Espn Article

[cdizzle86]

http://sports.espn.go.com/dallas/ncf/news/story?id=5706243

Thoughts on Jeff Bower?

Edited October 20, 2010 by cdizzle86

[McKinneyMiner]

Thoughts on Jeff Bower?

Bower's teams at Southern Miss were tough as nails and always ready to play...

He might not be my first choice, but I would be fine with him...

Edited October 20, 2010 by McKinneyMiner

[MeanGreenEngineer]

http://sports.espn.go.com/dallas/ncf/news/story?id=5706243

Thoughts on Jeff Bower?

Not excited. I want someone who can recruit Texas, and he has been out of coaching too long.

[Travis]

Bowers is probably 5 or 6 on my list.

[Eagle1855]

I want someone that can take a program like UNT to 12-0. I don't think Bower can do that because he hasn't ever done it under similar circumstances.

Edited October 20, 2010 by Eagle1855

[Travis]

FRAN, KRAGTHORPE, BOWDEN... and leach.

[McKinneyMiner]

I want someone that can take a program like UNT to 12-0. I don't think Bower can do that because he hasn't ever done it under similar circumstances.

I completely agree...

In fact, that is surely what we all want...

But WHO is going to do that...??

If money were no object and UNT could hire any coach who would be the one to take them to 12-0...??

Mike Leach? Possibly

Dennis Franchione? Very Doubtful

Tommy Bowden? Also Doubtful

Steve Kragthorpe? No

I am just having a hard time coming up with a coach outside of Leach that I think can take this program to a 12-0 season...

And, for the record, Leach would not be my first choice for a hire because of the baggage he comes with...

[rcade]

Thoughts on Jeff Bower?

Bower led Southern Miss to 14 straight winning seasons and bowl games for 10 out of 11 years. I think he'd be a damn good hire.

[Travis]

I want someone that can take a program like UNT to 12-0. I don't think Bower can do that because he hasn't ever done it under similar circumstances.

Your list of people would, not only be small, but would also be very unattainable by UNT.

those that have done it before would be at much bigger programs than UNT.

[Green Mean]

Thoughts on Jeff Bower?

We can do a lot better than a Southern Miss retread. 119-83-1 was his record there. Not impressing at all considering we can do a lot better than Bower.

RV wants us to become like Southern Miss....I want our aspirations to be a lot higher than them.

[TheTastyGreek]

We can do a lot better than a Southern Miss retread. 119-83-1 was his record there. Not impressing at all considering we can do a lot better than Bower.

RV wants us to become like Southern Miss....I want our aspirations to be a lot higher than them.

It's not a bad record, but you look at how things ended there and the way things went in the last, oh... Decade or so, and it's obvious he's not going to work here.

[Charlie NT 73]

Bower made a statement about coaching in the SBC awhile back.

I do not remember the source though.

Bower stated that he would consider coaching at only one of the

SBC schools, then refused to name the school.

Maybe the school is North Texas. I think Bower's choice

of SBC schools would be Troy University.

Bower and his S Miss staff did recruit Texas, mainly

east Texas, DFW, Houston, SA/Austin areas.

Bower also recruited the Miss JUCO's successfully.

[VideoEagle]

Bower led Southern Miss to 14 straight winning seasons and bowl games for 10 out of 11 years. I think he'd be a damn good hire.

That record would certainly make me dance in the streets - well, on the sidewalk at least.

[SilverEagle]

Bower led Southern Miss to 14 straight winning seasons and bowl games for 10 out of 11 years. I think he'd be a damn good hire.

Is Bower a program builder? Did he take So Miss from nothing to 14 winning seasons? How many other coaching gigs has he had. As I recall, he would not have left the So Miss job if he had not been fired.

PLEASE! FORGODSAKES A college coach with TEXAS TIES.

Don Carthel would be a better choice than Bowers.

[MeanGreenHoops]

Is Bower a program builder? Did he take So Miss from nothing to 14 winning seasons? How many other coaching gigs has he had. As I recall, he would not have left the So Miss job if he had not been fired.

PLEASE! FORGODSAKES A college coach with TEXAS TIES.

Don Carthel would be a better choice than Bowers.

Why do they need to have Texas ties? Dodge had them more than anybody. What you need is a good salesman who is also a great coach.

[TheTastyGreek]

Thoughts on Bower, posted elsewhere a few weeks back. Sorry for the repost, but not everyone could see it.

----------

Hiring Bower is the ultimate punt job RV could pull on a coaching search. He's everything people hated about Dickey and potentially worse, as he wouldn't have any connection to the area and wouldn't have any of the assistants that really helped him during his most successful years.

Take away wins over 1-AA programs (as many people wanted to do when discussing Coach Bower the 1st), and his celebrated "14 year run of winning seasons" in 18 full seasons at USM includes 8 years with 6 or fewer D-1A victories.

Only once in his final 8 years coaching USM did he manage to finish a year with fewer than 3 conference losses.

When we fired Dickey, people here knew damn well why we did it. But it didn't make a lot of sense to people outside the program.

USM had their reasons for firing a guy who hadn't had a losing season in 14 years. And we've already lived through what led them to fire Bower once before here.

Bower’s greatest success is a decade behind him, and the coaching reaper has loomed larger with every new disappointment. Bigger schools have not called in years, not because everybody just knew he was so unwilling to go, but because Southern Miss football dropped off the map. The schemes never changed, the offense never rose from the bottom third of the national rankings; never five wins, true, but never ten, either. Three Conference USA titles in the league’s first four seasons were met with just one over the last eight, and the "winning record" streak consistently hinged on salvaging unfulfilling, 7-5 records against UAB, East Carolina or Arkansas State at the end of the year[.]

