One of the most talked-about sports figures in the country is Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow. His team was mocked openly by some for spending a first-round draft choice on the former Florida star, and most critics have nothing positive to say about his ability to throw a football. But after Sunday’s overtime victory over the Chicago Bears, the Broncos are now 7-1 with Tebow as their starting quarterback.

Rhonda Rompola is in her 21st year as SMU head coach (photo by Travis Johnston).

To quote one of the most oft-repeated sayings in sports, “it all comes down to winning.”

Following that theory, SMU women’s basketball coach Rhonda Rompola is firmly entrenched upon the Mount Rushmore of SMU coaches. When the Mustangs knocked off cross-town rival TCU Nov. 17, it gave Rompola 369 wins in her illustrious career as the Mustangs’ head coach.

The victory also pushed her past former SMU men’s soccer head (and current FC Dallas) head coach Schellas Hyndman atop the list of the most victories by any coach in any sport at SMU.

“I didn’t know about the record (prior to the TCU game),” said Rompola, who graduated from SMU with a business degree in 1983. “I broke somebody’s record who I have a great deal of respect for. Schellas and I were here a long time together, and he’s a heck of a coach. He’s one of the best coaches ever in soccer, and he went to many tournaments.

“What it (also) says is that you have had some great players. We have had some great players who believed in our program, and players who are winners. That’s something we have tried to do here, consistently, is be winners and consistently put a good team out there.”

Under Rompola’s guidance, the Mustangs have been to the NCAA Tournament seven times and the WNIT four times, and have won 20 or more games in a season seven times, accomplishments never reached before she took over the program in 1991-92.

Her accomplishments have extended far beyond the standings and postseason trips, and have SMU leadership looking forward to a bright future for the women’s basketball team.

“Coach Rompola has made a tremendous impact on our women’s basketball program both as a coach and as a student-athlete,” SMU president R. Gerald Turner said. “This record only adds to her long list of accomplishments here at SMU. We look forward to even more success under her leadership.”

“We congratulate Coach Rompola on the record,” SMU athletic director Steve Orsini said. “Setting a mark like that requires both success on the sidelines and a long-term commitment to an institution. It’s made perhaps even more special due to the fact that she is a former SMU student-athlete.

“Between her playing days and her coaching tenure, she has left an indelible mark on the program. We’re very happy for her and believe she will bring continued success to our women’s basketball program.”

CHEMISTRY AMONG PLAYERS, COACHES

Rompola is modest about milestone and personal accolades. Aside from longevity and the quality of players she has been able to recruit to SMU, she often points to the chemistry and continuity she enjoys with her coaching staff. Assistant coach Danny Hughes is the newcomer of the group, now in his third season at SMU, but fellow assistant coach Deneen Parker is in her 17th year on the SMU bench, and associate head coach Lisa Dark, like Rompola, is in her 21st. Dark played for her boss when Rompola was an assistant coach under her predecessor, the late Welton Brown.

“Welton loved Rhonda like she was his own,” Dark said. “She was like a daughter to him … and he would even say that sometimes. He loved Rhonda like she was his own kid, and he would be extremely proud of her right now. He knew how competitive she is. He knew how badly she wanted this job, and I’m sure he knew she would be successful.

“Rhonda is a fierce competitor. (She’ll race someone) to the toaster, to the mailbox — she’ll try to beat you in anything she can beat you in … which is great. That’s how you want her to be. That’s a big part of why she has been so successful. She will do anything to win.”

“If there’s anybody who knew how badly I wanted the job, it was him,” Rompola said. “He prepared me, and he knew how badly I wanted to take over this program, and I did. Obviously, I wanted to mold it into my program, and he knew that — we had many conversations about that. I remember the day I interviewed for this job, I remember the day they were making the decision, and it’s the decision that affected the rest of my life.

“I have spent the last 29 years coaching here — I’m on my 21st year as head coach and eight as an assistant — so I feel like I have given a lot to SMU. I have given my whole working career, and I have a lot left in me.”

Rompola said she realizes how rare it is to have a staff that stays together for so long, and said that continuity has contributed significantly to her success.

“I think a big part of it — and how often can you say this about a coach who is in a situation like this? — is that having a coach who has been with you for every one of those wins,” she said. “Lisa has been there for every single one, and I think that says a lot about our coaching staff, because consistency and stability is so important for a successful program … and there are successful programs like that, that have a coach who has been there with an assistant coach for that many games, and that’s what makes that so successful. You also have to look at how many games Deneen Parker has coached with us. That’s a big part of what makes it a success.

Athletic director Steve Orsini honored Rompola after she won her 300th game over Southern Miss in January 2008 (photo by SMU athletics).

“Everybody says you have to have chemistry on the floor with your players, (which) you do. But you also have to have chemistry with your coaching staff. That’s where it starts — it starts at the top — and I think the chemistry with our coaching staff is huge. The loyalty, the trust factor … Lisa has been with me so long, that’s why she’s the associate head coach — she takes care of a lot of situations and knows exactly how to handle situations. It’s great to have people you feel so comfortable with.”

