HATTIESBURG, Miss. -- Jeff Bower ended one of college
football's longest coaching runs Monday when he resigned at
Southern Mississippi.
Bower capped his 14th consecutive winning season Saturday and
ends a 29-year relationship as player and coach with the Golden
Eagles despite accepting his 10th bowl invitation in the last 11
seasons.
Though he resigned after 17 years as head coach, a terse Bower
did not sound like it was completely voluntary.
"I want you to know there's a lot of fight left in Jeff Bower,
and I am not done yet," the grim-faced coach said.
Bower did not take questions after making a short statement
flanked by his wife and daughter. He resigned earlier Monday after
meeting with athletic director Richard Giannini.
Giannini said fan discontent had grown during a season when the
Golden Eagles were expected to win the Conference USA title, but
fell short at 7-5.
"I said all along I was disappointed and people were
disappointed in the season, and I don't change that statement,"
Giannini said.
Bower was 119-82-1 as the school's head coach and had been in
the same job longer than all but three coaches in the Football Bowl
Subdivision. Only Penn State's Joe Paterno (42), Bobby Bowden (32)
of Florida State and Virginia Tech's Frank Beamer (21) have longer
tenures with their schools. His only losing seasons came in 1991
and '93.
Bower will coach the Golden Eagles in the Papajohns.com Bowl on
Dec. 22 in Birmingham.
Center Rick Thompson said players were shocked by the decision
and had not heard the rumors circulating through this small
community that Giannini and boosters were upset with Bower's
performance.
Bower talked with the team in what Thompson described as an
"intense" meeting.
"I'm glad he's staying for the bowl," Thompson said. "He's
just a great coach, a great person. That's the way it should be,
going out and coaching the last game."
Giannini said he will lead the search for the new coach and will
begin immediately.
Picked to win Conference USA, the Golden Eagles stumbled to a
2-3 start and needed two victories at the end of the year to finish
with a winning record.
Southern Miss' stretch of winning seasons is second only to
Florida State (31), Michigan (23), Florida (20) and Virginia Tech
(15).
Bower built one of the nation's most powerful mid-majors,
hitting the road to play tough competition from Bowl Championship
Series conference teams and often coming home a winner.
Southern Miss scored upsets over several FBS teams, including
Southeastern Conference powers LSU, Georgia, Alabama and Auburn.
His most successful year of upsets came in 2000 when the Golden
Eagles beat Alabama, Oklahoma State and TCU.
Bower guided the Golden Eagles to three outright Conference USA
championships and one shared league title. He was named the
conference's coach of the decade in 2004 and was coach of the year
in 1997, 1999 and 2003.