley Hallman had 3 great years with the talent Carmody brought in then bolted for $$$$. Now Curley's the HS coach.

New starter at QB + freshman RB + no real depth = issues. I expected VaTech to run over us. ECU is a MUCH better team than they are given credit for - did ANYONE not see that during the West Virgina - ECU game? Tulsa is a great team there is no shame in losing to them.

Let's see, where to start ...

If/when Bower is no longer the coach at Southern Miss, numerous names will be mentioned. Had ECU not taken the plunge, Thompson probably would have topped many Golden Eagle fans' wish list. Many were ready to run off Bower and annoint JT when he was the DC in Hattiesburg.

USMFAN#1, you listed several names - none of which we would get. Every coach on your list makes at least what Bower makes already, and some (even the coordinators) make more. And why would Petrino leave his current situation - working for his brother on a top five team? It would have to be a decent BCS job for him to consider it. Personally, I think our next coach may come from the 1-AA ranks, just like Ohio State's did.

I remember the 1999 season. We finished 9-3, were C-USA and Liberty Bowl champions and were ranked No. 13 in the nation in the final polls - the highest finish for a Southern Miss team since it won its second small college national championship in 1962. Bower announced that "nine wins weren't good enough for Southern Miss." We all cheered. The team also hasn't reached nine wins since, much less surpassed it.

I agree that Bower doesn't seem to have the fire he used to. The ECU game is a perfect example; we were totally out-coached by Holtz and his staff. That frustrates me.

I also know that Bower has given a stabilizing influence to what has sometimes been a non-stable program. We all remember wins over Alabama, Florida State, etc. in the "glory days," but we tend to forget that we generally followed those big wins with losses to teams we should have crushed. That's changed. In 2000, we shut out Alabama - and followed with a win over Oklahoma State on the road. In 2004, we opened with a win at Nebraska - and followed with a win at Tulane. Just a couple of quick examples of how things have changed.

Personally, I think Bower is near the end of his coaching career. While I may be frustrated with several things, I do think he's earned the right to end his coaching career on his terms. I fully expect him to step down within the next couple of years - sooner if he wins another conference title. I can see him wanting to go out on top. Who knows, it very well could happen this year.

Really? I mean, he's still relatively young in terms of coaching age. I'm not really disagreeing with you here, but what makes you think he would step down.

Oh, and you said we haven't reached 9 wins since 1999. We did that in 2003.

Southern Miss Alum well put in the above post.

I agree, Bower probably only has about 4 years left if that. Once his daughter is finished at USM (I'm not sure how close she actually is from graduating) I believe he will look for other things. Jeff Bower for AD anyone?

(I don't think Bower would become the AD, but you never know)

I stand corrected. I was thinking we only had eight wins that year.

I think bower is a fine football coach. but I also think we should give the job to tyrone nix when he is ready.

Very well put, I'd like to see him go out on his own terms I love the fact that people see him and know that he's the head coach of our unversity. My only gripe is I wish he'd hire better assistant coaches thats my biggest gripe.

Can we have Bower if you guys are done with him? I think he's a damn good coach.

Kev,

You can't have Bower, but I'm sure we could make you a great deal on former HC Curly Hallman or former offensive guru Rip Schear(sp?). Or Alabama might make you guys a deal on Mike Shula.