Southern Miss guy

[mxeagle]

We always talk about that Southern Miss guy. I want to make sure we’re bringing in that guy that’s a high character, tough young man.” Coach Hopson

this statement coach always says worries me. I guess because he never says he wants to get the best recruits out there. Fedora said he would recruit any player no matter who else was recruiting them. does it mean Hop doesn't go after the best players out there? he never describes the southern miss guy as bigger, faster, stronger, more athletic, ect... diamonds in the rough are harder to come by these days

 

[sprint-draw gandy!]

I agree. Looking at his recruiting so far, its not any different than the last 3-4 years. And thats bad news. The recruiting should be getting better after the 9 win season....not worse. Its looking worse than last year so far. At least on par with it. Monken was starting to turn things around. Hop has us stuck in the mud.

I dont want to hear the usm guy bs either. Say youre going to go after anyone and everyone it takes to get more talent in here. We are talent depleted enough already.

 

[THE HEAD EAGLE]

We always talk about that Southern Miss guy. I want to make sure we’re bringing in that guy that’s a high character, tough young man.” Coach Hopson

this statement coach always says worries me. I guess because he never says he wants to get the best recruits out there. Fedora said he would recruit any player no matter who else was recruiting them. does it mean Hop doesn't go after the best players out there? he never describes the southern miss guy as bigger, faster, stronger, more athletic, ect... diamonds in the rough are harder to come by these days

Hop is a lot like Jeff Bower....great guy, likable guy...but low enthusiasm. Nobody will EVER match the energy and enthusiasm that Fedora had...EVER. Fedora could make those guys run through a brick wall and he would recruit anyone, anywhere. He could sell his product, especially to offensive players. He's a rarity.

Hop is in the same mold as Bower....good and bad.

 

[sprint-draw gandy!]

Agreed.

I dont think it was coincidence that under LF we had the best recruiting classes in school history.

 

[Eaglebird Humperdink]

At some point, I hope part of being a Southern Miss guy means "fast".

 

[Mao Tse-gore]

Thomas, who also holds an offer from Toledo, lists Southern Miss as his "leader."

 

[SouthernMiss3613]

What did Fedora do for us in the long run or in the short term? 11-2 and a Hawaii Bowl invite. Look what happened when he left. We would still have the winning streak going with Bower.

 

[garynada]

He won 12 games a championship and national ranking. He went to UNC and while under NCAA sanctions built that program. His name will be in the hat for the LSU Job. If you don't thank LF is one of the top coaches in college you are smoking some of that funny stuff. Hop is a nice guy but he is just an average coach. Fired 2 of the last 3 FBS jobs he had before this on. JMO but Hop's ceiling is lower than LF and TM. I think everyone knew that when they hired him but wanted a guy that was going to stick around more than 3/4 years. He will never win 12 game, never be ranked but will get 6 or 7 wins a year for his teams. This team is not really his team. He might get 8 wins this year, maybe 9. Right now we don't beat LA Tech. 24-14 at home to a really bad Marshall team should tell you something. ODU and NT are not a given. That is really sad given that this year's team on paper is better than next year's team. Nobody that was anyone wanted JB as their head coach during or after his tenure at USM and Hop is a JB clone. You almost always get what you pay for. Tell me again how much is this staff being paid. Oh and "it new players coming togather and the just need time" is not the problem. If that was the case you would see like with UK improvement over the season. That learning curve should increase at an increasing rate during the first games. I did not see that. An argument could be made that our curve was flat or regressed. That is not new guys getting to know each other. 8 games in you don't get to cry new system new guys.

 

[Mao Tse-gore]

Magee's projection: us vs. Appy State in New Orleans Bowl.

 

[sprint-draw gandy!]

What did Fedora do for us in the long run or in the short term? 11-2 and a Hawaii Bowl invite. Look what happened when he left. We would still have the winning streak going with Bower.

first off, he was 12-2. also, he kept the streak alive. if that's all youre interested in, then you should be thrilled with LF. so short term, he kept the streak alive, gave us the most wins in a single season in school history, the best recruiting classes in school history and some of thes best attendance figures. what do you mean long term? the team he left us with had more talent than any team we have had since. youre saying its his fault EJ went 0-12 and TM went 1-11 / 3-9? something is wrong with your brain if so.

 

[SouthernMiss3613]

No, we were 11-2 heading into the Hawaii bowl. It does not matter if the team was 6-6 or 11-2 we still could have gone to the Hawaii Bowl. He lost to UAB who fired their coach at the end of that year and to a mediocre Marshall team. The team he left us with was not a talented team. We never should have fired Bower for a coach who was never going to stay and did just enough to get the fan base excited with a Hawaii Bowl invitation and then leave us with a bare cupboard. Bower would still be the coach and we would still have the streak going for us.

 

[garynada]

Bower was a 60 percentile coach and dropping because he did not adapt as the game changed. In his early years he was when he was current with the game an upper 80 percentile coach. His best years were behind him. He was our Tuberville. Again he wanted to coach but could not get a lateral or better offer anywhere else.

