What I know

[SMU Football Blog]

When Chan's name first came up, I polled the first five people I saw in my office. They all thought the idea of Chan coaching SMU was comical. Maybe Chan can be a great fit someplace but that place is not a university located in Dallas, Texas.

[SMUMan02]

I'm with you BJ, I think that the real problem here is that we built up our expectations on this "WOW" factor. It seemed that we were "promised" WOW, and damnit, we want WOW.

We'll be getting a significant upgrade no matter how it shakes out.

-CoS

Precisely. This is still, more than ever, about who will have us, not who we can get.

[Rocky Stang]

what a slap in the face if our Plan B is the guy that was fired by the school who we were competing with for Plan A

I don't know. I too can't see Orsini hiring the very guy that was fired by the school who beat SMU out of Johnson. Could be that Gailey is in Orsini's back pocket in case he needs a parachute. Bottom line right now -who knows?

I know 100% that Chan is not coming here. He is going back to the NFL.

[planoponyfan]

Fran has an ethics problem that will probably keep him off the sidelines for at least a year. I also suspect he might have a clause in his buyout to keep him from coaching in Texas for a year or he loses his cash. Who knows.

Much of what's said about the oddity of hiring Gailey if our plan A guy takes his place at GT is true. It would just seem like a slap in the face. However, let's put Gailey in perspective. He is a proven head coach. No, his teams don't go 11-1 or even 9-3, but they win and go to bowl games. He's won at the NFL level too. He got the Cowboys an NFC East crown one year and made it to the playoffs both years. It's a good record. After the Dave Campo disaster, how many Cowboys fans would have liked to see Gailey stick around for a few more years after two trips to the playoffs? Plenty. If Gailey is plan B, it's not a bad plan.

[perunapower]

When Chan's name first came up, I polled the first five people I saw in my office. They all thought the idea of Chan coaching SMU was comical. Maybe Chan can be a great fit someplace but that place is not a university located in Dallas, Texas.

Exactly.

[Rocky Stang]

Once again, I personally know Gailey and he is NOT coming here. We can eliminate him from the discussion.

[couch 'em]

Good lord Chan Gailey is a huge joke in Dallas! I'd much, much rather have Fran.

Chan Gailey is such a non-WOW hire, he's a -WOW.

Yeah, because Fran's not a joke in Dallas.

I think most people see Fran as a sleezeball, not a joke. I'll take sleezeball over joke.

[huskerpony]

Fran has an ethics problem that will probably keep him off the sidelines for at least a year. I also suspect he might have a clause in his buyout to keep him from coaching in Texas for a year or he loses his cash. Who knows.

Much of what's said about the oddity of hiring Gailey if our plan A guy takes his place at GT is true. It would just seem like a slap in the face. However, let's put Gailey in perspective. He is a proven head coach. No, his teams don't go 11-1 or even 9-3, but they win and go to bowl games. He's won at the NFL level too. He got the Cowboys an NFC East crown one year and made it to the playoffs both years. It's a good record. After the Dave Campo disaster, how many Cowboys fans would have liked to see Gailey stick around for a few more years after two trips to the playoffs? Plenty. If Gailey is plan B, it's not a bad plan.

Fran's contract has been voided. Bill Byrne signed a new agreement with him for the buyout--which he was able to do after documenting 42 NCAA rule violations. No one knows the terms, but it was speculated that they only had to pay out $2-3 mil (and if I remember correctly the buyout was in the 6-8 range). I would seriously doubt that part of the settlement had any "cannot coach in Texas" clauses. Judging on Byrne's comments throughout the season, he just wanted him out the door at all cost. I could be wrong though.

Regardless, I think Fran is a terrible pick, and I can't imagine Turner letting them hire someone with documented NCAA rule violations if he isn't letting them go after Barnett and Slick Rick who were both cleared of wrongdoing by the NCAA.