Reality check: Mack Brown â‰ Larry Brown

by **East Coast Mustang** » Thu Oct 23, 2014 8:20 pm

--You can turn a basketball program around A LOT faster than a football program. Larry went and got a few big recruits, two good transfers, and had us nationally ranked in 24 months. Football is going to take a lot longer. You need 22 starters + lots of depth.

--Larry can go toe-to-toe with anyone in the country for recruits. Frazier was a 5-star, top 20 guy with offers from big-time programs. Everyone in America wanted Mudiay. Yanick was the top JC player in the nation with offers from solid P5 programs. Same with Ben and Sterling. Mack would NOT be able to convince blue chip guys to turn down OU, A&M, LSU, etc to come to SMU.

--Moody is an awesome game day atmosphere now, as good as any in the nation. Ford will NEVER be a great atmosphere for recruits to see, regardless of it is sold out

--Larry can realistically talk to recruits about winning a national title at SMU. Hell, one of our conference mates won it last year in basketball. No one from the AAC is competing for a national title in football anytime soon.

--Larry is one of the best Xs and Os coaches in history. Mack was a great recruiter, but how good of a COACH is he? Can he get the best out the talent he brings in? Recent history says....no. (Zero NFL draft picks for Texas last year)

Bottom line: it's AWESOME that we as a G5 program have boosters willing to put up $4M a year to bring in Mack Brown. But that money would be a lot better spent giving Chad Morris/Tom Herman/whoever $2M/year and investing the rest in assistants' salaries, IPF, weight room improvements, etc.

by **Big12Mustang** » Thu Oct 23, 2014 8:28 pm

East Coast Mustang wrote:--You can turn a basketball program around A LOT faster than a football program. Larry went and got a few big recruits, two good transfers, and had us nationally ranked in 24 months. Football is going to take a lot longer. You need 22 starters + lots of depth.

--Larry can go toe-to-toe with anyone in the country for recruits. Frazier was a 5-star, top 20 guy with offers from big-time programs. Everyone in America wanted Mudiay. Yanick was the top JC player in the nation with offers from solid P5 programs. Same with Ben and Sterling. Mack would NOT be able to convince blue chip guys to turn down OU, A&M, LSU, etc to come to SMU.

--Moody is an awesome game day atmosphere now, as good as any in the nation. Ford will NEVER be a great atmosphere for recruits to see, regardless of it is sold out

--Larry can realistically talk to recruits about winning a national title at SMU. Hell, one of our conference mates won it last year in basketball. No one from the AAC is competing for a national title in football anytime soon.

--Larry is one of the best Xs and Os coaches in history. Mack was a great recruiter, but how good of a COACH is he? Can he get the best out the talent he brings in? Recent history says....no. (Zero NFL draft picks for Texas last year)

Bottom line: it's AWESOME that we as a G5 program have boosters willing to put up $4M a year to bring in Mack Brown. But that money would be a lot better spent giving Chad Morris/Tom Herman/whoever $2M/year and investing the rest in assistants' salaries, IPF, weight room improvements, etc.

You assume we will be a G5 program forever, which is why many of your assumptions are wrong. And theoretically, you should be able to make it to the playoff even in our conference. Schedule 4 P5 teams OOC, BTHO of them and go undefeated in conference and there should be no excuse as to why a 13-0 AAC conference champion should not be in the playoffs. Mack could take us there and he could pull the recruits to come to SMU. TCU being a non BCS ocasionally beat BCS teams for recruits, among those being OU, UT, Tech.

by **East Coast Mustang** » Thu Oct 23, 2014 8:34 pm

Please go away forever

by **couch 'em** » Thu Oct 23, 2014 8:34 pm

You just described why no coach will be successful at SMU. What are you trying to say? Why is Mack Brown and "top assistants" mutually exclusive?

