(08-21-2016 03:48 PM)eagle83 Wrote: Sounds like the same thing some were saying about Fedora, until his team went 12-2 and torched Houston. After that they switched to criticizing his hair, and blaming 0-12 on his recruiting.
That Fedora loaded up for one big season then left the cupboard bare behind him is the biggest, most incorrect urban legend this side of Paul McCartney dying prior to the release of
Abbey Road. After hearing that nonsense for years, I hit the southernmiss.com archives a while back for some facts.
Truth is, Ellis Johnson's lone Spring Game roster had 7 players on offense (LG, C, RG, RT, WR, and BOTH running backs) and 5 on defense (a safety, a corner, and ALL THREE linebackers) who started the Championship Game in Houston. Not just "played in," STARTED. That's not even counting Lampley, who was technically a sub. Of 4 USM players with rushes in that game, 3 were still on Johnson's team (Austin Davis was the 4th). 4 of 6 with receptions in that game returned.
Just as a comparison, 7 returning offensive starters is the same number Hopson has at his disposal, and everyone is saying we're loaded. Granted, one of his 7 is the QB, so that helps, but the writer who did our season preview that year for
SB Nation went as far as to say
even he could've been hired to replace Fedora, and Southern Miss would've still been in good shape for a while.
Ellis Johnson and those who hired him & immediately had to replace him are the only people at whose feet our recent trek through the valley lies. Not Fedora, not Bower, nor anyone else had a hand in that stink. As hard as it may be to comprehend, Johnson was just
that mind-bogglingly incompetent. From there, the player turnover that resulted from blowing through 3 different coaching staffs in as many years compounded the situation.