USM's Monken aims to fill 'The Rock' for home games

Attendance figures for Southern Miss home football games have never been eye-popping.

But until recently crowds at M.M. Roberts Stadium have, at the very least, been respectable. In the 10 seasons prior to 2013, the Golden Eagles drew home crowds of 30,000-plus 20 times and drew less than 25,000 only five times.

The past few seasons, however, the crowds at M.M. Roberts Stadium have routinely hovered around 20,000 or less.

A combination of poor play (the Golden Eagles are 4-32 since 2012) and the widening gap between the high-resource conference programs and the rest of the field have only exacerbated the problem.

But third-year Southern Miss head coach Todd Monken is drawing a proverbial line in the sand.

"I expect we will put ourselves in position to go back to a bowl game this year," he said during an interview with the Hattiesburg American this week. "But it's going to take everybody. We need 'The Rock' to be packed for every home game. If we sell out 'The Rock' (every home game in 2015) and we have a losing season, I'll resign."

Since the start of the 2012 season, Southern Miss has had just one announced crowd of more than 30,000 (the first home game of the 2012 season). During the same span, the Golden Eagles have drawn less than 25,000 fans 13 times, which is passable relative to the program's Conference USA ilk. Last season, Southern Miss ranked fourth in the league – out of 13 teams – in average home attendance (22,739).

Golden Eagle fans are no strangers to the particulars of the football program's recent history. In 2011, Southern Miss won the Conference USA Championship as well as the Hawaii Bowl and finished the year 12-2 – the best record in school history. The following season, under new head coach Ellis Johnson who replaced Larry Fedora, the Golden Eagles went 0-12 – easily the worst season in school history.

Johnson was abruptly dismissed and Monken was hired. Southern Miss was 1-11 in year one under the former Oklahoma State offensive coordinator and 3-9 in 2014. But Monken is confident enough in the roster he's assembled that his squad is capable of taking another step toward relevance.

"I love being the head coach here," he said. "This is a special place. I know we're significantly better than we were last year. I believe we've got the team to get back to a bowl game. With the help of our fans, I don't see us not."

Monken acknowledges that the local and national perception of C-USA is also a factor in the dwindling crowds at M.M. Roberts Stadium. But he's quick to point out that perception is oftentimes not reality, as C-USA teams were a combined 4-1 in bowl games last season – the best winning percentage (.800) among all conferences in the country. In addition, C-USA received the second-highest payout from the NCAA among the "Group of 5" leagues.

"I know it hasn't been promoted enough – our league got more money than the (American Athletic Conference)," he said. "The powers that be saw us as the next-best conference (outside the 'Power 5'). But it wasn't good enough because people still identify with the teams that left our league - Tulane, Memphis, Houston. Who cares about them?"

Southern Miss opens the 2015 season at home against Mississippi State before hosting FCS member Austin Peay, and C-USA foes North Texas, Old Dominion, UTEP, and Texas-San Antonio. Monken knows there won't be a problem selling the stadium out for the season opener with the Bulldogs. His concern is the ratio of Golden Eagle fans to visiting fans, as well as support for the rest of the home slate.

"Some of our fans don't realize how important the North Texas, Old Dominion, UTEP, and UTSA games are," he said. "Those are critically important games. Because it's Mississippi State, they'll come in droves. But we need them for every game. That's my point.

"We're going to be better. But let's talk about 'The Rock.' We need our fans' support. Let's give it everything we've got one year and see what we're capable of. If people really care and it really matters, they'll pack the stadium (for every home game)."