Is the team punishing the fans?

[ponyboy]

In 1985 after the August probation...we kicked the coaches out and had a team meeting to decide if we would stay or transfer and how we would play. Our "fans" that year were more than apathetic...many were hostile.

In 1986, the environment was even worse after Stanley's allegations leaked and we only had 72 players vs a normal 95. But we had some great team leaders and we played the best we could...until we broke in the last game of the season against Arkansas. In both years we salvaged winning seasons.

This team seems to be lacking in enough leadership on the field to end their pity party. More, I have never seen such a nonchalant sideline while such wreckage unfolded on field.

News stories don't matter. Attendance doesn't matter. Opponents don't matter. Coaches don't even matter. Some players need to step up, get angry, and hit. Win or lose...hit...then hit again...then hit again. It's D-1 football not friggin soccer.

Lots of great thoughts in there.

[ponyboy]

Let me start off by saying I am Zach Wood's #90 dad. I have watched practices for four years now and have seen less than 1-5 people at practices in both off season or fall. I have also been around summer workouts. I keep hearing how these players suck or have quit on the coaches and SMU. Also how they are stealing money from SMU. How many of you have actually experienced what these young men are going through? We all need to look in the mirror and ask ourselves who we are dissapointing in our professional and business life! So when we say these young men are quiters or they suck we can feel good when we look in the mirror. Come find me this weekend. Not hard to find becuase I will be proudly wearing my Zach Wood #90 SMU jersey. I will be in the SMU parent tailgate on the Boulevard or in section 103 if you would like to come tell me how my son sucks or is quitter. Look forward to meeting anyone that would like to share their opinions about my son!!!!

Haha. Even if I held that opinion -- which I don't -- I'm going to keep it to myself. Another great post.

[vielsiehorsepower]

Let me start off by saying I am Zach Wood's #90 dad. I have watched practices for four years now and have seen less than 1-5 people at practices in both off season or fall. I have also been around summer workouts. I keep hearing how these players suck or have quit on the coaches and SMU. Also how they are stealing money from SMU. How many of you have actually experienced what these young men are going through? We all need to look in the mirror and ask ourselves who we are dissapointing in our professional and business life! So when we say these young men are quiters or they suck we can feel good when we look in the mirror. Come find me this weekend. Not hard to find becuase I will be proudly wearing my Zach Wood #90 SMU jersey. I will be in the SMU parent tailgate on the Boulevard or in section 103 if you would like to come tell me how my son sucks or is quitter. Look forward to meeting anyone that would like to share their opinions about my son!!!!

I actually used to work out with zach at coach Bullitts..I'll be the first to say that guy's a beast and doesn't have any quit in him

[footballdad]

Let me start off by saying I am Zach Wood's #90 dad. I have watched practices for four years now and have seen less than 1-5 people at practices in both off season or fall. I have also been around summer workouts. I keep hearing how these players suck or have quit on the coaches and SMU. Also how they are stealing money from SMU. How many of you have actually experienced what these young men are going through? We all need to look in the mirror and ask ourselves who we are dissapointing in our professional and business life! So when we say these young men are quiters or they suck we can feel good when we look in the mirror. Come find me this weekend. Not hard to find becuase I will be proudly wearing my Zach Wood #90 SMU jersey. I will be in the SMU parent tailgate on the Boulevard or in section 103 if you would like to come tell me how my son sucks or is quitter. Look forward to meeting anyone that would like to share their opinions about my son!!!!

I'll come find you and shake your hand. We can share a laugh about how these posters suck and have quit on their team and university. I thought the 'stealing money from SMU' comment was particularly funny as well. SMU and these critics should be thankful they even have enough players to field a team when these players have to deal with this sh*t show on a daily basis.

Only hope at this point is they luck into a competent coach with passion who gives a sh*t and can put them in the best position to be successful.

[ponyboy]

Some of these posters. I slipped by the practice field early this morning and wished the team luck.

[PerunasHoof]

Agreed. Let's not lump the entire SMU fan base with the opinions of some understandably frustrated, albeit misguided, people. I don't think the team has quit. I think it lacks cohesion and while we have some good players, does lack talent.

I would be curious as to what either of your sons think happened this year. If we don't match up well, is it because of coaching or we just can't compete with the Baylor's or Cincinatti's of the world?

In regards to people not showing to practice: Success brings success (i.e. if the team is winning more people will come). I was also under the impression that practices were closed. Perhaps if the coaching staff over the past five or six years had reached out to alumni I would have known we could attend. Basketball reached out and the event was a success.

[Big12Mustang]

Coaching.

[redpony]

We can share a laugh about how these posters suck and have quit on their team and university.

fbdad- not sure how to exactly read your comments. IMO you are blaming the posters on pf for not having a winning team? Posters who have quit on their team? Posters who have created the schitt- show as you call it. Really? Most of the posters here are long time, hard core fans. Yes, they expect to have a fball team that will show up and represent the school in a quality manner. A team that will give 110% in an effort to win the game. I am not sure that effort has been there so far this season.

