Coaches Firing Season

Cash settlements make a difference in today's Sports World. In the old days coaches would be fired with little money involved. Ed Orgeron will get a ton of money as he departs Ole Miss. A few years back Billy Brewer had to sue the University to get his cash after Gerald R. Turner handed him the blue slip.
Ole Miss got mad and is still mad with Billy Brewer for bringing a law suit against his alma mater. Billy could have helped and could still help Ole Miss raise money. He also should be in the Ole Miss M Club Hall of Fame as a memeber of the Centennial team an dthe coach who is second only to Johnny Vaught as Ole Miss' all-time winning head football coach.
The night of the Centennial dinner Vaught publically said he hoped that Brewer, his former defensive back, would be the Coach of the next Century of Ole Miss football.
Now, the new coach will have to hope that the announced Committments will stick. I rather doubt if the California lads will and hope i am wrong.
Orgeron sealed his own fate with his fourth and one call. He believed in his team to accomplish this mission and THEY let him down. The Offensive Line was supposed to be the strength of the 2007 Rebels. They could not open a hole against the determined Mississippi State defense when Oregeron gambled and lost. Leading 14-0 with less than eight minutes remaining Ole Miss still could have won, but didn't.
Ole Miss missed the boat when it did not sign Swayze Waters, who wanted to play college football in Mississippi. His grandfather Bucky Waters of the famed Waters sports family was excellent as a player and later as a coach. Swayze, who stars at UAB has Ray Guy-type punting ability and Paige Cothren-Robert Khayat type field goal accuracy. Noel Mazzone wanted the Memphis kicker rather than Wates, a major mistake.
I learned of Orgeron's dismissal while in Hattiesburg for the Southern's regular season finale with Arkansas State. I had made the trip to Starkville with Mitch and Steve Lavinghouse. When Ole Miss gambled and lost the first down play the Mississippi State crown got back in the game.
A few hundred Maroon fans had given up the ghost and headed for th parking lots before this happened, missing one of the best comebacks in recent Bulldog history. It took four years for Sylvester Croom to get his program moving in the right direction. Orgeron thought he had a five year assurance and was looking forward tot the 2008 season when he was terminated.
The deal is done. Ole Miss must hire and hire quickly. Paying a search firm is throwing money away. Athletic Directors should always have a short list of possible replacements. Ole Miss joins Baylor, Michigan, SMU, Texas A&M, and Nebraska as members of the coach search club. And there could be others after the final week of the regular season.
Ole Miss needs to retain as many commitments as possible.
In Hattiesburg after meeting new President Martha Saunders, I chatted with veteran pro scout Hamp Cook and P.W. Underwood, who played at Southern when I worked there as Director of Public Relations and Athletic Publicity with one student who could cut stencils for the publicity releases. I also helped recruit P.W. was one of the prize signees. I drove P.W. around town and then we sat under a big oak tree leading to the Grill where every every co-ed had to pass. I told P. W. that i knew he was a good football player and he would get the publicity, because i handled the publicity. I also told him that the co-eds and particularly the Dixie Darlings really liked football players and he replied: "Where do I sign?"
Later when he was a head coach his greatest win came when Southern beat Ole Miss, led by Archie Manning in 1969. Four husky football players picked Underwood up on their shoulders and carried him out to mid-field to shake Johnny Vaught's hand. The staggered as they approached the Rebel Coach and then dropped him because his weight was practically on the Ole Miss coach's foot.
Johny Howard Vaught looked Underwood in the eye and said: " You didn't expect two miracles in the same day did you?"
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