Coach Bill Lewis

Official Statement from Rodney D. Bennett, President of the University of Southern Mississippi University of Southern Mississippi head football coach Jay Hopson and I have spoken on multiple occasions in recent days and met face-to-face over the weekend to chart the most successful path forward for the Southern Miss football program. Coach Hopson assured me of his commitment to overseeing a program that upholds the values of The University of Southern Mississippi. I know Coach Hopson to be a man of high ethics and integrity, and I assured him of the University's dedication to continuing our winning tradition. Our conversation included many topics, including the events of the past week. As a matter of practice, Coach Hopson seeks approval from and works in good faith with athletic administration on prospective student athletes who have special or unique circumstances for admission to the University, which is consistent with University protocol in student-athlete recruitment. Additionally, Coach Hopson notified the University of his desire to meet with Art Briles, which is his right to do so as head football coach and is in line with normal University processes. After an intentional and thorough review of Mr. Briles' candidacy, I expressed my reservations, and ultimately that review led to the decision that Mr. Briles was not a viable candidate. I consider the matter closed, and I am looking forward to working with Coach Hopson on our mutual priorities and shared goals for the Southern Miss football program and how it contributes to our vision for The University of Southern Mississippi.

https://collegefootballnews.com/2019/02/...t-issues/ 3. North Texas Mean Green The offense should keep on rolling with QB Mason Fine returning for seems like his 13th year at the helm, and even though Jalen Guyton left early for the NFL, the receiving corps is loaded. The O line is great in the interior, but the tackle situation needs work. Almost all the running backs return. The D needs a whole lot of reinforcements on the line, and the linebacking corps is an issue with EJ Elijya and Brandon Garner done. Five of the top eight tacklers are gone, both starting corners have to be replaced including Nate Brooks. Final 2018 Record: 9-4 (5-3) 2018 C-USA West Finish: T2 2018 Prespring C-USA Conference Ranking: 2 Biggest Issue To Fix: Pass Defense Biggest Depth Chart Positive: Running Back Biggest Depth Chart Negative: Offensive Tackle

Thought you fellas would get a kick out of this! Fun Texas Trivia: Texas tidbits - interesting little known facts about the great state: 1. Port Arthur to El Paso: 889 miles. Port Arthur to Chicago: 770 miles 2. Brownsville to Texline (north of Amarillo 😞 956 miles. Texline to Canada : 960 miles 3. El Paso is closer to California than to Dallas 4. World's first rodeo was in Pecos , Tx July 4, 1883. 5. The Flagship Hotel in Galveston is the only hotel in North America built over water. Destroyed by Hurricane Ike - 2008! 6. The Heisman Trophy was named after John William Heisman who was the first full-time coach at Rice University in Houston, Texas . 7. Brazoria County has more species of birds than any other area in North America. 8. Aransas Wildlife Refuge is the winter home of North America's only remaining flock of whooping cranes. 9. Jalapeno jelly originated in Lake Jackson in 1978. 10. The worst natural disaster in US history was in 1900, caused by a hurricane in which over 8,000 lives were lost on Galveston Island. 11. The first word spoken from the moon, July 20, 1969, was " Houston " but the Space Center was actually in Clear Lake City at the time. 12. The King Ranch in South Texas is larger than Rhode Island . 13. Tropical Storm Claudette brought a US rainfall record of 43" in 24 hours in and around Alvin in July of 1979. 14. Texas is the only state to enter the US by TREATY, (known as the Constitution of 1845 by the Republic of Texas to enter the Union)instead of by annexation. This allows the Texas Flag to fly at the same height as the US Flag, and Texas may choose to divide into 5 states. 15. A Live Oak tree near Fulton is estimated to be 1500 years old. 16. Caddo Lake is the only natural lake in the state. 17. Dr Pepper was invented in Waco in 1885. There is no period in Dr Pepper. 18. Texas has had six capital cities: Washington-on-the Brazos, Harrisburg, Galveston, Velasco, West Columbia, and Austin 19. The Capitol Dome in Austin is the only dome in the US which is taller than the Capitol Building in Washington, DC (by 7 feet). 20. The San Jacinto Monument is the tallest free standing monument in the world and it is taller than the Washington Monument. 21. The name 'Texas' comes from the Hasini Indian word 'tejas' meaning "friends". Tejas is NOT Spanish for Texas 22. The State Mascot is the Armadillo. An interesting bit of trivia about the armadillo is they always have four babies. They have one egg, which splits into four, and they either have four males or four females. 23. The first domed stadium in the US was the Astrodome in Houston 24. The Beck family ranch land grant is one days ride by horse (25 miles) in each direction from the headquarters. 25. The name of the XIT ranch in Dalhart Texas stands for "ten in texas". That means 10 counties in Texas !

