Has the whole P5/G5 thing dampered the mood?

[BRStang]

Not even ESPN gives a shinola about our coaching vacancy and search

http://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/21217595/florida-gators-jim-mcelwain-2017-18-fbs-head-coaching-changes

[MV pony]

Since our P5 hope is probably unrealistic, I vote we try to join the Ivy League.

[MV pony]

Since a P5 bid is unrealistic, I vote we try to join the Ivy League.

[Stallion]

P5 might be but an Access Bowl WAS within the realm of reasonable possibility within next 2 years and the AAC is the best route to get there

[AusTxPony]

It seems to me the available coaches list is underwhelming. UCF, Top Ten team, hired Heupel. Not exactly a barn stormer.

HCCM affected the player's culture, but not yet the fanbase. That will only come if we can compete for AAC Champs and NY6 Bowl, year in and out. Lots of hype from Morris this year which did not pan out starting with (my) unexpected losses to UH and then Navy. If our only losses this year were UCF and Memphis there would be much more excitement all round (their fans were hyped). We need a really big year, not just a very minor bowl game. I understand why, but Morris left the job undone.

Jones gave us 3 good away bowl wins and they were well attended. Then he lost interest, and fanbase is partly to blame (that UCF game shocked me and him, so few attended). Plus he didn't get his star QB as he probably assumed he would. He also left the job undone and in worse shape than Morris has.

I remain ever hopeful we will find our Frost or Norvell/Fuente and put some 10+ winning seasons up. This is a good league and all we can hope for at this time (thank god we're in it).

Still an SMU fan for life whatever comes. And screw Pye, he really messed us up.

[sail420s]

No need to panic yet. After Bennett, we had several weeks of a search. JJ left after game #2. Again, a long coaching search. We are only on day 4 of this one. There are still good names out there. Mack, Les, Venables...any of these would be huge hires for us.

[SMU21TCU10]

I think if this hire ends up being a disaster, and we go back to 2014 bad in the next couple of years, this program is in big trouble. Things have really changed in CFB, and the P5 schools are separating themselves from the G5 much faster than before. If SMU is going to survive, I think the football team needs to make something special happen in the next several years.

People need an exciting team to follow. There are so many more options now on a weekend than spending your day watching bad football. Honestly, our game day atmosphere is so bad I can’t even get friends and family to attend with me anymore, and hell I would almost rather just watch on TV most of the time (this isn’t 1981, we can watch in ultra HD now on a massive TV). Going to a TCU game recently, I realized how far behind we are as a football program now.

Disclaimer: I am a beat down SMU fan and believe the sky is always falling.

[SMU_Alum11]

According to the simpletons of DMN, we should just blame our fans as fan attendance should be easy..

[Charleston Pony]

Since this thread is about P5 vs G5, ask yourself what got SMU into this mess to begin with? Basically, the larger public schools of the SWC were tired of carrying the small private schools (and Houston) that had so little fan support because the formation of the Big XII was all about unprecedented TV revenue. TCU's administration realized how critical it had become to field a competitive football program and to attract as many followers as they could. They remain a relatively small player in the Big XII and let's face it...come 2024 Texas and OU could decide to take TTech and OSU with them and join the PAC (16) leaving the privates behind once again.

I just want SMU to improve and become as strong a program as we can by that time frame and that includes being able to fill Ford Stadium for most of our games. We are fortunate to be in the "next best league" right now but we need to compete at the top of the AAC or SMU's football program will really be left behind

[SMU_Alum11]

I wish someone could explain to me why in the hell Texas and company would join the PAC12. Texas owns the Big 12 why lose it’s kingdom. Also given California is state of fruits and nuts, they would be in constant issue with the governors symbolic “no travel” ban to Texas. Literally none of that makes sense. Texas going SEC or Big 10 feels more legitimate than PAC12 especially given from a money perspective. Someone look to accurately point out the that PAC12/Fox arrangement is hemorrhaging money due to only 1 time zone able to watch it...

[mtrout]

Pac-12 is hot garbage. They might have a good TV deal but no one watches that crap as games are on too late and the USA population is weighted heavily in the eastern and central time zones.

Fun fact: USC/Stanford title game got the same rating as UCF/Memphis.

[SMU_Alum11]

That’s just an insult to UCF/Memphis!

[SMU Pom Mom]

Speaking as an alum from a school that won a total of 11 games in my four years and was the joke of college football for years, what turned our program around was (1) getting a coach with strong ties to the school, (2) paying the coaching staff very, very generously, (3) investing in a world class practice facility, and (4) aggressively marketing the program to the general community. I recently attended homecoming and was in total awe of the size of the crowd, which looked like SMU's when I was there [cough cough] years ago. Granted, we have some advantages that SMU does not (P5, more money), but there are still things SMU can do.

[jpe747]

Coach Morris put us on the right path. We have recruited and secured foundation players. We are no longer at the bottom of the football programs. Now we must continue forward. Our next step is putting butts in seats. We are in one of the biggest cities in the United States of America. People are here! The number 1 thing we need to do is WIN games. If we play TCU, Baylor and Texas Tech as pre-conference games (as many of you would advise) that would lead to more losses than wins (at this time). We need to play something like this; TCU and UTEP, Arkansas State and UNT. We need to blow them away. Then, we need to win our conference every year. If we could do that we would be considered a POWER! We need to be in a bowl EVERY YEAR.
In addition, there are things we can do to bring new people to Ford Stadium. Where are the SMU minds working on putting butts in seats? There are people who are not alumni or are older alumni who do not have connections with today's students. I've made suggestions and you guy didn't like them. So, we need to make these people feel welcome. Its kind of like Church. What makes people at Church feel welcome? We have to bring in fans. What do we need to do to get people into seats?

[SMU Pom Mom]

Hire a full time staff dedicated to marketing. Come up with a slogan. Put up billboards. Take out print and radio ads. Repeat, repeat, repeat. Be visible enough so that a local family with no ties to SMU might think going to a game is a fun and affordable way to spend a Saturday. Give incentives to student groups at attend. These tactics have worked for other colleges. Also, start the boulevard earlier and shut it down after the Mustang Walk and get rid of the grassy knoll or whatever it's called and make those people come inside.

Marketing 101. You just have to make an effort.