The truth imo about the Powers years

Posted on: December 20, 2023 at 10:45:46 CT

Okay, I remember the Powers years very well and although he did benefit from Onofrio recruits 78- 80, that’s not the full story. 81 and 83 were decent years, in 81 we had a great defense, Jeff Gaylord consensus All American, beat Oklahoma and Southern Mississippi in a bowl. 83 was also a decent season, we beat Oklahoma and played Nebraska, the “team of the century” tougher than anyone on their schedule until Miami.
The problem with powers was a couple of mediocre recruiting classes going into 84, and the excessive hype surrounding the team going into 84. We lost some very close games in 84 that ruined the season - Illinois, Wisconsin- a total Marlon Adler debacle- Norte Dame - missed a 37 yard field goal for the win- and the tie in the mud bowl with Iowa State. Powers also was said to have some off the field complications, that apparently didn’t help. That said, he was fired with a winning record and having taken us to 5 bowl games in seven years.
In my opinion, he should not have been fired at that point. It regressed the program and it took two coaches and 10 losing seasons to recover. Was he a great coach? No. But he deserved a couple more years.