Full Nelson

• By WILLIAM WEATHERS
• Advocate sportswriter
• Published: Aug 21, 2008 - Page: 5C - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.
• Editor’s note: This is the second in a four-part series of local-area players starring at out-of-state colleges. Today: Southern Mississippi’s Shawn Nelson.

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It was the unpleasant side of college football that nearly drove senior tight end Shawn Nelson away from the University of Southern Mississippi with a year of eligibility remaining.

Jeff Bower, the coach who signed Nelson out of East Ascension High, was forced to resign after 17 years at the school.

Southern Mississippi went on without Bower and defeated Cincinnati 31-21 in the Papajohns.com Bowl to conclude a final month of tumult.

“It took a great toll on me,” Nelson said. “I had already gone through two different tight ends coaches and then my head coach leaves.”

The 6-foot-5, 240-pound Nelson returned from the bowl game, still distraught over the loss of his coach and determined to leave school. He placed his name in the NFL draft but kept the door open for a return to school by not signing with an agent.

Nelson petitioned the NFL’s Draft Advisory Board to gauge his stock and he received a third-round grade. Nelson also watched the school’s selection process of a new coach and wound up removing his name from the draft before the deadline after a meeting with his new coach Larry Fedora.

Nelson, who averaged 35 catches and 500 yards under Bower, was immediately captivated by Fedora’s sincerity and the potential that existed in the offense — a no-huddle, spread attack — he was bringing from Oklahoma State.

“I thought I was going to move on,” Nelson said. “But I was waiting to see what kind of coach they would bring in. Coach Fedora came in and explained how he was going to use me in the offense and I bought into it. I’m happy with the system and glad I stayed.”

More than anything, Nelson appreciated the manner Fedora used in trying to get his message across. Armed with loads of information, Fedora detailed the top tight ends in the draft, both seniors and juniors, along with a list of tight ends that had been taken a year earlier — complete with the round they were selected and money they signed for.

“Most coaches will tell you the best thing to do is stay and he didn’t do that,” Nelson said. “He gave me the benefits of leaving and the benefits of staying. He didn’t pressure me one way or the other and I liked that about him.”

Nelson’s counting on the kind of senior season that would not only help USM return to the top of Conference USA but also catapult him into a favorable position in next year’s draft.

By his best conservative estimates, Nelson expects to double his number of catches, yardage and touchdowns over a year ago.

“I’ve got great expectations for a great year,” he said. “I’ve got great coaches that want to get me the ball. They believe in me and I believe in them. I believe in my teammates and they believe in me. We’re all one big family and we’re going to get the job done and win a Conference USA championship.”