Jackson Free Press

Jeff Bower is out after 17 seasons as football coach at Southern Miss. Bower was reportedly forced to resign at a Monday morning meeting with USM officials. The school scheduled a news conference for 4 p.m.

Bower was dismissed two days after the Golden Eagles defeated Arkansas State to secure their 14th consecutive winning season. USM accepted an invitation to play in the Papajohns.com Bowl in Birmingham, Ala. Bower and his staff will reportedly coach the Eagles in the bowl game.

Previous Commentsshow

(Transferring my comments from the "Ole Miss Tells Coach O To Go" thread, which was made before this thread was made) According to the Ledge: Southern Miss football coach Jeff Bower was told this morning he will not be back after 17 years as head coach of the Golden Eagles. Later: Bower was forced to resign during a meeting with USM athletic director Richard Giannini. Bower stormed out of the USM athletic department offices and went to his house. He could not be reached for comment. I am absolutely appalled about Jeff Bower's firing (though ESPN.com is saying that Bower resigned). I'll admit that this past season and some other seasons have been underwhelming, but the man brought 14 winning seasons in a row to Hattiesburg. Aside from USM, only Florida State, Michigan, Florida and Virginia Tech can now say they have had 14 or more winning seasons. USM is also going bowling for the tenth time out of the last eleven seasons. Bower also spent 17 seasons there overall and could've left for more lucrative jobs elsewhere. He brought loyalty and winning seasons to the Rock and this is the thanks he gets? Who does Giannini thinks he can get that will be better? It's not like coaches are lining up to take the USM job like they would for Michigan or Nebraska. G better hopes that he strikes lightning in the bottle with the next football coach or he might go the way of Steve Pederson and his buddy Bill Callahan at Nebraska: out the door.

golden eagle

Nov 26 2007

That's a shame about Bower's firing. I heard rumors about this one also, but I'm still surprised given his overall success at USM. Apparently there is a growing intolerance for failure in MS college football programs this year.

Jeff Lucas

Nov 26 2007

Hmm...wonder if Ole Miss might pick him up. Just a thought. Do we know that he was fired for sure, or did he resign?

ellen

Nov 26 2007

Nevermind. I see that he was forced to resign. :)

ellen

Nov 26 2007

That's a shame about Bower's firing. I heard rumors about this one also, but I'm still surprised given his overall success at USM. There was some talk on local sports talk radio a few weeks ago about some "big money people" at USM wanted a coaching change, but that happens at every university. I bet some "big money people" want a change at Texas now that they've lost two in a row to Texas A&M. I wonder if these "big money people" at USM are willing to put up the money to find a coach even better than Bower and make a commitment to stay there.

golden eagle

Nov 26 2007

Bower's a good coach and I'm sure he will find a head coaching position somewhere soon. Wait, I hear Ole Miss has an opening.... ;)

Jeff Lucas

Nov 26 2007

Its funny that the only big college football teams that have a post season this year in Mississippi are coached by African Americans, Coach Rick Comegy JSU headed to the swac championship and Coach Slyvester Croom MSU headed for a bowl. Now lets see what color will the next two hires for USM an UM, iam not being racist just being funny people dont take it to heart.

NewJackson

Nov 26 2007

NEW I thought that I read that USM was going to a bowl in Birmingham, and I think that Bower has had a nice number of bowl games.

malt

Nov 26 2007

so Malt, this year

NewJackson

Nov 26 2007

I find it surprising they got rid of Bower since he had won so much but going along with Newjack the color of a winning football coach is green :P You gotta wonder though if they already have somebody lined up to replace him, I would think USM would be pretty happy with what Bower has done.

GLewis

Nov 26 2007

NewJackson, USM is going to a bowl game this December 22 (the PapaJohns.com bowl in Birmingham). But I guess there's no sense in letting facts get in the way of one's opinion, eh?

Jeff Lucas

Nov 26 2007

NewJack, You say don't take the color thing to heart. Perhaps you should read just about every post you make. It's hard not to take something to heart when you make every issue black and white.

jackbauer

Nov 26 2007

Jeff Bower isn't the only problem with the USM football program. While I think he has slipped in recruiting the past couple of years there is plenty of blame to go around. Back in the 1990s and early 2000s USM had a chance to make a big impact in college football. They were on par with L'ville, Cincy, and South Florida, but let those schools get away from them. It could have been USM in the Big East instead of one of those other schools. At the very least USM should be able to win CUSA three out of every four years. The not trying to improve the facilities and program is at the feet of the USM administration. The lack of recruiting and low key play from the team is at the feet of Bower. Of course when things are not on the up and up the coach always gets the blame even though the administration deserves their share. As much as Bower has done for the school they should offer him an administrative position if he is not interested in coaching elsewhere.

jackbauer

Nov 26 2007

At least it's good that Bower got to see one of his players (Damion Fletcher) win the Conerly Trophy tonight.

golden eagle

Nov 27 2007