Proud of the conference teams that stepped up to the plate and represented. Congrats.

Wow great gifts to be had for all. A pirates booty indeed Har Har! New Mexico Bowl Albuquerque, N.M. (Branch Field at Dreamstyle Stadium) Dec. 15, 2 p.m. (ESPN) North Texas vs. Utah State Gift suite; Oakley Jupiter Squared sunglasses; Oakley 5 Speed backpack; Bluetooth speaker; water bottle; beanie; Montgomery pen; Pacific Headwear trucker’s cap ------- R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl Dec. 15, 9 p.m. (ESPN) Middle Tennessee vs. Appalachian State New Orleans (Mercedes-Benz Superdome) Gift suite; Fossil watch ------- Cheribundi Boca Raton Bowl Dec. 18, 7 p.m. (ESPN) UAB vs. Northern Illinois Boca Raton, Fla. (Howard Schnellenberger Field at FAU Stadium) Gift suite; drawstring backpack; beach towel; football --------- Bad Boy Mowers Gasparilla Bowl Dec. 20, 8 p.m. (ESPN) Marshall vs. South Florida Tampa (Raymond James Stadium) Gift suite ---- Makers Wanted Bahamas Bowl Dec. 21, 12:30 p.m. (ESPN) FIU vs. Toledo Nassau, Bahamas (Thomas A. Robinson National Stadium) Gift suite; Yeti rambler; string backpack; board shorts; towel; pin ---- SoFi Hawai’i Bowl Dec. 22, 10:30 p.m. (ESPN) Louisiana Tech vs. Hawaii Honolulu (Aloha Stadium) Electronics gift suite; Oakley backpack; Oakley sunglasses; Tori Richard aloha shirt; shorts/swim trunks; performance T-shirt; beach towel Link to read full article: http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Jour...Gifts.aspx

This is great news for the conference and of course for UAB. Clark provides a great accomplishment here for other CUSA coaches and programs to shoot for. http://www.sportingnews.com/us/ncaa-foot...b38g8exgc3

This is great news for Coach Bill Clark and the entire UAB community. With this increase and their new facilities, UAB has now moved themselves into the financial area where they will certainly be given strong consideration for AAC membership. https://uabsports.com/news/2018/11/30/fo...roval.aspx

Sounds like he lost his gig. Personally I don’t think it’s fair. Expectations were set too high for him.

From FootballScoop.com. What a great honor for C-USA! So proud of him and UAB! http://footballscoop.com/news/nuggets-al...year-race/

http://www.odusports.com/ViewArticle.dbm...=211778598 "with top seeds hosting games on their home sites, the conference's best teams are more likely to avoid early upsets. Yes, that gives an advantage to the higher seeds. But shouldn't the regular-season mean something? if you've finished in the first division of the league standings, you've earned a chance to play at home." "Jones proposes adopting the model used by the Patriot League and playing the tournament on home courts of the higher seeds. Take ten teams, have two play-in games, and then go right to the quarterfinals." View Full Article

Army released their schedule today and they play UT San Antonio at the Dome on Sept 14th 2019.

https://cusareport.com/podcast/8-uab-vs-...s-preview/ Daily Dragon David came on to discuss the game. He knows his football. Smart guy.

Just watched the documetary and had no idea he attended there!

Minnesota’s P.J. Fleck called the change the “greatest rule the NCAA has ever put in in the last 20 years.” It is proving popular with players, who get more opportunities to play — and, as it turns out, a little more autonomy. “I just hadn’t really thought (about) that being a possibility until it happened,” Baylor coach Matt Rhule said of the midseason departures. McCleskey is the most prominent player to take advantage of the newly created opportunity. He had 15 catches for 155 yards and two touchdowns through Oklahoma State’s first four games after having 73 receptions in 2016 and 50 in 2017. “You lose a good player. But we live in a world where things like that happen now,” Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy said. “Transfer’s becoming very popular, and what would keep a young man from doing that across the country at any given time? But if they come to you and say, ‘I’m not getting the ball enough and I feel like I need to be somewhere that allows that to happen,’ then you have to give them that opportunity.” If McCleskey graduates before next season, he would be immediately eligible at his new school. McCleskey’s situation isn’t unique. Auburn already has had five players transfer since the start of the season. The list includes wide receiver Nate Craig-Myers, a junior who will still have two years of eligibility left, and tight end Jalen Harris, another junior who could be in position to graduate transfer. “There’s a new day in college football with the rule and all that,” Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said on his radio show. More transfers could be coming in the coming days as just about every team in the country will have played four games by next week. Arkansas wide receiver Jonathan Nance, a former junior college transfer who led the Razorbacks in catches last season, tweeted Monday he will transfer and use this as a redshirt season. Oregon coach Mario Cristobal said Ducks running back Taj Griffin, who is in his fourth season, left the team and plans to transfer. New redshirt policy makes it more tempting to transfer

