Aug. 26, 2008

HATTIESBURG, Miss. - Former Southern Miss football coaches Jeff Bower and Jim Carmody were among the six-person class of the 2009 Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame which was announced Tuesday afternoon in Jackson.

Bower led the Golden Eagles to a 119-83-1 record over 17 seasons (1990-2007) which included 15 winning seasons - 14-straight to end his Golden Eagle tenure. The second winningest coach in school history led the Golden Eagles to 11 bowl appearances, including a school-record six consecutive bids over his final six seasons. His achievements were not just limited to the field as Southern Miss was consistently among the top Division I schools for graduation rates each year.

Bower, the Conference USA Coach of the Decade for the first 10 years in the history of the league, captured four league titles (1996, 1997, 1999 and 2003). He spent 29 years with the program as either a player, assistant coach and head coach.

Carmody led the Golden Eagles for six seasons and posted a 37-29 record, which included five winning seasons and a 7-4 mark in three of those years. Carmody was a former defensive coordinator and assistant head coach for the program.

During Carmody's tenure, the Golden Eagles defeated Alabama, 38-29, in Tuscaloosa in 1982, snapping the Crimson Tide's 56-game home winning streak at Bryant-Denny Stadium. It was the first time since 1962 that UA had lost there and also proved to be the final loss of legendary coach Paul "Bear" Bryant in his career.

Carmody also recruited former Southern Miss standout Brett Favre, who is currently in his 18th professional season and currently a member of the New York Jets.

Former defensive stars Tyrone Keys, an All-SEC player at Mississippi State and a member of the 1985 Super Bowl champion Chicago Bears and Natchez, Miss., native Hugh Green, the 1980 Heisman Trophy runner-up and highest Heisman finish ever for a pure defensive player were the other persons chosen from the sport of football.

John Stroud, the all-time scoring leader in Ole Miss men's basketball history, and Robert Morgan, who retired after 38 years in 2006 as the longest serving director of a PGA tournament in America, round out the class.

The six will be inducted at the 47th Annual BancorpSouth Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame Induction Banquet on July 31, 2009.

Officials from BancorpSouth and the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame also announced at the press conference the extension of the Tupelo, Miss.-based bank's title sponsorship of the induction banquet weekend through 2012.

With the addition of the Class of 2009 there will be 257 members in the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame.