Firing Bower is dumb. You cant do much better at So Miss. The guy has produced solid teams and has a wining record and for a school like that its all you can expect.
I guess Spurrier will be losing his DC. My guess, USM wanted to be able to hire Nix before someone else does. Just a hunch.
I think Bower would be great for a major school. He has accomplished great things in a state with two SEC rivals and inferior talent pool. USM is stupid for firing him.