Coaching Football at SMU is an Attractive Job

[mustangxc]

If we ever get to the point where we are winning 10-12 games every season then yes I do think we will be able to consistently draw 27,000 fans for our games.

[SMU_Alum11]

If we ever get to the point where we are winning 10-12 games every season then yes I do think we will be able to consistently draw 27,000 fans for our games.

agreed. It's just going to take us 3-4 coaches within 10-12 years to get there. It's always going to be a rough shift between gears to get this thing moving.

[PoconoPony]

If we ever get to the point where we are winning 10-12 games every season then yes I do think we will be able to consistently draw 27,000 fans for our games.

I

In my opinion the AAC is a conference with out natural rivalries. As a result, it is hard to generate fan interest. The ole SWC was a natural for regional rivalries and reasonable travel distances for fans. In football we have little in common with most of the schools and fan travel/support is unreasonable and expensive. If it were not for TCU and to a lesser extent Tulsa we have essentially no football games of regional interest. Hence, little student interest, alum interest or means to generate community interest. The only thing left to create attention is an ambitious non-conference schedule involving Baylor, TT, OSU, TCU, Air Force, Army, ND, BYU, K State..etc. Unfortunately, such a schedule requires a good team and may result in losses which might preclude invites to a fourth tier Frisco Bowl. Continue to have a non-conference schedule as this year and there is little interest; Catch 22. The day may be coming when SMU has to re-think the direction and expense of the football program particularly if we are relegated to G5 situation. All bowls have been relegated to insignificant with the current BCS playoff situation and even having a tremendous season like UCF renders little at the end.

[1983 Cotton Bowl]

If we ever get to the point where we are winning 10-12 games every season then yes I do think we will be able to consistently draw 27,000 fans for our games.

I

In my opinion the AAC is a conference with out natural rivalries. As a result, it is hard to generate fan interest. The ole SWC was a natural for regional rivalries and reasonable travel distances for fans. In football we have little in common with most of the schools and fan travel/support is unreasonable and expensive. If it were not for TCU and to a lesser extent Tulsa we have essentially no football games of regional interest. Hence, little student interest, alum interest or means to generate community interest. The only thing left to create attention is an ambitious non-conference schedule involving Baylor, TT, OSU, TCU, Air Force, Army, ND, BYU, K State..etc. Unfortunately, such a schedule requires a good team and may result in losses which might preclude invites to a fourth tier Frisco Bowl. Continue to have a non-conference schedule as this year and there is little interest; Catch 22. The day may be coming when SMU has to re-think the direction and expense of the football program particularly if we are relegated to G5 situation. All bowls have been relegated to insignificant with the current BCS playoff situation and even having a tremendous season like UCF renders little at the end.

I really don't have a clear idea where this football program is headed. I guess as long as we have 25 or so boosters who are willing to bankroll the whole thing, it will soldier on. . . but I don't see any real grass-roots enthusiasm for SMU football, either inside or outside campus, which I mostly attribute to uninteresting games against opponents who no one around here cares about. . . or consistent beat downs at the hands of the couple of old rivals who people do care about.

[mustangxc]

This is the first winning season since 2012, fans are slow to react and the team has not given fans much reason to buy in yet. It's not rocket science so I hope we don't make it more complicated than it is. Our infrastructure, support and group of 5 status make this a stepping stone job and we need to accept that until we change it. Let's just go hire someone that is willing and capable of building on the progress we made under Morris so we can salvage and build on this recruiting class and hope the coach stays long enough to make progress (2-4 seasons) and then onto the next one.

[Pony ^]

Hah...sure the campus is great, but it's just a stepping stone job and always will be. Nobody likes coaching in front of 8,000 fans.

This is exactly my point from the other thread about Larry Brown. Did we pack Moody before LB? No. Do we now? Yes. It's possible that the same thing could happen in football. Not highly likely, just possible. LB literally fell into our laps and changed the game. Wouldn't it be nice...

Bball is totally different. It was a perfect storm. We had our best team in years and beat several top 25 brand name teams including the eventual national champion. For football we would have to be in the Big 12 to get those type of brands coming to Ford...and then you win those games.

[1983 Cotton Bowl]

Hah...sure the campus is great, but it's just a stepping stone job and always will be. Nobody likes coaching in front of 8,000 fans.

This is exactly my point from the other thread about Larry Brown. Did we pack Moody before LB? No. Do we now? Yes. It's possible that the same thing could happen in football. Not highly likely, just possible. LB literally fell into our laps and changed the game. Wouldn't it be nice...

