78pony wrote:leopold wrote::? Well that's great.
By that measurement L. Don Shields may very well be SMU's greatest president - I mean, we had the best record in all of college football for five of his six years on the Hilltop, right? Nevermind that he was a jock sniffin' yes-man [deleted] - he did absolutely everything he could to get us wins on the football field. Thanks Donnie!
In the meantime, let me know when a college president (of an actual accredited university) is fired for having an underperforming football team. I'll be sure not to pay for my kid to go there.
I want to be careful here - I'm not saying the school has gotten it done. But I think some of ya'll better take a closer look at who is actually rowing and who isn't - Turner ain't the problem.
Simply disagree. He was the problem, and for some time. Up to speed now, or at least closer, but the years when TCU and Baylor were getting their houses in order what were we doing? The president is the face and leader of your school. Already detailed on many posts that he can raise money for buildings and academic programs. But that’s only part of the job. Athletics and success in same are, whether you like it or not, what the majority of typical non-affiliated folks use to base first impression of the school on (Harvard, Stanford, etc . are exceptions). So where was the fundraising for athletics? Why make the decision to let the death penalty continue to influence what we did and who we were? A true leader could have bowed up and said you know, NCAA got us and then we added our own penalty with another year. But now our dues are paid, and watch out. We’re coming at you full force. We’ll do it right but we are not going to let the past dictate our future. I’m calling on all to rally and let’s make a commitment here and now to get this thing done.
The years TCU started getting their house in order was the tail-end of the Pye era where we got left out in the cold when the SWC disbanded. Baylor and TCU both had a MASSIVE head start on SMU, which is Baylor got a Big XII bid - not JUST because Richards was Gov - and the old WAC wanted TCU right off the bat. We had to beg just to get into THAT conference.
- It was Turner who got the fundraising started - Pye didn't bother with it and the alumni were still pissed a decade after the DP. I know - I worked the phones for a year as a student calling alumni for money and I can't tell you how many 'leads' I was given that had someone who donated a K/year up to 1986 and then would chew me out when I called them complaining about how we didn't have a football team. Turner was the one who managed to get Ford Stadium added onto the Capital Campaign a year after it began - it was NOT part of the original plan because he wasn't sure the alumni would have the stomach to foot the then $60M price tag, and he was right. He then took millions of dollars of discretionary income to cover the cost of the place to make sure it got done and got paid for. We might as well call that place Turner Stadium, and I'm not joking.
- He was given a football stadium that was a high school stadium from the 1940's - I know, I had the 'pleasure' of walking the halls of Ownby Stadium. We weren't going to out-recruit Jesuit with that facility. The simple fact that TCU, Rice, and Baylor had their own on campus stadiums (or close enough for Baylor) that weren't falling down, laughable practice facilities meant that they had a five year lead on us, even when they were both losing left and right.
- He was given a budget that was laughable. I know, I remember seeing the responses of Dallas Morning News reporters who covered the team when I worked there, many of whom wondering if the school was going to continue to have a team even with a new stadium on campus. It's Turner and the AD's he chose that got the budget up to par and even surpassed our conference mates.
- He was given a faculty that was hostile towards football and referred to it as the 'money pit.' Does anybody remember the fact that the faculty voted TWICE on whether or not to remain D 1-A during Pye's tenure, with there being a tie the second time? Oddly enough it was Pye who broke the tie, voting to remain at the highest level, perhaps his only gift to the football team. How is a brand new President supposed to walk in and tell these people 'Hey, were getting back into the football business again' without IMMEDIATELY raising doubts?! The DP re-worked the SMU chain of command to avoid PRECISELY that possibility of happening. He's had to fight that for two decades.
IT WASN'T TURNER WHO LET THE DEATH PENALTY DEFINE WHO WE WERE AND ARE. It was Turner who got the university and the alumni to buy into the idea that would could be good without being dirty. Hell, he was brought to the school from Ole Miss for the specific reason of fundraisin - that's how he got the job and he's delivered.
In 1995 SMU football, and athletics in general, had NOTHING going for it and was openly looked down upon by the people who actually make a college function. But some of ya'll have this idea that he walked into a blank slate and open minds and there's absolutely no truth to that. I don't claim the guy is perfect but if there is any one person who has gotten sports at that school back on the right track is Gerald Turner and that needs to be acknowledged.
