SMU making an offer to Jeff Bower

[Rebel_Pony]

I have a feeling some of the fellas Bower was recruiting down there in Hattiesburg wouldn't quite pass the academic standards at SMU

[PonyPatrol]

There are a very small percentage of coaches that work with a "model" similar to SMU's, and I'd prefer to not hire most coaches on the Duke, Northwestern, Vandy, etc. staffs...there are an even smaller percentage of coaches that can have 14 straight winning seasons in a row, ANYWHERE.

I'm willing to give Bower the benefit of the doubt that he's probably a pretty damn good coach.

[ponyinNC]

There are a very small percentage of coaches that work with a "model" similar to SMU's, and I'd prefer to not hire most coaches on the Duke, Northwestern, Vandy, etc. staffs...there are an even smaller percentage of coaches that can have 14 straight winning seasons in a row, ANYWHERE.

I'm willing to give Bower the benefit of the doubt that he's probably a pretty damn good coach.

good point patrol...

[Dwan]

Gary Barnett could work in our model......oh, I give up

[Insane_Pony_Posse]

"Please let me get sick of 7-5 and 8-4 seasons at SMU..."

when this all calms down I am going to miss the
almost daily classic lines you guys come up with!

[Dwan]

Bower did have an 82% graduation rate at Southern Miss this year

[Insane_Pony_Posse]

i just wish we could hire someone like
Bowden, Neuheisel, Barnett, Shula or Fran so when
we tell people they will say "Oh really?"

some of these guys being discussed now when we
tell people who we hired they are going to say "who?"

[J.T.supporta]

Bower did have an 82% graduation rate at Southern Miss this year

PB won a National Championship for having the best % rate for graduates...we dont need bower if he cant win us a NC

[Sam I Am]

USM - SMU: just change the letters around and Bowers is a fit. i hope we get the same good results (less the DP) like we did the last time we hired the USM coach. Heck, sometimes I would take some more pony express and national ratings even if we had to lay out a couple years every now and then.

[Stallion]

actually it is not quite fair to lump Bower with the lowest common denominator in admissions. Their standards are low but Bower did make a well publicized pleadge several years ago(before he had to) to not take any non-qualifiers. This should be well documented on Al Gore's internet. May not sound like much but for a second tier, public school in Mississippi it was a stance he didn't have to take.

[Stallion]

If we did get Bower then I think we could legitimately expand our recruiting base to cover the Mississippii Delta areas including New Orleans and have a legitimate chances of some success. Issue remains whether New Orleans is still a recruting hotbed- I really don't know. But Louisiana per capita used to produce as many Division 1A players as just about any state in the US. Of course, southeastern Louisiana is basically in USM's backyard and I'm sure he's highly respected down there.

[davidsmu94]

If we did get Bower then I think we could legitimately expand our recruiting base to cover the Mississippii Delta areas including New Orleans and have a legitimate chances of some success. Issue remains whether New Orleans is still a recruting hotbed- I really don't know. But Louisiana per capita used to produce as many Division 1A players as just about any state in the US. Of course, southeastern Louisiana is basically in USM's backyard and I'm sure he's highly respected down there.

What is your opinion of Bower as a recruiter?

[perunapower]

Non-qualifiers were also a hot topic a few days later at the Conference USA media gathering in New Orleans, with Southern Miss coach Jeff Bowers proposing that C-USA should prohibit them.

Like Amato, Bower also feels he is at a recruiting disadvantage since he doesn't have access to non-qualifiers.

"There needs to be some standard in this league," Bower said in New Orleans. "If we're going to take them, let's put a number on what we're going to take. That levels the playing field."

C-USA leaves the matter of taking non- or partial-qualifiers up to the individual discretion of its member institutions. Army and Tulane don't take academic exceptions. And Southern Miss no longer takes them under a policy established by its newest school president.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/college/2001/preview/cusa_feature/

[Pweesey]

Stallion, I think La. produces (at least did a few years ago) by far the most D-1 scholarship players per capita in the country. It's really not close if I recall correctly. I may be confusing that with NFL players per capita, but I don't think so. Good point on Katrina though, that may have screwed everything up.

[TheBestAvailable]

I heard from a reliable source at Southern Miss that Bower is at the top of the SMU wish list and an offer will come within the next day or two. I'll let you know if I hear anything more.

Bower doesn't have a timetable due to current team obligations so that should eliminate him. If you guys would listen to what Orsini has said and stop pulling clues from these stupid blogs you might get closer to knowing who we will hire.


I still say Todd Graham.