Who are we going to hire?

[StallionsModelT]

If SMU pays Chad Morris $5M a year with a LOSING RECORD and one quality win in three seasons people should be fired. That's terrible business and sets an incredibly dangerous precedent.

Chad has played to his paper since coming here. Overachieved? Hardly. His best win this year is North Texas. Rewarding that with $5M a year is how you become Kansas.

[Stallion]

We picked a Coach who every analyst in the Country thought was a "A" hire. Only the dumbasses expected Chad Morris to go more than +6 in 3 years at this gawd-forsaken hell-hole of a job with a the worst fan base above the P6 line. If he was a "A" hire when we were 1-11 and had the statistically worst team in modern College Football History then he's "A" hire when he goes 7-5 with the 8th best offense in the Country 3 years later.

The question is do we have the Right Guy? If you have the Right Guy then its smarter to invest in him than gamble on whether we can hire another Coach who just as easily could suck as bad as the Parade of Fools who coached this program for the previous 25 years. TCU thought they had "The Right Guy"-I definitely think SMU has the "Right Guy". Most of the Country thinks SMU has the "Right Guy". Invest in your best asset and Pay the Man. SMU failing--not even trying-- to follow the TCU Model-again

[StallionsModelT]

There isn't ONE G5 program in the country that would be willing to pay a coach with a losing record 5 MILLION DOLLARS A YEAR. That is just absurd. Chad is well compensated for a coach who's signature win in his third year is against C-USA North Texas. If you want to drive the program into a financial ditch you give a coach an insane contract. And guess what? It may not all be a financial decision for Morris. Maybe he wants to win a national championship and coach in P5. He can do neither here so to say that the lack of commitment by SMU to pay him $5M/year is asinine and absurd.

[StallionsModelT]

We picked a Coach who every analyst in the Country thought was a "A" hire. Only the dumbasses expected Chad Morris to go more than +6 in 3 years at this gawd-forsaken hell-hole of a job with a the worst fan base above the P6 line. If he was a "A" hire when we were 1-11 and had the statistically worst team in modern College Football History then he's "A" hire when he goes 7-5 with the 8th best offense in the Country 3 years later.

The question is do we have the Right Guy? If you have the Right Guy then its smarter to invest in him than gamble on whether we can hire another Coach who just as easily could suck as bad as the Parade of Fools who coached this program for the previous 25 years. TCU thought they had "The Right Guy"-I definitely think SMU has the "Right Guy". Most of the Country thinks SMU has the "Right Guy". Invest in your best asset and Pay the Man. SMU failing--not even trying-- to follow the TCU Model-again

God forsaken hell-hole? That's all you need to know about how Stallion feels about this place. SMU is arguably the best G5 job in the country especially post 2008 when we decided to actually starting trying to be competitive. Best head coaching salary in G5, fantastic location, recruiting, deep pocketed alumni, best conference for young "up and comer" head coaches, academics, etc. Only a fool would say such a thing about SMU.

And worse fan base? LOL. Beyond stupid. Heck we aren't even in the bottom half of the AAC.

[Stallion]

There isn't ONE G5 program in the country that would be willing to pay a coach with a losing record 5 MILLION DOLLARS A YEAR. That is just absurd. Chad is well compensated for a coach who's signature win in his third year is against C-USA North Texas. If you want to drive the program into a financial ditch you give a coach an insane contract. And guess what? It may not all be a financial decision for Morris. Maybe he wants to win a national championship and coach in P5. He can do neither here so to say that the lack of commitment by SMU to pay him $5M/year is asinine and absurd.

The school would not been driven into a financial ditch if SMU had football boosters like TCU willing to fund the contract-or like SMU's Basketball boosters who have funded Larry Brown, the highest paid assistant in College Basketball and huge Basketball operations staff. Those investments at TCU stimulated financial gain at TCU with success.

All you are doing is admitting that SMU can't afford to follow the TCU model because the program is broke and apparently our football boosters don't think an investment in an A rated Head Coach will stimulate enough of our pathetic alumni to make the investment worth while. SMU was not willing to compete against P5 level schools to keep the only real tangible asset the Football program has-its Head Coach.

You can make the same argument that SMU Basketball Boosters were insane to invest the amounts they did in the Basketball program

TCU got it right
SMU Basketball Boosters got it right
SMU Football Boosters failed miserably on both infrastructure and Head Coach funding--but you can't blame them-SMU's football fans are a terrible investment-Ford Stadium hasn't generated ANY new fans either

[tristatecoog]

If Arkansas, A&M or maybe even Tech called, I believe Morris, like Herman at UH, would leave.
UH offered Herman $4M to stay. Sure, the market rate was $5M but can AAC schools keep ratcheting up the pay when they're still drawing fewer than 30-40K paying customers? It's a continual investment and UH has benefitted in terms of better facilities (IPF, stadium) and season ticket holders but at what point do the coaches leave?

