Rodney Bennett is the president of Southern Miss University. These are his responsibilities: He is responsible for the implementation of policies and the effective management of the institution. Hopson, the football coach wanted Art Briles, a former Baylor coach, to be his offensive coordinator in order to win games. There is a good chance that Briles would. His reputation as one of college football’s brightest offensive minds is well-known. Bennett, the president, believed that Briles’ hiring – who was fired in a scandal over sexual assault at Baylor and involved multiple Baylor players – would send a negative signal to Southern Miss. The mere act of interviewing Briles has attracted national attention to USM, mostly for its negative aspects. Bennett probably weighed all the negatives and positives before he quashed the hiring. Given his responsibilities I would also have done so. (Full disclosure: Southern Miss alum. Through Stadium Network’s Brett McMurphy Hopson made the following statement: “Although Dr. Rodney Bennett is right, I disagree with his decision. I am grateful for the grace of God and his forgiveness that allows me to inherit his kingdom which I don’t deserve. Art Briles was interviewed for the assistant position at Southern Miss. I think he deserves another chance. He was sincere and humble during his interview. And he has never committed any crime. Although he may not have followed the correct protocol, that would have been my JOB at Southern Miss. Although he was applying for an assistant job, I believe he will become a head coach at a major college in the near future. He is a man who loves the Lord and deserves another chance. He was banned from playing college football for three consecutive years and has been punished. While I can understand that both sides have their opinions, this is mine. In a statement, the university said that it would not comment further on the matter. Hopson is clearly frustrated. His Southern Miss record is 21-16 overall, and 15-9 in Conference USA. This 62.5 percent conference winning percentage is despite the fact that USM pays its assistant coach lower than any other team in the league. Hopson has lost assistant coaches to Power 5 conference schools and to rival schools in CUSA. Higher salaries have led to coaches leaving. Hopson was able to hire a coach with proven track record at a low salary in Briles. Briles needed a job in order to get back into the game. Baylor had already offered him a $15 million buyout. He didn’t need the money, he just wanted a job. He wanted to be back in it. Bennett must have weighed all of that. This is probably what he also considered: If Briles had been hired as a coach at USM, his tenure there would have been a short one. Is all the negative publicity and public outrage worth it? Bennett presumably decided that it wasn’t. Hopson is a man I know well and I can trust that he is sincere about second chances, Briles, and his Christian faith. Bennett is not wrong, but that does not mean Bennett is right. It is important to remember that college administrators and college athletics have been at odds for decades. College coaches are paid to win. College administrators get paid to teach. They have very little in common, if any, Southern Miss’s events are a perfect example of this. This is also illustrated by Baylor’s actions, which included the $15 million payment to a fired coach. It is also illustrated by what has already happened in the well-publicized NCAA cases at Ole Miss and Mississippi State. It is unclear what will happen next at Southern Miss. To his dismay, the ball is now in the court of the president.