Louisiana-Monroe needs a new head coach, as Terry Bowden was dismissed on Sunday.
Bowden went 10-26 in three years at ULM, including consecutive 4-8 seasons before this year’s decline. It was the first place the 67-year-old Bowden didn’t turn around as he’d done at so many other stops in his career, highlighting the difficulties of the situation.
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How good is the ULM job? What names could get in the mix? Here are the factors to keep in mind.
There’s almost no history of winning at the FBS level
Since moving up to the FBS in 1994, the Warhawks have just one winning season and one bowl appearance, in 2012. They won a Sun Belt championship in 2005, but their 5-2 conference record was part of a 5-6 overall record.
Before the move, ULM was a successful program, winning the 1987 FCS/I-AA national championship and Southland Conference championships in 1990 and ’92, plus another playoff appearance in 1993. The topic of going back to the FCS level has come up in the community over the years, but it’s not clear how real the possibility is.
This is one of the toughest jobs out there, and it’s even harder now in the new Sun Belt with the additions of James Madison, Southern Miss, Old Dominion and Marshall. The Sun Belt is sending 12 teams to bowls this year. ULM is one of the two that didn’t get there.
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Bowden’s $435,000 salary was the lowest publicly available salary of any FBS head coach. That’s lower than many Power 5 assistant jobs. It’s not the kind of salary pool that will attract a large group of candidates from the P5.
The football program finally began cost-of-attendance payments in 2021, a benefit that was first permitted in 2015. NIL is not much of a factor here, and Bowden continually struggled to keep talented players on the roster because of it.
The program opened an end zone facility in 2016. That was its first new athletics facility since 1983.
But new athletic director John Hartwell, hired earlier this year, is known as a good fundraiser, and it was one of his top priorities upon getting the job.
So what names could get in the mix?
Based on conversations with industry sources, here are some names to keep an eye on.
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Former New Mexico offensive coordinator Bryant Vincent went 7-6 as UAB’s interim coach in 2022 and had internal support for the job there. At New Mexico, he improved the Lobos’ scoring by more than 16 points per game after inheriting the second-worst group in the FBS. The Kentucky native spent more than a decade as an Alabama high school coach and worked at UAB and South Alabama, running the offenses.
Tulane offensive coordinator Slade Nagle has been on staff for eight years and called plays for the last two seasons during the Green Wave’s 23-3 run, and they’ll play for a second consecutive AAC championship this weekend. The Lake Charles native also coached at LSU and played at McNeese.
Nicholls head coach Tim Rebowe is 53-48 at the Louisiana school, including an FCS playoff appearance this year. The 60-year-old was a ULM assistant from 2001 to ’03 and has spent his entire career in the state.
Florida associate head coach of offense Jabbar Juluke is as connected to the state of Louisiana as anyone, as a longtime high school coach in the state. He has also coached at LSU, Louisiana Tech and Louisiana, where he worked under Billy Napier, developed several all-conference running backs and won a Sun Belt championship before following Napier to Florida.
South Alabama offensive coordinator Major Applewhite is a Baton Rouge native who is deeply connected in Texas as a former Longhorns player and assistant. Applewhite’s 15-10 record in two seasons as head coach at Houston was better than his successor on aggregate. In three seasons at South Alabama, he turned an offense that ranked 112th in scoring when he got there to a top-50 unit in each of the last two years, including the offense of a 10-win team last season.
Florida A&M head coach Willie Simmons is 43-13 in five seasons at the Tallahassee school after taking over a program coming off six consecutive losing seasons. His 2021 team became the first HBCU to play in the FCS playoffs since 2016, and this year’s team is 10-1 and playing for the SWAC championship. He has had a lot of success at a school without many resources.
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UTSA running backs coach Julian Griffin played wide receiver at ULM from 2008 to ’12, including on the program’s only bowl team. He also worked there as a graduate assistant in 2015. At UTSA, Griffin helped develop Sincere McCormick into the best running back in school history and a two-time Conference USA player of the year. The Roadrunners are 31-11 over the last two years. Griffin knows ULM and what wins there.
LSU quarterbacks coach Joe Sloan was a finalist the last time this job opened. He spent 2013 to ’21 at Louisiana Tech. But with LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels ticketed to be a Heisman Trophy finalist, Sloan might be able to hold out for better jobs.
Former Houston defensive coordinator Doug Belk was considered a rising star not long ago. He spent the past five years at Houston and also worked as a graduate assistant from Alabama from 2014 to l16.
Oklahoma State quarterbacks coach Tim Rattay played at Louisiana Tech and coached at the school from 2013 to ’18. He has done a great job with Alan Bowman this season as the Cowboys knocked off Oklahoma and will play for the Big 12 championship next Saturday.
(Photo: Petre Thomas / USA Today)
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