Last head coach to get hired away from SMU

[bubba pony]

He got fired because we lost to Virginia Tech. In those days it was a mortal sin for an SWC team to lose to a school like Virginia Tech. After that loss his job was in jeopardy.

I confirm that that was my understanding as well. Virgina Tech was a no body back then

[overcusser]

except that Hayden actually did win the SWC in 1966, the Bluebonnet Bowl in 1968 and was fired with a 7-4 record against SWC competition.

You can believe what you want but all I know is I've heard it from Hayden Fry myself. According to him he got a lot of flack from some powerful i.e. rich alumni when he intergrated the SWC by bringing in Levias and the same alumni thought he was recruiting too many black players and wanted him gone despite his winning record. Look at his record above....you fire that coach cause he loses one game to VaTech????? You have to remember what Dallas was like back on those days. Fry's isn't a far fetched story. The ultra conservative Dallas Citizens Council CONTROLLED this city. There was an unwritten rule that blacks or hispanic could not live north of Mockingbird Lane.

[mrydel]

except that Hayden actually did win the SWC in 1966, the Bluebonnet Bowl in 1968 and was fired with a 7-4 record against SWC competition.

You can believe what you want but all I know is I've heard it from Hayden Fry myself. According to him he got a lot of flack from some powerful i.e. rich alumni when he intergrated the SWC by bringing in Levias and the same alumni thought he was recruiting too many black players and wanted him gone despite his winning record. Look at his record above....you fire that coach cause he loses one game to VaTech????? You have to remember what Dallas was like back on those days. Fry's isn't a far fetched story. The ultra conservative Dallas Citizens Council CONTROLLED this city. There was an unwritten rule that blacks or hispanic could not live north of Mockingbird Lane.

Go back in your hole. I was there.

[Mexmustang]

Part of Hayden's story was correct concerning Black athletes. But Hayden was also the master of revisionist history. By the time he was fired, Black athletes in the SWC were common. He received criycism in '66 and '67, true, but he was fired years later because of the team's performance and because his personality and explanations for not winning simply wore on everyone. I believe that when he was fired he had a 3-4 or 4-4 record after signing two of the best running backs in the nation. He finished 7-4 while completing the weakest part of his schedule. Did anyone ever catch his rediculous inteviews at Iowa after a loss? or see his gold Rolex with a gold nugget watch band flash on TV? his BS simply got worse and it no longer played in Dallas.

[EastStang]

Overcusser, Fry may be saying that's why he was fired, but its not the truth. Every alum in Dallas was thrilled that Wayne Morris chose SMU and our defense was great that year (Bum Phillips was in charge of that), but we lost because our offense sputtered. In the loss to Virginia Tech we scored either 3 or 7 points. That is when the powers that be decided Hayden was gone. He didn't help matters by losing to the Aggies, Tech and the Whorns that year. We did beat Baylor, TCU, Rice and Arkansas. His firing was announced right before the TCU game. I was a freshman at the time.

[mustangbill67]

I had very mixed emotions about Hayden's firing. However, back in those days results counted and coaches were expected to win against the big boys and strongly compete for SWC championships. A winning record was not enough. As I recall, we were looking for a new direction in firing Hayden.

[mrydel]

I have spoken about this several times and will not go into it all again except to say that Hayden is one of my favorite people in the world and I love him dearly. The firing from SMU was not only necessary, but it was the best thing that ever happened to him, and was not bad for SMU either. You would not have seen the Dickerson/James era without Ron Meyer (IMO). Of course we all wish the DP had not occured but I do not think we are sorry for the seasons that led up to it. Hayden also prospered after leaving SMU far beyond where he would have gotten had he stayed.

[Stallion]

....anybody who had to endure 3 years of The Dave Smith Weekly SMU Highlite Show MIGHT disagree with you. That man was brutally boring.

[mrydel]

The sad thing about that is Dave Smith, who lived right around the corner from me, was a very good OL coach with Fry and one of the most respected men in any field of business I have ever known. What happened after the took over I do not know but apparently he was an example that not every great assistant makes a good head coach.

[EastStang]

Especially when they chose Dave Smith over Bum Phillips. One of the worst hiring decisions in SMU history. Phillips did not want to run the wishbone, Smith wanted to run it. So, Smith was hired. Smith had the personality of an undertaker.

[Stallion]

he was rivaled in the business only by F.A. Dry, Billy (No)Toehill and Pat Sullivan. Thank God for Frank Windegger.