Bball is totally different. It was a perfect storm. We had our best team in years and beat several top 25 brand name teams including the eventual national champion. For football we would have to be in the Big 12 to get those type of brands coming to Ford...and then you win those games.

Unless something changes, the days of legit P-5 programs coming to Ford are pretty much over, with the exception of TCU. . . for now. But if I remember correctly, the current TCU series ends in a couple of years. I don't think its a sure thing they re-sign the series. If we lose that, our non-conference slate will be truly putrid.

[HireSabin78]

Question: SMU supposedly has a good business school. Who negotiated CM's original contract? John Kerry? Why is that when we sign a former assistant head coach who is wetting his pants to make $2 million a year, that we don't put in the contract a $30,000,000 buy out?

I sure hope the next coach we hire (unless its a retread), we say, "rather than promising us at our news conference on your hiring day that you are 100% committed to SMU and not looking to use SMU as a launching pad, let's agree to a $50,000,000 buyout in the contract". If he balks then he's shown his true colors. The $50,000,000 could be a billion. It shouldn't matter if the guy says he isn't going to leave. We must have a crazy buy out with the next coach. Otherwise, how can the coach recruit high schools? The recruits are just going to all be thinking, hey, he isn't even going to be coach when I am a junior anyway.

Chad Morris used us in the worst way. He should be ashamed of himself. Most of you say he has put us on a positive trajectory. You all though are not taking into account how his leaving actually hurts us in 2 years.

[SMU_Alum11]

Huge buyouts cause contracts to break. The coach knows that would eliminate any chance of him getting picked up by a P5 school. We need to strategize to our market of the G5. I agree we need to increase the buyout but $50mil would just be silly. I don't know the perfect number but if Morris was like 2mil for 5 years. I don't see the harm of a $15mil buyout that decreases 3 million a year. That way if he gets picked up early, a P5 school can easily pay that out. If no one picks him up, then he probably wasn't doing a good job and the liability is alot lower on us.

[mavsrage311]

"HireSabin" is back. Good times on pony fans.

[HireSabin78]

So we keep hiring coaches who keep getting us to the Frisco Bowl every 3 years? Awesome. Don't we need a coach who will be here for at least 10 years to get us to that next level? How has TCU kept Gary Patterson for so long? SMU can't ever do anything right.

[03Mustang]

Biggin is right around the corner I'm sure

[SMU_Alum11]

So we keep hiring coaches who keep getting us to the Frisco Bowl every 3 years? Awesome. Don't we need a coach who will be here for at least 10 years to get us to that next level? How has TCU kept Gary Patterson for so long? SMU can't ever do anything right.

No, thats only if we hire a turd. If we get the right coach, he has a team that at the minimum could get us to Frisco again. If we get the right coach, we could get the birmingham bowl and be 3rd or 4th in the conference in YR1 or 2. Hopefully when he gets close to the rumor mill of leaving, we are in a similar spot UCF is and we hand it off to the next guy to get us to NY6 bowl. It's a horrible stair step progress but thats why Rick has to make 2 good decisions this one and the next to get us to an unprecedented level.

[ponypatrick]

Question: SMU supposedly has a good business school. Who negotiated CM's original contract? John Kerry? Why is that when we sign a former assistant head coach who is wetting his pants to make $2 million a year, that we don't put in the contract a $30,000,000 buy out?

I sure hope the next coach we hire (unless its a retread), we say, "rather than promising us at our news conference on your hiring day that you are 100% committed to SMU and not looking to use SMU as a launching pad, let's agree to a $50,000,000 buyout in the contract". If he balks then he's shown his true colors. The $50,000,000 could be a billion. It shouldn't matter if the guy says he isn't going to leave. We must have a crazy buy out with the next coach. Otherwise, how can the coach recruit high schools? The recruits are just going to all be thinking, hey, he isn't even going to be coach when I am a junior anyway.

Chad Morris used us in the worst way. He should be ashamed of himself. Most of you say he has put us on a positive trajectory. You all though are not taking into account how his leaving actually hurts us in 2 years.

BINGO................CM is a used car salesman with a Jimmy Swaggart like line of B.S. !!

[Rebel10]

The only coach that would agree to a 50 million dollar buyout is a coach that isn’t any good imo. Sure SMU could hire a high school,position coach that would agree to that but we would probably not have a very good team and it would cost whatever the buyout is to fire him which would be 50 million.