 

[SouthernMiss3613]

He wasn't leaving because of his daughter. He had a shot at the Georgia job. Jeff Bower was loyal and consistent. We will never find that again. They thought we could be Boise State, but they were wrong.

http://m.wlox.com/wlox/pm_/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=od:I0jzmM22

 

[SSME]

JEFF BOWER

Accomplishments and honors
Championships
4 C-USA (1996–1997, 1999, 2003)
1 C-USA East Division (2006)
Awards
1990s C-USA Coach of the Decade
3x C-USA Coach of the Year


Year Team Overall Conference Standing Bowl/playoffs Coaches# AP°
Southern Miss Golden Eagles (NCAA Divison I-A independent) (1990–1995)
1990 Southern Miss 0–1 L All-American
1991 Southern Miss 4–7
1992 Southern Miss 7–4
1993 Southern Miss 3–7–1
1994 Southern Miss 6–5
1995 Southern Miss 6–5
Southern Miss Golden Eagles (Conference USA) (1996–2007)
1996 Southern Miss 8–3 4–1 T–1st
1997 Southern Miss 9–3 6–0 1st W Liberty 19 19
1998 Southern Miss 7–5 5–1 2nd L Humanitarian
1999 Southern Miss 9–3 6–0 1st W Liberty 13 14
2000 Southern Miss 8–4 4–3 3rd W Mobile Alabama
2001 Southern Miss 6–5 4–3 4th
2002 Southern Miss 7–6 5–4 4th L Houston
2003 Southern Miss 9–4 8–0 1st L Liberty
2004 Southern Miss 7–5 5–3 3rd W New Orleans
2005 Southern Miss 7–5 5–3 3rd (East) W New Orleans
2006 Southern Miss 9–5 6–3 1st (East) W GMAC
2007 Southern Miss 7–6 5–3 4th (East) L PapaJohns.com
Southern Miss: 119–83–1 63–24
Total: 119–83–1

Accomplishments and honors
Championships
4 C-USA (1996–1997, 1999, 2003)
1 C-USA East Division (2006)
Awards
1990s C-USA Coach of the Decade
3x C-USA Coach of the Year

 

[garynada]

The stats make my case 3 of 4 champions were in the 90s In those years he won the conference every other year. Then one championship in the next 7 seasons. He is s good guy and a good coach.

 

[sprint-draw gandy!]

No, we were 11-2 heading into the Hawaii bowl. It does not matter if the team was 6-6 or 11-2 we still could have gone to the Hawaii Bowl. He lost to UAB who fired their coach at the end of that year and to a mediocre Marshall team. The team he left us with was not a talented team. We never should have fired Bower for a coach who was never going to stay and did just enough to get the fan base excited with a Hawaii Bowl invitation and then leave us with a bare cupboard. Bower would still be the coach and we would still have the streak going for us.

he coached the bowl game. he won the bowl game. 11 +1=12

blame the AD for the hawaii bowl. he's the boss, not the HC.

you single out two losses that year. do you really want us to start singling out jeff bower's losses?

the team he left us with very talented. you are wrong again..

you seem to have trouble separating the firing of JB from your hatred (or jealousy) of LF. LF's successes or failures have nothing to do with JBs firing. you sound like you've been in a depression over the JB thing for the last 10 years. get over it and get off the ledge. LF had nothing to do with JB getting fired. you sound like a butthurt whiney baby. i like JB. but i can also recognize and appreciate LF for all he did. snap out of it.

 

[Eagle228]

Just for argument sake, does that mean that 3,4, and 5 star players are not "High Character". Do they all have to be 2 star, or in some cases, not even rated yet? From my observation, we're being out recruited in our own Mickey Mouse Conference.

 

[SouthernMiss3613]

Butthurt whiney baby? You are either a 12 year old kid or special. I apologize for taking advantage of a person not playing with a full deck of cards.

 

[Mao Tse-gore]

Jeff is a fine man, and was a very good coach for a long time, and he kept us out of trouble. If memory serves, seems like he got too big for his britches when he wasn't producing at proper level and when told he would need to make staff changes after a particularly mediocre season he flew off the handle and basically dared them to fire him, and so they did. He was part of the decision to retreat from playing Alabama and I believe other easings of the schedule. Before that I remember he fired OC Rip Shearer on Christmas Eve after Rip had just lead us through a much improved offensive season and toward a hopeful future. That was poor form. He went through quite a few OCs as I recall. I was glad when we decided to aim higher than he could seemingly take us and we stayed with that focus for 2 of the hires afterward. As for now I think it's acquiescence to the level we've been relegated to and we hire to fit it.

 

[SethManKA1]

Keeping to the title thread, I agree that we need a recruit who wants to be at Southern Miss, BUT we do need to go after the best recruits possible. I applaud Bower taking a 2 star recruit and making him a great athlete back in his day. But that strategy IMO was not efficient in the evolving world of college football. We do need to go after the best athletes.

 

[SouthernMiss3613]

I agree we need to go out and at least attempt to get the best players available. It looks like State is on a downward trend and Ole Miss should be going on probation soon. That should help a lot in recruiting our area, but they can always say they are in the SEC. Teams like USA appear to be getting very competitive. That will hurt us in the Mobile area for sure. I think Tulane will be having winning seasons very soon too.