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Lord, it’s the same old tune, the beatdown and blowout. Where do we take it from here? 

Conference woes, hope dying hard. It’s been the same way for years. 

We need a change.

Somebody told me when he came into Monroe, they said, “Son, y’all finally got it made. Ol’ Terry’s made it everywhere, and we’re all sure he will here too.”

But I don’t think that it looks that way. 

Terry Bowden’s brought attention and (a little more) money into ULM athletics through the near-three year stay he’s had so far as head coach. Bowden’s name and face are plastered over everything related to ULM football this season, and that’s been the case since we got the news of his arrival in 2021. 

So let’s give some attention to the man that ULM’s been loud and proud to have among its ranks.

Bowden’s record at ULM sits at 10-27. Only one of those 10 wins was on the road. ULM’s gone 4-8 through each of his first two seasons, and it looks worse this year. 

Essentially all of Bowden’s signature moments came in year one. The upsets over Liberty and Troy two seasons ago had some fans optimistic that this could be a sign of things to come. But that season fizzled out with a five-game losing streak. 

The Warhawks have lost eight straight games, seven of which were conference games. If they keep it up through these last two games, they’ll have the same number of losses as the 2020 team did — the abysmal mess that Bowden was hired to clean up.

This team’s morale departed long ago. Maybe it left after losing to App State on the final play of the game. Or maybe it was two weeks later when Texas State scored twice in the final five minutes to take the lead and win. 

Regardless of when this team stopped believing, a streak like this is unacceptable. It’s Bowden’s second-longest losing streak as a coach; only his debut season with Akron went worse. 

When a team loses close once or twice, they got outplayed. When a team drops eight straight, with losses ranging from heartbreakingly close to embarrassing, that team’s getting outcoached. 

Or maybe it is that bad here. 

Let’s say that Bowden is the best ULM can bring in. Look at what that says about the program. Anything better than a 4-8 season is borderline unprecedented at ULM. It also says that this is the one school that even Terry Bowden couldn’t save and bring to relevance. 

But in the front of Malone Stadium sits a first-year athletic director ready to bring relevance to this program. 

If it means a new head coach, I don’t doubt he’ll make the move.