Monday was "National Firing/Resigning Day" in college football, and several head coaches from high-profile programs took part in the festivities.
Arkansas’ Houston Nutt resigned despite an offer of $2.4 million annually to stay with the Razorbacks. Georgia Tech’s Chan Gailey and Duke’s Ted Roof both received the boot. Colorado State’s Sonny Lubick moved a step closer to announcing his retirement.
And yet, none of these moves was as surprising as the resignation of Southern Miss head coach Jeff Bower, who clinched his 14th straight winning season with a 16-10 win over Arkansas State on Saturday.
Bower announced at a press conference on Monday that he and athletic director Richard Giannini had come to a mutual decision that he resign, the Hattiesburg (Miss.) American reported.
Bower’s resignation ends the longest tenure of any current Conference USA head coach. In 17 seasons as Southern Miss head coach, he compiled a 119-82-1 record, winning three C-USA titles and sharing one.
Bower, who will step down after the Golden Eagles (7-5) play in the PapaJohns.com Bowl in Birmingham, Ala., on Dec. 22, started as quarterback for Southern Miss from 1973-75 and has served as either a player, graduate assistant, assistant coach or head coach for 29 years.
"Southern Miss has been a significant part of my life for my family and me for a very long time," Bower told the Hattiesburg American. "To have played here, received my education here, coached here and now to have a daughter who is a student here is a great blessing."
Bower did not sound particularly pleased with the entire series of events.
"I want you to know there’s a lot of fight left in Jeff Bower," Bower told the Hattiesburg. "And I am not done yet."
From most appearances, it looks as if Bower was left with only two options: resign or be fired. Either way, he was headed out the door.
But why?
For starters, this season probably had something to do with it.
Southern Miss, tabbed as a contender for the C-USA title in the preseason, stumbled to a 5-3 conference mark and fourth-place finish in the East Division. The Golden Eagles’ 31-29 loss to lowly Rice (3-9) in their C-USA opener seemed to set the tone for the remainder of the season.
Those results were enough to convince Giannini that a new coach was needed.
"I said all along I was disappointed, and people were disappointed in the season, and I don’t change that statement," Giannini told The Associated Press.
And it’s not only this season that has been a source of scorn for Southern Miss fans. The Golden Eagles’ last C-USA title came in 2003, and they lost last season’s championship game to Houston.
Sandwiched between 2003 and this season were a couple of seven-win seasons and trips to lowly postseason bowls. So despite Bower leading the Golden Eagles to their 10th bowl game in the last 11 years, the school has decided that it can do better.
Firing Bower could haunt Southern Miss, but that’s a gamble the school is willing to make.
Smith vs. Smith
The matchup has been set and it should be intriguing.
Central Florida and Tulsa will square off in the third annual C-USA Championship Game at 11 a.m. Saturday in Orlando, and the contest will be nationally televised on ESPN.
It’s a rematch of the inaugural C-USA Championship Game in 2005, which Tulsa claimed 44-27.
It’s the C-USA East Division against the West Division.
It’s Smith versus Smith.
That is, UCF junior running back Kevin Smith versus Tulsa senior quarterback Paul Smith.
Yeah, there are other players who will play a huge role in the game’s outcome. But there probably are none who will command nearly as much attention as these two.
Kevin Smith has run all over opposing defenses this season. He has rushed for 2,164 yards and 25 touchdowns (both career-highs). He’s the nation’s leading rusher with 180.3 yards per game.
Paul Smith, arguably C-USA’s best quarterback, is having the finest season of his career. He has thrown for 4,327 yards and 39 touchdowns and rushed for 12 touchdowns (all career-highs). His 164.9 quarterback rating is third-highest among all Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly Division I-A) passers.
He’s also tossed a career-high 16 interceptions, but only two combined in Tulsa’s last four games, all wins.
This will be the last time fans catch these two dynamic players on the field together. Paul Smith won’t remain eligible after this season, and Kevin Smith may leave school early for the NFL draft.
In other words: Don’t leave the house on Saturday morning.
