Report: Mack Brown: 8 years @ 4mil/yr

[RepublicanPNY]

I'd rather have Morris...

How many national titles has Morris or these other "hot" OC types won vs Mack?

How many national titles has Briles or Patterson won? What is your argument?

That is my point. Briles and Patterson haven't won or been to the national championship.
They're great coaches but how can you discount Mack Brown when he's "Won" it all?

[PSCA]

Interesting to say the least. I do not know if Mack has the stomach for this (SMU) rebuild, he has never to my knowledge done this level before. I am not sure if he really wants, nor would/do we expect him to be on the sidelines for 8 years. However, Mack is a competitor and a man of Pride ... the whole UT deal has got to be sticking in his throat ... especially with recent and numerous UT players suspensions and the overall reporting the program was/is a mess. I can see a spark in the old tank to jump back in and show some folks they were wrong. Again, do not know if he could sustain that for 8 years.

He is instant name recognition and credibility on the recruiting trail with HS Coaches, families, and recruits to the level of LB, and really probably more in Texas. He could salvage a lot and improve the 2015 class IMO. He is very likeable, marketable and engaging with the school community and community as a whole. SMU Admin does not have to look any further then LB to see how that model has worked out. I think an important key as it was for the LB deal is .... assistants (and coach in waiting that we have in B-Ball). I'm not sure if the LB model works as well w/o that. No one knows how long LB will coach ... but 8 years is probably pushing it for him too. But. we have him know doing his thing, we have an infrastructure and succession plan in place. So can we/would we do that with Mack.

Mack comes in fired up and hits the ground running, we bring in a ... Chad Morris (as the CIW, just using that as an example, CM might not make a lateral move even if it is back to Texas) for a very nice $$ and get him plugged in as well ... 4-5 years into it, Mack retires as the hero and the torch passes. During this whole time (as a bonus) tho CIW knows he is getting props and building his resume as well. Besides SMU he becomes a marketable HC prospect for any program. Yes, we should put a good buy-out clause in his contract.

I don't know ... lot if's and buts .... but interesting none the less. I disagree with those who say Mack can not coach, and he sure as heck can recruit. That UT spot light can wear the best of them out, and maybe Mack and staff did get a little complacent and high on their UT horse .... errr Longhorn. SMU might be what the Doc ordered.

Is this all real ???????

[Rebel10]

That is my point. Briles and Patterson haven't won or been to the national championship.
They're great coaches but how can discount a guy who has "Won" it all?

How long ago was that? I say we go for Tom Osborne or Bobby Bowden then.

[RepublicanPNY]

I'd rather have Morris...

How many national titles has Morris or these other "hot" OC types won vs Mack?

Mack has 1 with the best talent in the country for 10 or so years. Heupel has 1. Kirby Smart as a hot DC has 3.

You think Texas sells itself? Take a look at their rosters and results in the early 90's before Mack. He had the best talent because he earned it.

[sbsmith]

How long ago was that? I say we go for Tom Osborne or Bobby Bowden then.

Why not Gene Chizik, he won a NC more recently than any of them.

[StallionsModelT]

That is my point. Briles and Patterson haven't won or been to the national championship.
They're great coaches but how can discount a guy who has "Won" it all?

How long ago was that? I say we go for Tom Osborne or Bobby Bowden then.

Neither have the sort of legendary status among high school coaches that Mack Brown has here in Texas. Mack Brown is still a very relevant name in high school circles that we have been a total non-factor for over the past 20 years.

Also, we would assemble an absolutely MONSTER staff around Mack Brown that would be Dallas-centric and we would be instantly a major player for top recruits in Dallas.

The most glaringly obvious pitfall to our success now is lack of talent. Mack Brown would eliminate that.

[SMU 86]

Interesting to say the least. I do not know if Mack has the stomach for this (SMU) rebuild, he has never to my knowledge done this level before. I am not sure if he really wants, nor would/do we expect him to be on the sidelines for 8 years. However, Mack is a competitor and a man of Pride ... the whole UT deal has got to be sticking in his throat ... especially with recent and numerous UT players suspensions and the overall reporting the program was/is a mess. I can see a spark in the old tank to jump back in and show some folks they were wrong. Again, do not know if he could sustain that for 8 years.

