#63 Forrest Gregg returns to the Hilltop (1988)

[jtstang]

If Gregg was an afterthought, he was better than the first one.

I did not mean that to be a value judgement, just an observation.

[DallasDiehard]

My recollection was that McCartney was on the list when candidates were being considered, but when Coach Gregg expressed some level of interest, that pretty much ended the discussion. As for me, the thing I remember about Coach Gregg most was his hands from the first time I met him. I shook his hand and mine completely disappeared. No wonder he was such a great blocker back in the day -- if he got those paws on you, it was over. I'm a fairly big guy, and he looked like he could tear my arms off with those mitts. He also had one of his Super Bowl rings on when I met him. Maybe it was carrying that thing around that kept him so strong. It looked like he had a microwave on the back of his hand, but with his hand, it somehow looked like it wasn't too out of place.

[Stallion]

Geez some of your memories are not strong. McCartney was offered the SMU job-accepted-went back home to Colorado to inform them-then reconsidered and turned the job down. That's what happened. And as far as I'm concerned Forrest Gregg along with that idiot Single("all we need to do is recruit a few superstars every year and and surround them with hard working kids") was a big part of the problem. You know I almost can understand Gregg working behind the scenes trying to get changes in the school's policy in the first few years as Head Coach and even as AD-but after he left SMU if he had any real devotion to the SMU football program he should have come out and strongly stated SMU was headed in the WRONG DIRECTION. If he didn't know that then he should never been hired in the first place. It's people like Forrest Gregg and others who should know better but have said nothin' for 15 years who [deleted] me off the most. I'm sure every former fired head coach at SMU has a clause in his buyout that says he can't criticize the school's policies because none of them have the balls to call it like it is. At least Bennett tells it like it is sometimes. But it just ain't Gregg- he's got a lot of company in alleged leaders and former alumni who have sat on their [deleted] waiting for miracles.

[1982Express]

I am pretty sure that Forrest Gregg did more for this program than any one of us posting on this site. You think you have all the answers Stallion, but all you are is a whiny middle-aged [deleted] who finds comfort in criticizing SMU and others so you can place yourself atop some pedestal you have made for yourself. Let me do you a favor and point out some obvious things so you can use them to be oh so clever in the future....SMU messed up a long long time ago, like somehow recruiting the two best running backs in the state and thinking no one would suspect foul play....SMU thought it was smart enough to not get caught.....SMU hired Forrest Gregg to start the program again....Forrest was the best choice because he represented what SMU wanted to be: decent, hardworking, and classy. Did everything go as well as it could have...absolutely not. But before God and all other SMU fans, if you feel like you have the right to attack Forrest Gregg, then I can only hope that he have the chance to take you outback line you up and run your [deleted] over like he did so many lineman in his day....long live Forrest Gregg, a real Mustang, more of a Mustang than any one of us can claim to be!!!

[giacfsp]

Very well said. Stallion, if the great Coach Gregg "pisses you off," as you so eloquently put it, then feel free to abandon the school and its athletic teams immediately. Coach Gregg was a great colllege player, a great professional player and a great coach, and he is one of the classiest people I've ever had the good fortune of meeting. And if really want to sit there and question his passion for SMU, then you know even less than we were previously led to believe. Had you been around Coach Gregg when he was re-starting the program, and seen the passion he showed for that first group of players and for the school, you would know how moronic it is to question whether he has "any real devotion" to SMU. Coach Gregg and his wife are enjoying their retired life together, and he's not obligated to jump in front of a reporter to scream about what SMU is and isn't doing right. As the man with all the answers, please join the Mustang Club (with your checkbook as well as your mouth) and do something to help, rather than sitting behind your desk and telling others what they're doing wrong. If you have a logical thought, I'm sure the higher-ups would like to hear it. If not, shut up.

[No Cal Pony]

Forrest Gregg was a great player, coach, and loyal Mustang. I pity you Stallion for your thoughts. Gregg was a great player for SMU. He loved the school. I had the honor of meeting the man while at SMU. His daughter was a good friend of the girl I was dating. His son came to SMU to play too. When in some of its darkest days, Gregg came back. I thanked him for his loyalty, even with all the hardship that came with the job. As you like to point out, and as most any knowledgeable fan knows, Pye was President. We all know how he tried to drive the program into the ground. Believe me, Coach Gregg was none to happy, but never would he ever speak poorly of SMU. His quiet silence and anger speaks volumes.

If only more alumni came back to support the program, and get involved. Change can only come from within.

Here's to Forrest Gregg, College and Pro Hall of Famer, the "greatest lineman ever," (spoken by some guy named Lombardi), a great Mustang indeed.

Go Ponies!

