PonyFans.com is proud to welcome back, for his second season as a columnist, Nate, who is 14 years old, in eighth grade, might want to be a sports writer and knows more about football than a lot of people who already make their living covering sports. Nate will offer his thoughts and will preview each game throughout the season, looking at a key player, matchup or statistic that could prove relevant in each upcoming game … and explain why it will impact the outcome. Feel free to post comments and constructive criticism, ask him questions, and/or give suggestions for upcoming columns!

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A new era of SMU football will begin this spring, leading up the REAL beginning Saturday, Sept. 5, 2015 when Baylor visits Gerald J. Ford Stadium to kick off the Chad Morris era. I was so overjoyed Saturday when the news crept out, first as a solid rumor, and then Sunday when I found out it was official: Clemson’s former offensive coordinator is the next head football coach of the SMU Mustangs, and I hope this will be the best $2 million Rick Hart has ever spent. Love the hire … blah, blah, blah. We already have heard all that generic stuff. Let’s talk realistically.

Nate says the Mustangs already have the perfect quarterback to run the Chad Morris offense in current starter Matt Davis (photo by Pat Kleineberg).

Chad Morris has Texas in his blood. June Jones has pineapple in his blood. There’s no changing who they are, and Jones didn’t have a “Texas state of mind.” Just 68 of the current SMU players are from Texas. That’s the lowest of the FBS schools in Texas. Even some local high school coaches were quoted as saying they rarely heard from Jones. But in his introductory press conference on Monday, Morris made it very clear that he would begin recruiting local talent even within the next few days. “I’m excited to get back with my peers in the Texas high school football ranks,” he said. “It’s got to start with a culture change from the get-go and that’s the No. 1 thing we’re going to do.” One thing to take away from that quote: his No. 1 priority is to make a team in Texas composed of players from Texas.

So with the Christmas holiday coming up, we get in the spirit of gift giving. Some people really want gifts, so they make wish lists on what they want for Christmas. I made a wish list of what I want from Chad Morris — maybe not for this Christmas, but the next Christmas, and the Christmas after that, and so on. Here you go, Coach — I hope you staple this list to your bulletin board:

• Recruit in Texas! Texas is football central in the United States. I’m not going to say much about this, because I covered most of this already, but I’m not worried that Morris won’t come through with this, because he did make it clear he was going to start in Texas almost immediately. (Fun fact about Morris: he coached at Lake Travis High School in Austin, and in 2008-09, he went 16-0 both years, winning back-to-back state titles. Who was his quarterback those years? None other than Garrett Gilbert.)

• Don’t get too excited, all you hype-filled Mustang fans — this will take a while. This is the very definition of starting from the bottom. He is taking over a team that will be coming off of either a 1-11 or 0-12 year. He is taking over a team that is last in almost every offensive category and also in the bottom of the barrel in most defensive categories. This is a very fragile fan base, even an absent fan base at times. I know this will take a while, but the Mustang faithful are very impatient. I say Morris will make SMU contenders. To what extent, I don’t know, but the key for Morris these first few years is keeping things interesting. Like I said, this is an impatient fan base, but like Larry Brown proved, if you win, the fans will show up.

• Engage the student body, like Brown has. We all see the videos of his giving pizza or donuts to the students waiting in line for basketball tickets. The student attendance is ridiculous. I’m sure Morris has recognized that and I hope he involves them. It has to be exciting for the students, more than the alums and fans.

• This quote from the press conference is a good sign. “It’s a great day to be a Pony. You’re about to see an exciting brand of football … and we’re going to be one of the biggest turnarounds in college football.” Gosh, I hope so, Coach Morris. We could use a little bit of turning around at the moment.

• Install your offense as quickly as you can while we have the perfect quarterback — Matt Davis — for your offense still attending SMU! Davis is a playmaker who has some legs on him and can launch the ball, but really just needs to be coached. Morris brings an offensive strategy that set all kinds of records at Clemson, including points per game (41.7) and yards per game. There is so much potential as the 46-year-old begins his head coaching career.

Coach, you have a ton of work to do. But I believe in you and I also believe that the SMU football program will be in good hands for the next era.

Thank you for choosing SMU.

Nate