He slipped a little at the end at UT. He is still the 2nd greatest coach they ever had there, and had been successful at every stop including Tulane. Show me some real data because "sucked at the end" is still going
8-5
9-4
8-5
in the big 12.
"Sucked at end with the players he had" is still at 8-4 better than what his predecessors did at UT for 30+ years with all the same advantages.

It is madness

by **LA_Mustang** » Thu Oct 23, 2014 8:35 pm

East Coast Mustang wrote:Bottom line: it's AWESOME that we as a G5 program have boosters willing to put up $4M a year to bring in Mack Brown. But that money would be a lot better spent giving Chad Morris/Tom Herman/whoever $2M/year and investing the rest in assistants' salaries, IPF, weight room improvements, etc.

How can you possibly know that? You're speculating on all those guys, yet you're acting like it's an absolute. We were 4-1 in 2010 playing UCF in front of 10,000 people under JJ. The truth is every guy you named is a gamble. Also, if they come here and have any success in the first two years they are gone and we're in the same boat.

by **Big12Mustang** » Thu Oct 23, 2014 8:38 pm

East Coast Mustang wrote:Please go away forever

If you would read my posts for a change you might learn something. You disrespect me at every chance you get. Don't you ever get tired of being an ahole?

by **East Coast Mustang** » Thu Oct 23, 2014 8:44 pm

couch 'em wrote:You just described why no coach will be successful at SMU. What are you trying to say? Why is Mack Brown and "top assistants" mutually exclusive?

Because there's a finite amount of money in the budget, unless you're writing a $20M check.

I won't be pissed if we hire Mack, I think it would, at the very least, generate a ton of free publicity for SMU football and get us in the door at every HS in the state for recruiting, but I think we'd be better off with a young, hungry coach that wants to prove himself nationally -- look at how Boise and TCU built their programs -- they weren't throwing $$ at Barry Switzer and Howard Schellenberger.

For all we know, Mack may just be looking for a retirement parachute.

by **mrydel** » Thu Oct 23, 2014 8:47 pm

Anyone coming to SMU right now is coming for the money be it retirement or nest egg building. They sure are not coming for the job status. Whoever we hire will be over paid because that is what we do and because it is what we need to do.

by **East Coast Mustang** » Thu Oct 23, 2014 8:52 pm

mrydel wrote:Anyone coming to SMU right now is coming for the money be it retirement or nest egg building. They sure are not coming for the job status. Whoever we hire will be over paid because that is what we do and because it is what we need to do.

Right, but other programs would be willing to pay a guy like Chad Morris -- he was a finalist for the Tech and Vanderbilt jobs recently, and may very well be in play for the KU job and whatever else comes open this year. I can't think of another program in America that would pay Mack Brown $4M annually

by **East Coast Mustang** » Thu Oct 23, 2014 8:54 pm

If I'm Mack Brown's kids, I'm BEGGING him to take the SMU job so I can get my cut of $32MM when he dies.

by **Big12Mustang** » Thu Oct 23, 2014 8:59 pm

East Coast Mustang wrote:If I'm Mack Brown's kids, I'm BEGGING him to take the SMU job so I can get my cut of $32MM when he dies.

He's 63...he could easily do that rumored 8 year contract and still have some gas left

by **mrydel** » Thu Oct 23, 2014 9:01 pm

And one reporter has said $4 million for 8 years and another reporter said that is not true. People need to quit fixating on numbers and think about need, ability, and willingness to take on a task. The money will take care of itself.

by **Puckhead48E** » Thu Oct 23, 2014 9:36 pm

Guys...please. This leak/info dump/whatever keeps SMU and the coaching search in the spotlight. At least something involving the football team is in the spotlight for anything other than playing like roadkill.

Chances of Mack Brown being the next coach are slim. Chances this is a PR move that also puts out there that SMU is serious at spending to turn the program around and possibly stir the pot for anyone still questioning our resolve are good.

Rather this than some story about how we would lose to some DIII team...which is probably more likely to happen than Mack Brown's hiring anyway. Wait....that makes it sound like Mack Brown has a really good chance at getting hired. Crap!