CUSA, has three in the top 10, with UTEP in the number one spot. Two other CUSA teams are also on the waiting list sadly. These teams need to step up their coaching and effort so we can get off this completely. 1. UTEP 9. Charotte 10. ODU http://www.espn.com/college-football/sto...t-reynolds

North Texas @ Arkansas: UNT + 7.5 UTEP @ Tennessee: UTEP + 29.5 Tulane @ UAB: UAB + 3.5 USM @ App State: USM + 15.5 UTSA @ K-State: UTSA + 21 ODU @ Charlotte: ODU - 2.5 Bethune Cookman @ FAU: No Line Yet MTSU @ Georgia: MTSU + 31.5 Marshall @ South Carolina: Marshall + 13 WKU @ Louisville: WKU + 22.5 U Mass @ FIU: FIU - 4

Sad.

Concussions are always a serious matter. Good to see this young man has recovered.

Found this on the C-USA board and thought it was interesting. Nebraska is a team that used many transfers over the years. Senior safety Tre Neal and sophomore linebacker Breon Dixon are both transfers and figure to play this year. Even Scott Frost was a transfer. While Nebraska has capitalized on gaining transfers, they have also lost players to transfers. One of those came at the cost of an unfair loophole in the NCAA transfer rules. Redshirt freshman Tristan Gebbia was locked in a tight quarterbacks race with true freshman Adrian Martinez. After it was announced on the Sunday before the season opener that Martinez would be the starting quarterback, Gebbia took the backup role well and said he was going to keep fighting for the job. Those feelings changed quickly as he skipped practice Monday and later announced his intent to transfer. While it is not foreign for players to leave after losing a quarterback battle, it was strange at how late in the transfer process Gebbia left, since most schools had already closed enrollment for the year. The way the current transfer rule is laid out, a student who wants to transfer must sit out one academic year, meaning he or she must be enrolled at the university they wish to transfer to. Gebbia was released from scholarship on that Tuesday, one day after enrollment at Nebraska and other semesterly schools closed, meaning he could not enroll. If he wanted to go to one of the semesterly schools, he would have to enroll in the spring at that school and sit out for the spring and next fall seasons. He would then be ineligible for two football seasons and he would lose a year of eligibility. This is where quarterly schools enter the conversation. Quarterly schools are set up on a quarters basis as opposed to semesters and their enrollment deadline is later in the year. This means he would only have to sit out the standard one year that every transfer must sit out. There are six quarters schools that have Division I FBS programs: Louisiana Tech, Northwestern, Oregon, Oregon State, Stanford and UCLA. read more: http://www.dailynebraskan.com/sports/bov...8f939.html

“We could do better if we have a president with some vision. I don’t care if the other institutions around the nation has adopted,” Lipsey said. “We need to recruit those kids and make LSU competitive with Florida, Georgia and Texas.” All three of those flagship universities had adopted “holistic admissions.” But Lipsey pointed that those more populous states have far more students and more options. LSU’s actions will end up cherry-picking students who otherwise would gone to one of the statewide schools, like the University of Louisiana in Lafayette or the University of New Orleans, or one of the regional four-year institutions, like Nicholls State or McNeese State, Lipsey added. After nearly 30 years of rejecting out-of-hand applicants whose ACT failed to meet the minimum, LSU is embracing a “holistic admissions.” Greater weight will be put on personal recommendations, student-written essays, and outside activities, as well as continued emphasis on grade point averages, thereby opening LSU’s doors to students who test poorly but otherwise have good credentials. read more: https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/education/article_1b805e18-b06c-11e8-8e21-8fec99aa852c.html

Jeff Sagarin's Week 2 C-USA Results are in 80 - Marshall 82 - UNT 86 - FAU 89 - Tech 98 - UAB 108 - Southern Miss 115 - WKU 125 - MUTZ 128 - FIU 153 - Texas University branch at San Antonio 166 - Rice 177 - ODU 184 - Texas El Paso

Look at the Mean Green representing: Read more: https://www.sbnation.com/college-footbal...eek-1-2018