Missouri St. fired football coach Randy Ball and his staff on Monday, following a 4-6 season. Interestingly enough, Ball’s final game as head coach of the Bears was 34-24 loss to Western Illinois, the school he led to three-straight NCAA Division I-AA playoff appearances before coming to Springfield in 1999.
In his seven seasons, Ball’s teams were always just above or just below the .500 mark. His best seasons were in 2001 and 2004, when the Bears went 6-5. In 2002 and 2003 Missouri St. (then Southwest Missouri St.) went 4-7—the worst records under Ball.
After a 30-23 overtime loss to Southern Illinois, which was No. 1 in I-AA at the time, the Bears bounced back with a 24-21 upset of Northern Iowa, then No. 7 and improved to 3-2. But the Bears dropped four of their five to end the season.
In his seven years at MSU/SMS, Ball went 34-42.