He is instant name recognition and credibility on the recruiting trail with HS Coaches, families, and recruits to the level of LB, and really probably more in Texas. He could salvage a lot and improve the 2015 class IMO. He is very likeable, marketable and engaging with the school community and community as a whole. SMU Admin does not have to look any further then LB to see how that model has worked out. I think an important key as it was for the LB deal is .... assistants (and coach in waiting that we have in B-Ball). I'm not sure if the LB model works as well w/o that. No one knows how long LB will coach ... but 8 years is probably pushing it for him too. But. we have him know doing his thing, we have an infrastructure and succession plan in place. So can we/would we do that with Mack.

Mack comes in fired up and hits the ground running, we bring in a ... Chad Morris (as the CIW, just using that as an example, CM might not make a lateral move even if it is back to Texas) for a very nice $$ and get him plugged in as well ... 4-5 years into it, Mack retires as the hero and the torch passes. During this whole time (as a bonus) tho CIW knows he is getting props and building his resume as well. Besides SMU he becomes a marketable HC prospect for any program. Yes, we should put a good buy-out clause in his contract.

I don't know ... lot if's and buts .... but interesting none the less. I disagree with those who say Mack can not coach, and he sure as heck can recruit. That UT spot light can wear the best of them out, and maybe Mack and staff did get a little complacent and high on their UT horse .... errr Longhorn. SMU might be what the Doc ordered.

Is this all real ???????

Some that are close to UT said that when they forced a HCIW on Brown it really ticked him off. That might not be a good idea to do if he is hired at SMU.

[LA_Mustang]

Rebel, are you happy about anything?? You've been going off for days about our basketball recruiting even though we still could have a top 25 class. We are attempting to go after a 63 year old proven winner who might be the best recruiter in the state of Texas ever, and you're biatching about that. What in the hell do you want?

[Rebel10]

Rebel, are you happy about anything?? You've been going off for days about our basketball recruiting even though we still could have a top 25 class. We are attempting to go after a 63 year old proven winner who might be the best recruiter in the state of Texas ever, and you're biatching about that. What in the hell do you want?

I'm just messing with PNY. If I was Mack I would take the money in New York second. Who can even hold him accountable if the money is guaranteed. Would be a good financial move for him. And I am concerned about the post position not the general ranking of the class with no post players in it.

[Pony81]

If SMU is willing to pay a HC 32 mil then there is hope for the program. Maybe Jerry Ford is channeling his inner David Miller.

I'm sure the powers that be understand - from the BBall example - that one large deliverable of a HC is to attact a quality staff. LB did that because he had the budget and young recruiters want to be in his coaching tree for future jobs.

So, I'm sure the first question about a Chad Morris assistant coach is - who could he get for his staff.
That's the key - does the HC have the street cred and budget to attract a capable staff. Coaching is very unforegiving. Pick the wrong HC to follow and your career can be over or severely diminished.

[LA_Mustang]

I'm just messing with PNY. If I was Mack I would take the money in New York second. Who can even hold him accountable if the money is guaranteed. Would be a good financial move for him. And I am concerned about the post position not the general ranking of the class with no post players in it.

I get the lack of a big in this class but next season we still have Tolbert and Ben. I really think LB is going smaller with versatile guard/forwards. If we don't land a good big next class, there will be cause for concern.

[Rebel10]

If we don't land a good big next class, there will be cause for concern.

Agreed.

[StallionsModelT]

If SMU is willing to pay a HC 32 mil then there is hope for the program. Maybe Jerry Ford is channeling his inner David Miller.

I'm sure the powers that be understand - from the BBall example - that one large deliverable of a HC is to attact a quality staff. LB did that because he had the budget and young recruiters want to be in his coaching tree for future jobs.

So, I'm sure the first question about a Chad Morris assistant coach is - who could he get for his staff.
That's the key - does the HC have the street cred and budget to attract a capable staff. Coaching is very unforegiving. Pick the wrong HC to follow and your career can be over or severely diminished.

I agree about the $32M. That is serious money and sends a signal we are not throwing in the towel and trying to go on the cheap with a $700K-$1.2M head coach. That is Top 20 money.

