Jeff Bower
Jeff Bower went 118–84–1 on the field as a head coach, 1990–2007, at Southern Miss; 119–83–1 officially, with 1993 (3–7–1) after forfeits. Share
- Record
- 119–83–1 official; 118–84–1 on the field
- Seasons
- 18
- Schools
- 1
- Final AP top 10
- 0 seasons
- Best season
- 1999 9–3, No. 14
Season by season
| Season | School | Record | Conference finish | Bowl | AP final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Southern Miss interim, bowl game | 0–1 | All-American Bowl L | |||
| 1991 | Southern Miss | 4–7 | ||||
| 1992 | Southern Miss | 7–4 | ||||
| 1993 | Southern Miss | 2–8–1 (3–7–1 official) | ||||
| 1994 | Southern Miss | 6–5 | ||||
| 1995 | Southern Miss | 6–5 | ||||
| 1996 | Southern Miss | 8–3 | T–1st | |||
| 1997 | Southern Miss | 9–3 | 1st | Liberty Bowl W | 19 | |
| 1998 | Southern Miss | 7–5 | 2nd | Humanitarian Bowl L | ||
| 1999 | Southern Miss | 9–3 | 1st | Liberty Bowl W | 14 | |
| 2000 | Southern Miss | 8–4 | 3rd | Mobile Alabama Bowl W | ||
| 2001 | Southern Miss | 6–5 | 4th | |||
| 2002 | Southern Miss | 7–6 | 4th | Houston Bowl L | ||
| 2003 | Southern Miss | 9–4 | 1st | Liberty Bowl L | ||
| 2004 | Southern Miss | 7–5 | 3rd | New Orleans Bowl W | ||
| 2005 | Southern Miss | 7–5 | 3rd (East) | New Orleans Bowl W | ||
| 2006 | Southern Miss | 9–5 | 1st (East) | GMAC Bowl W | ||
| 2007 | Southern Miss | 7–6 | 4th (East) | PapaJohns.com Bowl L |
Each season links to the team’s season page; bowls and playoff games link to the game. Conference finishes from the Wikipedia article’s record table.
Players he coached
Tony SmithNo. 19 pick, 1992
Every player from his seasons with a Heisman top-five finish, a national award, consensus All-America honors or a first-round pick.
How his teams did
| Kind of game | Games | Record | Won |
|---|---|---|---|
| Against ranked teams | 33 | 5–28 | 15% |
| Against top-10 teams | 12 | 1–11 | 8% |
| Against rivals | 43 | 33–10 | 77% |
| Conference games | 85 | 63–22 | 74% |
| Bowls and playoffs | 11 | 6–5 | 55% |
| Decided by 8 points or fewer | 73 | 40–32–1 | 55% |
| At home | 82 | 63–19 | 77% |
| On the road | 110 | 49–60–1 | 45% |
| At neutral sites | 11 | 6–5 | 55% |
| As our Elo’s favorite | 127 | 94–33 | 74% |
| As our Elo’s underdog | 76 | 24–51–1 | 32% |
His own 203 games on file, 1990–2007, as played (vacated wins counted, ties as half a win). Ranks are the AP poll going into the game; rivals are the ones either program’s Wikipedia article names; favorite and underdog by our own Elo rating, which reads only scores.
Against other head coaches
| Coach | Record | Their schools | Games | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Steve Logan 1992–2002 | 8–3 | East Carolina | 11 | |
| Chris Scelfo 1999–2006 | 7–1 | Tulane | 8 | |
| Watson Brown 2000–2006 | 7–0 | UAB | 7 | |
| Rick Minter 1995–2003 | 5–2 | Cincinnati | 7 | |
| John Smith 1995–2002 | 4–3 | Utah State, Louisville | 7 | |
| Tommy West 2001–2007 | 3–4 | Memphis | 7 | |
| Rip Scherer 1995–2000 | 6–0 | Memphis | 6 | |
| Buddy Teevens 1992–1996 | 4–1 | Tulane | 5 | |
| Nelson Stokley 1993–1998 | 4–1 | Louisiana | 5 | |
| Art Briles 2003–2006 | 3–2 | Houston | 5 |
Jeff Bower’s record against the head coaches he met three or more times, from the games on file, as played.
Most-faced opponents
| Opponent | Games | Record |
|---|---|---|
| East Carolinaseries | 17 | 12–5 |
| Memphisseries | 17 | 11–6 |
| Tulaneseries | 16 | 13–3 |
| Alabamaseries | 14 | 1–13 |
| Cincinnatiseries | 11 | 6–5 |
| Houstonseries | 10 | 7–3 |
| Louisvilleseries | 10 | 5–5 |
| UABseries | 8 | 8–0 |
Career
| Years | Team | Job | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1975–77 | Southern Miss | Graduate assistant | |
| 1978–81 | Southern Miss | Wide receivers and quarterbacks coach | |
| 1982–86 | SMU | Quarterbacks coach | |
| 1987 | Wake Forest | Quarterbacks coach | |
| 1988–89 | Southern Miss | Assistant head coach, offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| 1990 | Oklahoma State | Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| 1990–2007 | Southern Miss | Head coach |
Every job as the infobox of his Wikipedia article lists it (CC BY-SA), assistant jobs included.
