STILLWATER — Oklahoma State already served as a launching pad for one recent offensive coordinator's successful head coaching leap to Southern Miss.
Now it's Todd Monken's turn to jump.
Confirming reports from the Hattiesburg American, a source close to Monken has confirmed that the Cowboys offensive coordinator will be announced Tuesday as the next head coach at Southern Miss, ending his two-year run at OSU.
The source said that Monken will not coach the Cowboys in the Heart of Dallas Bowl on Jan. 1, but instead will immediately start working on building a staff and engaging in recruiting for the Golden Eagles, who finished 0-12 this season, resulting in the firing of coach Ellis Johnson.
It's not clear how OSU will handle play-calling duties in the bowl game. Mike Gundy has called plays before as head coach, yet hasn't been as involved in game planning since relinquishing those duties following the 2009 season. Other possibilities: offensive line coach Joe Wickline, wide receivers coach Kasey Dunn, inside receivers coach Doug Meacham and running backs coach Jemal Singleton.
Southern Miss successfully tapped the Cowboys staff in 2007, hiring then-offensive coordinator Larry Fedora, who directed the four most prolific offensive seasons in the school's history, as well as four bowl appearances.
Monken interviewed for the Southern Miss job a year ago, when Fedora left after four seasons to become the coach at North Carolina, but the school went instead with Johnson, who had been the defensive coordinator at South Carolina.
After a winless season that included an 0-8 run through Conference USA, Johnson was fired, opening the position and resulting in a double-back to Monken by Southern Miss officials, who interviewed him again over the weekend.
Film at 11.... ðŸ˜