Would SMU offer HCCM $5M with a stout $2.0M in asst salaries and also commit to building the IPF along with a full blown football marketing campaign and stout recruiting budget? If so, make his buyout $10M to show that he's willing to stay the next two years.

I believe Norvell, Frost and even Littrell have done better but HCCM is a damn good coach who just seems to be in need of a DC.

[Stallion]

"Would SMU offer HCCM $5M with a stout $2.0M in asst salaries and also commit to building the IPF along with a full blown football marketing campaign and stout recruiting budget? If so, make his buyout $10M to show that he's willing to stay the next two years."

Good Point-basically you are asking whether SMU Football boosters would make the kind of investment in the Football Program that the Basketball Boosters would make in its Head Coach, highest paid assistant, Moody refurbish, Crum addition and its huge Basketball operations staff. Should they? That's looks to be a 100 Million Dollar Investment for Basketball. Is it worth the investment based on our alumni support.

It worked for SMU Basketball

It worked for TCU which many around here claim is the Model. TCU has plowed multiple hundreds of Millions of Dollars into the same categories of investments

SMU Boosters chose not to follow the TCU path

Hell even UH tried to keep its Coach. SMU Football Boosters haven't lifted a finger

[OLEJACKETFAN]

I really believe you are too focused on the money. The SMU Football program has a better foundation than probably any time since the Death penalty. I remember Chad telling us his goal was to Coach at a major University by his late 40s! I also remember getting the call that he had gone to interview at Bay City. He didn't answer our calls till he got back the following day. We met at the Fieldhouse and asked him what we could do to keep him at EF! Told him he would no longer have to teach Algebra and would try to get his Salary to $60,000. We were paying him $49,500. LOL, Such a long time ago! He had his eyes on a larger stage and larger crowds! Count your blessings that he has established a good foundation and hopefully he is here another year or two.

[mustangxc]

Stallion, what are you so upset about? We still have a head football coach. Last year Baylor tried to poach him and we bumped his pay. Other universities have had discussions with him, but he is still our coach. Until he leaves there is no reason to bash our deep pocket alumni. We all agree that we need an IPF sooner than later and it will get done. SMU has a pretty good track record on infrastructure.

[Insane_Pony_Posse]

my sources are telling me...if Gus says "no"...that Chad is headed to Arkansas

[Pony81]

Comparing football to basketball is misleading. With a tournament all BB teams have a shot at a natty, not so in football. Its easier to fill a 6K Moody than a 32K Ford, financial support for BB is much lower than FB - fewer coaches, fewer staff, less recruiting budget.
Coaches leave for many reasons other than money - fans, chance to win big games, chance to win a natty. You can get that with SMU BB but can't with SMU FB (maybe never will).

SMU didn't show the commitment to FB like TCU. But more importantly, Dallas hasn't supported our team like FW has TCU. FW still has a small town feel and TCU has become the town's team. Dallas doesn't have that cohesive small town attitude and just doesn't care about SMU. Patterson is a FW celebrity.

SMU is a stepping stone FB program - has been and always will be. No shame in that.... there are only maybe 10-12 FB destination programs. We are trying mightily to make BB program a destination program. Jank is a great coach, with great facilities, great funding, and the fans need to continue to support the team. With some luck, in a few generations we may have a destination BB program.

[jimhagle]

Even if we have a great coach here will we ever build a fan base in the cozy and neighborhood setting confines of Ford stadium? I have serious doubts due to parking woes that may never be resolved. Hence few coaches would want to be here for very long.

[dr rc]

If SMU pays Chad Morris $5M a year with a LOSING RECORD and one quality win in three seasons people should be fired. That's terrible business and sets an incredibly dangerous precedent.

Chad has played to his paper since coming here. Overachieved? Hardly. His best win this year is North Texas. Rewarding that with $5M a year is how you become Kansas.

Firing your best coach in forever b/c he was a mean cuss is how you become Kansas.

[Stallion]

Stallion, what are you so upset about? We still have a head football coach. Last year Baylor tried to poach him and we bumped his pay. Other universities have had discussions with him, but he is still our coach. Until he leaves there is no reason to bash our deep pocket alumni. We all agree that we need an IPF sooner than later and it will get done. SMU has a pretty good track record on infrastructure.

You got a cite for that bump in pay? We extended his contract. I've made the same point on 3 SMU boards multiple times and its never been disputed with an SMU release mentioning a raise, a quote of an SMU official confirming a raise or insider information confirming a raise. In fact, the insider info said SMU decided to play hard-ball with basically a take it or leave it contract offer which sat on his desk for months. I'm willing to listen-but all I hear is crickets. I hear his staff didn't get a raise either. Let's have some details if I'm wrong. Usually a school would want to publicize that it was doing everything possible to keep its coach happy

[dr rc]

Even if we have a great coach here will we ever build a fan base in the cozy and neighborhood setting confines of Ford stadium? I have serious doubts due to parking woes that may never be resolved. Hence few coaches would want to be here for very long.

Just park at the Mockingbird Station garage and walk through Urban Outfitters to make it look like you are shopping if you are scared of getting towed.