If anyone thinks the Mustangs’ coach is a clipboard-toting student of the game who never laced up the high-tops, guess again. Rompola started her college career at Old Dominion, where she helped lead the Monarchs to back-to-back AIAW national championships. She transferred to SMU, where she played the 1981-82 season, and in just one season placed herself firmly in the small group of players who can claim to be the best in SMU history. The season-record 683 points she scored as a senior are 146 more than the second-highest single-season total scored by a Mustang. She drained 260 field goals that year, 49 more than any SMU player in any season, and 163 free throws — another school record.

STUDENTS APPRECIATE THEIR TEACHER

Former Mustang guard Missy Parker Allen played one season (1989-90) under Brown and three under Rompola after she took over the head coaching job. Allen, who still has the record for the most steals (290) in program history, admitted that there was a transition as the team got used to Rompola’s intense practices, but said the results showed Rompola knew what she was doing.

“I had the privilege of playing for Coach Brown my freshman year and (went) through the transition to Rhonda’s first year as head coach,” Allen said. “I was also part of the team who saw our first 20-win season and our first season (with postseason) play.

“I will say that we ran more her first year as head coach than anyone could have imagined. We basically had the same team and went from winning (nine games in Brown’s last year) to (55 wins over the next three seasons), likely because we were in better shape. She was incredibly tough and by pushing each of us individually, she brought out the best.”

Former SMU post Janielle Dodds, SMU’s career leader in points (1,861) and rebounds (974), said she wasn’t surprised that her former coach has won more games than any coach in SMU history, giving credit to the intensity and competitive nature that makes her push her players and her staff to out-work the opposition.

“She is a passionate, hard-working person dedicated not only to the overall success of her basketball team, but to each individual player that spends four years maturing under her as a person that will enter the world and start a life without basketball for the first time,” Dodds said. “I spent five years under Rhonda. She pushed me to be the best that I could be on the court and genuinely cared how I was doing as a person. It doesn't surprise me she has achieved this type of honor. It's in her blood — she will be in her grave still watching film.”

Even the opposition chimed in on Rompola’s milestone. Keitha Adams, who has coached against the Mustangs as UTEP’s head coach since the 2001-02 season, said Rompola’s record comes as no surprise.

Former SMU star Janielle Dodds was one of several who is not surprised that her former coach has set the SMU career wins record (photo by SMU athletics).

“Rhonda is a great coach and most importantly she is a great lady,” Adams said. “We have competed against each other for years, and I respect her as a coach and as a person in the profession. She has been somebody, if I have needed to call to confide in, she’s been there.

“Traditionally, our programs have really had some great competitive games, and we are definitely respectful of one another as competitors and colleagues. She is a great X’s and O’s coach, and she is very, very competitive. Her teams always go into games very well prepared.”

The stories about Rompola’s competitiveness are endless, and her intensity is evident to anyone who plays for her or coaches against her. But she also has a compassionate side that endears her to her players.

“I felt like she really had my back my sophomore year when I lost my grandmother,” former SMU forward Delisha Wills said. “No one really knew the types of things that were going through my head during this time or how losing my grandmother affected me, but Rhonda gave me the room I needed to cope and to figure out what was happening to me, all during the season. Some coaches get so caught up in the game that they forget that the student-athlete is still a ‘kid,’ in a sense, and there are certain things that still hurt, and she understood that.

“I congratulate Rhonda on her success and I look forward to seeing more in the future.”

For a coach who has reached such rarified air, it would be easy to assume that the lessons most of her players remember center around converting free throws or transition defense. But when the SMU coaches are visited by their former players — many of whom have gone on to become coaches — the things they talk about are the seemingly little things, like being on time and making eye contact when talking to someone.

Allen said that she and her husband, former SMU men’s basketball player Chad Allen, frequently fall back on one of Rompola’s mantras with their children.

“The most important message she taught, that I continue to instill in our three girls today,” Allen said, “is not matter what you choose to do in life, do it with an intense passion and through hard work you will be successful.

Rompola said that even in the transient world of coaching, in which coaches often move from one job to another every few years, she doesn’t find it shocking that she still has her first head coaching job.

“I can honestly I’m not surprised I’m still coaching here at SMU, because I love SMU, I believe in SMU, I believe in what we have done,” she said. “We really kind of started this program, and it’s still a challenge to take it to the next level. I’m not one of those coaches who always thinks the grass is greener on the other side, because a lot of times, I think it’s the opposite. I think we have got a really good situation here. I love coming to work every day, I love coming to this new facility. I love working with these coaches every day, and that’s what makes it fun … and it’s still a fun job. A lot of coaches can’t say that they’re still having fun. They’re coaching, but they’re not necessarily having fun.

“I always had it in my mind to build SMU. I never looked at it as a stepping stone for another job, or ‘let me get to the NCAA Tournament so I can get a better job, or a job in another conference.’ I never looked at this job that way, and I think a lot of people maybe look at a job to be there five, six years, and then move on to something bigger and better. I love Dallas, I love SMU and I still think we can take this program further.”

“She has said to me, I don’t know how many times, that she loves this place and wants to stay here,” Dark said. “She would love to finish her career here. We understand that we’re in a rare situation. There aren’t a lot of coaches who stick around that long. So here we are, and here she is, 21 years later, getting it done.”