Southern Miss Football: After Jeff Bower

Southern Miss: After Jeff Bower

Speedblog

I wanted to revisit a story that happened a few years ago, one that has a very sour taste when it comes to football programs and rich alumni that often times are as fanatical as some of the fans.

Southern Miss was one of those teams a few years ago that you had to keep your eye on. Out of the Conference USA, this was a team that just seemed to be just short of making the BCS voters nervous.

Coached by Jeff Bower, this team reached the heights that the university had not seen on decades. Under this coach’s leadership, the Southern Miss Golden Eagles had 14 consecutive winning seasons out of his 17 seasons, and had dedicated almost 30 years to the university.

Under Jeff Bower, they won four Conference USA Championships as Bower was voted coach of the year in the conference three times, and also voted the Coach of the Decade by said conference.

In the 12 years Coach Bower was with Southern Miss under Conference USA, the team went to 10 bowls…TEN! They won 3 out of four bowl games, losing the 4th one in 2007.…

And it cost Jeff Bower his job.

The final year of Bower’s tenure was 7-6 as they lost in their bowl game, and apparently the “big bucks” that run college football at Southern Miss felt that he did not deserve another year…so they ran him out.

Folks, there is a term for a school that lives mainly in the middle of the NCAA, it is a reference term for wrestlers that aren’t the most popular, but liked…

“Mid-card for LIFE”

Conference USA has a competitive conference, but NOBODY is going to mistake it for being a BCS contender. As such, any team from such a conference is not going to be in the top 10. So what did these people see in running Bower out that would land them in the BCS?

Nothing.

Has the team gotten any better since 2007...nope.

So why was this move done? Why would a university push out a guy who not only gave Southern Miss the credibility it has today, but also GRADUATED a heck of a lot of athletes. It was said that Southern Miss Football had a very high graduation rate, one of the best schools in the nation in Division I.

So tell me, if winning was not important, and graduating players was not important, then what is?

I used to watch Southern Miss often on television, and got to know them pretty well, but now since Bower is gone, I don’t see them much on tv, not that I am looking for them. Last year they finished 7-6 but some say that they will be better this year…that’s really not saying too much.

It’s only been two years, but I wonder how long it will take before the upper crust of Southern Miss start to realize that when you listen to old spoiled alumni with deep pockets, you don’t always get what you want….kinda like dealing with the devil. The hope of something great SOUNDS good, but the sacrifice you pay for it will cost you far more than your money can buy.

Good luck to your future Southern Miss…you’re gonna need it without Jeff Bower.