...His teams are 16-36 this decade against teams that finished with winning records, any teams, and of the big wins over BCS teams in that span – over Alabama and Oklahoma State in 2000, Ok. State again in 2001, Illinois in 2002, Nebraska in 2004, N.C. State in 2006 – only that Nebraska team (final record: 5-6 in Bill Callahan’s first season) even finished within a game of .500. The biggest victory of the last three seasons was an ordinary home win last year against Houston, which later avenged the loss in the conference championship.

Now... Take him out of the school and the town where he was a former hero QB and longtime assistant before taking over as head coach. Take away the assistants who started leaving during his greatest success, weren't there to help him during his decade long decline and won't be joining him at North Texas. Drop him into a conference that's tougher to recruit to, a state where he's never had any coaching experience, and a side of the country he hasn't worked in for over two decades. And remove him from the coaching game entirely for 3 years.

Does that sound like a recipe for success here to anyone?

Is that the best bet for this program?

[SilverEagle]

That record would certainly make me dance in the streets - well, on the sidewalk at least.

...but not in Texas...and certianly not at NORTH TEXAS.

[MeanGreenHoops]

Thoughts on Bower, posted elsewhere a few weeks back. Sorry for the repost, but not everyone could see it.

----------

Hiring Bower is the ultimate punt job RV could pull on a coaching search. He's everything people hated about Dickey and potentially worse, as he wouldn't have any connection to the area and wouldn't have any of the assistants that really helped him during his most successful years.

Take away wins over 1-AA programs (as many people wanted to do when discussing Coach Bower the 1st), and his celebrated "14 year run of winning seasons" in 18 full seasons at USM includes 8 years with 6 or fewer D-1A victories.

Only once in his final 8 years coaching USM did he manage to finish a year with fewer than 3 conference losses.

When we fired Dickey, people here knew damn well why we did it. But it didn't make a lot of sense to people outside the program.

USM had their reasons for firing a guy who hadn't had a losing season in 14 years. And we've already lived through what led them to fire Bower once before here.

Now... Take him out of the school and the town where he was a former hero QB and longtime assistant before taking over as head coach. Take away the assistants who started leaving during his greatest success, weren't there to help him during his decade long decline and won't be joining him at North Texas. Drop him into a conference that's tougher to recruit to, a state where he's never had any coaching experience, and a side of the country he hasn't worked in for over two decades. And remove him from the coaching game entirely for 3 years.

Does that sound like a recipe for success here to anyone?

Is that the best bet for this program?

Great post! Bower is a give up and the fact it was in the ESPN report makes me very worried.

[forevereagle]

Great post! Bower is a give up and the fact it was in the ESPN report makes me very worried.

The same ESPN that took years to update our logo and stop calling us NTSU? I don't think that they have much insight.

[SilverEagle]

Thoughts on Bower, posted elsewhere a few weeks back. Sorry for the repost, but not everyone could see it.

----------

Hiring Bower is the ultimate punt job RV could pull on a coaching search. He's everything people hated about Dickey and potentially worse, as he wouldn't have any connection to the area and wouldn't have any of the assistants that really helped him during his most successful years.

Take away wins over 1-AA programs (as many people wanted to do when discussing Coach Bower the 1st), and his celebrated "14 year run of winning seasons" in 18 full seasons at USM includes 8 years with 6 or fewer D-1A victories.

Only once in his final 8 years coaching USM did he manage to finish a year with fewer than 3 conference losses.

When we fired Dickey, people here knew damn well why we did it. But it didn't make a lot of sense to people outside the program.

USM had their reasons for firing a guy who hadn't had a losing season in 14 years. And we've already lived through what led them to fire Bower once before here.

Now... Take him out of the school and the town where he was a former hero QB and longtime assistant before taking over as head coach. Take away the assistants who started leaving during his greatest success, weren't there to help him during his decade long decline and won't be joining him at North Texas. Drop him into a conference that's tougher to recruit to, a state where he's never had any coaching experience, and a side of the country he hasn't worked in for over two decades. And remove him from the coaching game entirely for 3 years.

Does that sound like a recipe for success here to anyone?

Is that the best bet for this program?

[TheTastyGreek]

The same ESPN that took years to update our logo and stop calling us NTSU? I don't think that they have much insight.

Timmy Mac wrote it. He's our former beat writer and he's an alum and he stays pretty on top of what's going on at North Texas.

[MeanGreenHoops]

The same ESPN that took years to update our logo and stop calling us NTSU? I don't think that they have much insight.

Not really, it was ESPN Dallas which is run by guys with access inside the doors at the athletic office, which means it may have legs.

[MDH]

If you want to pick apart Jeff Bower's success you could do the same to our beloved Johnny Jones. You people crack me up on where you think UNT is as a program sometimes.

[Eagle1855]

If you want to pick apart Jeff Bower's success you could do the same to our beloved Johnny Jones. You people crack me up on where you think UNT is as a program sometimes.

We're one of the worst football programs in all of division one and have been for the past several years. I don't think anyone is under any great delusion as to the status of our program.

However, we also recognize the po-tehn-shul of our program with the 'right' hire and base our future expectations upon that.

[rcade]

If you want to pick apart Jeff Bower's success you could do the same to our beloved Johnny Jones. You people crack me up on where you think UNT is as a program sometimes.

No kidding. I would take 14 winning seasons with some sub-par opponents over the massive streak of suck we've been on since the late Dickey years.