That said, I think it also sends a signal that this may be our last real shot at getting this right so why not say "Damn the Torpedoes" and go all-in. I like the move personally. If we are going to go down then at least we go down knowing that we gave it the best shot we could from a financial perspective.

[Pony_Law]

There were 3 main problems with Mack that led to his downfall at Texas: 1) Mack was never a very strong pure X's and O's guy. As a result, he has always been dependent on coordinators for his scheme. in his last years he missed on both the offensive coordinator and Defensive coordinator. Applewhite was a particularly bad miss as he was also responsible for QB's. 2) sort of related to problem 1 and problem 3 is Mack allowed the QB situation and the pipeline to be set up as you start playing year 2 and you play forever. This created a situation where he would get 1 top QB prospect and then basically no one that has the level to be the starting QB for texas. AS a result the new hot shot kid ends up being the back up for the older player (thus not getting a redshit). Now in transition years your are pinning your hopes on a first year starter with 1 year of the program under his belt. Really good school the job is usually a competition between a hot shot prospect vs other highly regarded recruits that are either RS-F or RS-juniors. You get these players to come to your program and stay by promising if you win the QB competition 1 year and are the starter we will a)compete for a NC and b) 1 year starting for us will generate interest in the NFL (like USC did during there 8 year run). Mack got away with it when Vince Young and Colt McCoy were his QB's. Gilbert wasn't ready and floundered under expectations and Colt's younger brother didn't have the talent (and was there as a result of his name only), and Ash couldn't stay healthy. 3) Mack got lazy in recruiting because it was easy. As a result rather than doing the nitty gritty and figuring out the difference between a top HS player that has tapped out and a top HS player that will continue to improve. he also got lazy and would back fill the class with players that have some potential to be good college players but probably thought they were better than they were because they became instant 4 star recruits because Texas was interested in them.

Mack strength was managing the bahemmoth that is the Texas program. ie he could put together good staffs and manage the staff, glad hand the donors, give a great press conference, do well with texas HS coaches and recruites. Also Generally Mack had his teams ready to play and did a good job off keeping the pressure of being at Texas off of them.

Mack is a good coach so if he has the budget to get good assistants and is willing to work on recruiting I think he could do well at SMU. That said I think SMU needs a great X's and O's guy. With a great X's and O's guy you build some winning by being able to beat teams with higher talent, which in turn if you follow up with hard work on the recruiting trail you slowly increse your talent base, and now you are a 10 win a year team (ala TCU, boise, Tech under leach, Utah under Myer, and hell June at Hawaii).

[GreenbeltPony]

If SMU is willing to pay a HC 32 mil then there is hope for the program. Maybe Jerry Ford is channeling his inner David Miller.

I'm sure the powers that be understand - from the BBall example - that one large deliverable of a HC is to attact a quality staff. LB did that because he had the budget and young recruiters want to be in his coaching tree for future jobs.

So, I'm sure the first question about a Chad Morris assistant coach is - who could he get for his staff.
That's the key - does the HC have the street cred and budget to attract a capable staff. Coaching is very unforegiving. Pick the wrong HC to follow and your career can be over or severely diminished.

I agree about the $32M. That is serious money and sends a signal we are not throwing in the towel and trying to go on the cheap with a $700K-$1.2M head coach. That is Top 20 money.

That said, I think it also sends a signal that this may be our last real shot at getting this right so why not say "Damn the Torpedoes" and go all-in. I like the move personally. If we are going to go down then at least we go down knowing that we gave it the best shot we could from a financial perspective.

Agreed, and it's actually tied for #10 with 5+ other schools (if you can trust internet sites).

I was about to post something involving your 2nd point, but you beat me to it. I get the impression, with no connections to the SMU boosters or administration whatsoever, that this is SMU's last ditch attempt at getting the success, exposure, and commitment that will hopefully lead to a P5 invite. The boosters might as well throw a lot of $$$ in the pot right now and hope for the best instead of just bleeding away the same amount over a number of years down the road.

I like the idea. It worked with Larry Brown, though one could argue that he differs a bit since he had a NBA championship in addition to a ring from Kansas. My only concern is that we won't be throwing enough cash at the rest of the staff.