Coaching tree
Worked under
- Bobby CollinsSouthern Miss, SMU
- Bill DooleyWake Forest
- Curley HallmanSouthern Miss
- Pat JonesOklahoma State
Assistants who became head coaches
- Billy TaylorTusculum
- Daryl DayeNicholls, Missouri Southern
- Rodney AllisonChattanooga
- Bill MichaelUTEP
- Jim DickeyKansas State
- Mac BryanLees–McRae, Pikeville
- Bradley Dale PevetoNorthwestern State
- Everett WithersNorth Carolina, Texas State, Temple, James Madison
- John ThompsonEast Carolina, Arkansas State
- Norman JosephBelhaven, Louisiana Christian, Mississippi College
- Paul PetrinoIdaho
- Jay HopsonSouthern Miss, Alcorn State
- and 2 more
Worked under (4)
| Head coach | Team | Years | His job | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bobby Collins | Southern Miss | 1975–81 | 1975–77: graduate assistant; 1978–81: wide receivers and quarterbacks coach | |
| Bobby Collins | SMU | 1982–86 | Quarterbacks coach | |
| Bill Dooley | Wake Forest | 1987 | Quarterbacks coach | |
| Curley Hallman | Southern Miss | 1988–89 | Assistant head coach, offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| Pat Jones | Oklahoma State | 1990 | Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach |
Coached under him, later head coaches (14)
| Coach | With him | Head coach at | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Billy Taylor | Southern Miss, 1990: graduate assistant | Tusculum | |
| Daryl Daye | Southern Miss, 1990: graduate assistant | Nicholls, Missouri Southern | |
| Rodney Allison | Southern Miss, 1990: quarterbacks coach; 1991–92: assistant head coach and running backs coach | Chattanooga | |
| Bill Michael | Southern Miss, 1991: defensive line coach | UTEP | |
| Jim Dickey | Southern Miss, 1991: defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach | Kansas State | |
| Mac Bryan | Southern Miss, 1991: tight ends and offensive tackles coach; 1992–93: offensive line coach | Lees–McRae, Pikeville | |
| Bradley Dale Peveto | Southern Miss, 1992–93: linebackers and special teams coach | Northwestern State | |
| Everett Withers | Southern Miss, 1992–93: assistant special teams and defensive backs coach | North Carolina, Texas State, Temple, James Madison | |
| John Thompson | Southern Miss, 1992: defensive coordinator; 1993–98: assistant head coach and defensive coordinator | East Carolina, Arkansas State | |
| Norman Joseph | Southern Miss, 1994–96: offensive coordinator | Belhaven, Louisiana Christian, Mississippi College | |
| Paul Petrino | Southern Miss, 2000–02: quarterbacks coach | Idaho | |
| Jay Hopson | Southern Miss, 2001–03: defensive backs coach; 2005: defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach; 2006–07: defensive coordinator and middle linebackers coach | Southern Miss, Alcorn State | |
| Rip Scherer | Southern Miss, 2003–04: offensive coordinator | Memphis, James Madison | |
| Courtney Messingham | Southern Miss, 2005–06: wide receivers coach; 2007: running backs coach | Upper Iowa |
Other assistants under him (10)
| Coach | With him | |
|---|---|---|
| Jeff Richards | Southern Miss, 1990: defensive line and special teams coach | |
| Mark McHale | Southern Miss, 1990–91: offensive coordinator | |
| Michael Bugar | Southern Miss, 1990: defensive coordinator | |
| Jeff Bowden | Southern Miss, 1991–93: wide receivers coach | |
| Dave Wommack | Southern Miss, 1994–98: defensive backs coach; 1999–2000: assistant head coach and defensive coordinator; 2007: linebackers coach | |
| Tyrone Nix | Southern Miss, 1995: defensive tackles coach; 1996–99: outside linebackers coach; 2000: defensive backs coach; 2001–04: defensive coordinator and inside linebackers coach | |
| Larry Kueck | Southern Miss, 1997–99: offensive coordinator | |
| Chris Klenakis | Southern Miss, 2000–02: offensive coordinator | |
| Derrick Nix | Southern Miss, 2003: graduate assistant; 2004–05: tight ends coach; 2006–07: running backs coach | |
| Jay Johnson | Southern Miss, 2003: running backs coach; 2004: tight ends coach; 2005–07: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach |
From coaches’ Wikipedia infoboxes (CC BY-SA) and each season’s article for its coordinators: an assistant’s seasons at a school count under its head coach in our records; jobs in the NFL and elsewhere, under the head coach whose own article lists the job that year. Names without a page here link to their Wikipedia articles.
How he coached
Bower’s teams went for it on 9% of fourth downs and on 7% of those where the model said go for it, passed on 48% of plays and took 19.5 seconds a play, in 2004.
| Season | Went for it on fourth | When the model said go | Pass rate | Seconds a play | EPA a play | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 5 g | 4 of 47 9% | 7% | 48% | 19.5 | −0.15 |
His seasons as a head coach from 2004 on, from ESPN’s play by play: fourth downs where he went for it out of every fourth-down decision; how often he went when SportsDataverse’s fourth-down model said going for it was the better call; the share of his offense’s plays that were passes; seconds of game clock per offensive play (lower is faster); and expected points added per offensive play (EPA, a measure of how much each play moved the offense toward points). The season in progress counts its games so far. SportsDataverse’s coach tendencies, from ESPN’s play by play; the EPA and the fourth-down model are SportsDataverse’s.