[OldPony]

I've been pondering. It's time to take a poll to resolve this difficult issue.

Who has done more for Mustang football? Forest Gregg or Stallion?

[EastStang]

I think there was a learning curve element in this Stallion that you probably are forgetting. Pye wanted a clean program. Gregg was well known as the only coach to lead the historically crappy Bengels to the Super Bowl. I am sure that he felt that he could work inside whatever rules Pye and the faculty senate could dram up and be successful. After a season or two it became evident to him that was not going to work for several reasons. The SWC was a sewer at that point in time. TCU and A&M were cheating like two dollar whores. UT was cheating and because their chancellor sits on the NCAA Infractions Committee somehow their stuff doesn't stink. And as we have beaten to death over the years, the issue of the fact that our opponents could admit NCAA qualifying players and we could not. Gregg was a great hire at the time. Perhaps, other lesser known coaches could have or would have screamed louder about the rules being put in place. Gregg was the biggest name available at the time who was able and willing to come to SMU. I think he was a great choice and his talented players were better than the ones Rossley, Cavan and even Bennett brought on board. Unfortunately we couldn't pay players at the point, but the Frogs, Aggies and Horns could.

[SoCal_Pony]

OP,

How about this poll question…. are you disappointed that over the past 18 years, nobody of prominence from our administration, coaching staffs, athletic department or Mustang club has publicly acknowledged the total and absolute failure that SMU FB and BB has become?

In FB, over the last 18 years we are ranked 117 out of 120 schools. In BB, we ended our WAC run with an overall losing conference record, having never gone dancing or even competed for a title.

I personally admire Forrest Gregg, but it is because he is held in such high esteem that I too wished he were more candid and vocal about the fallacy of the Pye Model. In his heart he must have known...why he remained silent is another question, but in hindsight I believe his silence, like many others, hurt our university by prolonging our misery.

[PK]

Even if somebody of prominence from our administration, coaching staffs, athletic department or Mustang club had publicly acknowledged the total and absolute failure that SMU FB and BB had become, who was going to change it? Pye? The Faculty Senate? The Board of Trustees? The Board always had that authority and would have had to have been brain dead to not see the problem without someone pointing it out to them...yet they chose not to. The present administration has at least gotten somethings changed and although slowly, that may have been the only option available.

[OldPony]

You know SoCal- it is not each and everyone's total and individual fault that SMU has been one of the worst programs in the US, I know that guys like Forrest Gregg will always do more for a program than (as Spiro would have said) "those nattering nabobs of negativism". I get tired of hearing how a few on this board have all of the answers and have had them for years. It does nothing to help rebuild. I'm not a polyanna. These things need to be poointed out but not with such regularity that it becomes a background drumbeat. This program came out of the DP as well as could be expected. I lay huge blame at the feet of Big Jim and Turner. We had to show some remorse coming back but during their tenure, we should have seen progress. Instead Jim fires coaches when he had a good one to start with but didn't have enough sense to see it. I don't want to hear about a punch and judy offense. At least we had an offense. The way SMU has been good in the past (with the exception of the 80's) has been through a superior passing game. The first thing Copeland does is fire a passing coach and hire a guy who wouldn't know a QB for a toaster. Turner needs to be awakened as do a lot of people but knocking Gregg's service and commitment to SMU is totally out of bounds.

[No Cal Pony]

I'm with you OP. Given the backgrounds of Turner and Copeland, I am often amazed that they do so little to light fires under people's behinds. Time to act is more than upon us. No time for dancing around issues.

Go Ponies!

[78pony]

Sad that some know little of what they speak. There is no finer gentleman, father, husband or coach...Forrest is devoted to his family and was very much devoted to doing the best job possible for his alma mater. He stepped up to the plate knowing full well the situation with McCartney, and accepted the job over a call late in the night. He got undersized and undertalented kids to give more than they had, and he made a lasting impression on these young men. If there were more of Forrest's ilk in the NCAA coaching circles, the level of integrity in the profession would rise exponentially. I am honored to call Forrest & Barbara (Karen and Al) friends. I am delighted to call Forrest a Mustang.

[78pony]

Sad that some know little of what they speak. There is no finer gentleman, father, husband or coach...Forrest is devoted to his family and was very much devoted to doing the best job possible for his alma mater. He stepped up to the plate knowing full well the situation with McCartney, and accepted the job over a call late in the night. He got undersized and undertalented kids to give more than they had, and he made a lasting impression on these young men. If there were more of Forrest's ilk in the NCAA coaching circles, the level of integrity in the profession would rise exponentially. I am honored to call Forrest & Barbara (Karen and Al) friends. I am delighted to call Forrest a Mustang.

[Lotus]

Very nicely put, 78.