I feel sorry for the players as they had a lazy, inept coach who was only interested in getting his big check. A coach who desired to create an 'us against them' atmosphere instead of the 'all for one' atmosphere created by our bball coach. When he realized the money would soon end he turned tail and abandoned them. However, IMO the players still have an obligation to do their best- if not for their school at least for their teammates and themselves.

Like you, I look forward to a new coach who will start rebuilding this program. I hope the players realize that every time they take the field they are auditioning for a new coach who will be analyzing their performance and deciding which players he will continue with.
Let's all hope this team can come together and show us some 'inspired performances'.

[PerunasHoof]

Coaching.

So it has absolutely nothing to do with the talent on the field?

[East Coast Mustang]

Well, that escalated quickly. I've been to every home game this year and most all of the home games as well as many of the nearby away games over the past several years since moving back to Dallas- I'm pretty sure I'm not the problem here.

Mr. Wood- I'd say your son is one of about 3 or 4 guys who will return on defense next season who could actually be starting on a legit AAC team. The others, off the top of my untrained head being D. Richardson and Yenga. My comments weren't directed at him specifically, but if you don't think there's an ingrained culture of mediocrity/losing inside the locker room then I don't know what to tell you. I was in Denton when we lost by 37 points to UNT, and then saw Ben Emelogu's tweet after the game where he was incredulous that some football players were loudly partying in the dorms. If a 43-6 loss to effing North Texas is a cause for celebration by some players on the SMU football team, then those players should pack their bags and enjoy Abilene Christian next season.

I've spoken to professors who have reached out to the athletic department before failing players, and the coaches told them to go ahead with it because those players weren't working hard in the weight room and in practice either and needed a wakeup call. I've spoken to former players who have told me guys now just check in at the weight room and don't work out and that the program has been more or less a joke for about a year now. Don't believe me? Check the weights listed on our roster. It's clear there has been little effort put into strength and conditioning recently. Obviously, this starts with the coaching staff- there has been zero accountability from this coaching staff for several years now and it's showing on the football field. There's also an alarming lack of talent. The combination of a lack of talent and a lack of accountability is what you see at Ford Stadium on Saturdays this fall.

The new coach (whoever he may be) is going to have to come in, clean house, change the culture of complacency, and send a bunch of guys packing because they either don't care enough or aren't good enough (or both) to be on a competitive AAC roster. If stating that is a problem for some people on this board, then so be it.

[Big12Mustang]

Coaching.

So it has absolutely nothing to do with the talent on the field?

That's a part, but it's mostly on coaching. Other teams have been able to scratch wins and even bowl games with similar squads.

[footballdad]

Some of these posters. I slipped by the practice field early this morning and wished the team luck.

Kudos to you.

[footballdad]

Agreed. Let's not lump the entire SMU fan base with the opinions of some understandably frustrated, albeit misguided, people. I don't think the team has quit. I think it lacks cohesion and while we have some good players, does lack talent.

I would be curious as to what either of your sons think happened this year. If we don't match up well, is it because of coaching or we just can't compete with the Baylor's or Cincinatti's of the world?

In regards to people not showing to practice: Success brings success (i.e. if the team is winning more people will come). I was also under the impression that practices were closed. Perhaps if the coaching staff over the past five or six years had reached out to alumni I would have known we could attend. Basketball reached out and the event was a success.

The fans who show up & support know who they are. The whiners are obvious to all.

Begins & ends with a new staff.

[East Coast Mustang]

SMU and these critics should be thankful they even have enough players to field a team when these players have to deal with this sh*t show on a daily basis.

It's a shame someone put a gun to your son's head and forced him to attend SMU (presumably for free on an athletic scholarship) if he and/or you hate it so much. How do you expect fans to act when a team is 0-6 and the absolute worst program in FBS?

Those of here that are complaining actually give a rip about the football program and its future - most alumni just socialize on the Boulevard, run off to Mi Cocina during the game, and couldn't tell you the final score or even who our opponent was.

[StallionsModelT]

LOL. I've missed a grand total of two home games since 2001. I've donated over $10K to the Mustang Club since graduation in 2006, owned basketball season tickets, traveled to watch us play and get beat in such lovely destinations as Pullman, Washington. I've seen bad football teams. I know when a team has quit. I don't think anyone here is putting all the blame on the players. Clearly when your coach quits on you two games into the season that is going to have an impact on impressionable kids who committed to play for said coach.

You can't throw a blanket statement over the entire team. When helicopterdad and I first had this discussion weeks ago I singled out several kids who fought until the bitter end. Zach Wood was one of them. Kid was giving relentless effort every friggin' play and he absolutely emptied the tank out there for his team. Krstich, Pope, Lasecki, Stephon Sanders.... We have some kids who would play in front of an empty stadium with nothing to play for and leave it all out there. We've got some warriors.

That said, the disease and poison of June Jones has impacted this program in ways that go beyond recruiting and x's and o's. We've had SMU teams that I was proud to watch fight and claw their way to 3 or 4 wins because that's all they had in them. This team? Not a lot of stomach for the fight when things don't go their way early.

The fact of the matter is that the majority of the fault lies with June Jones. The next coach will watch these games and see just how much he's going to have to root out the lack of passion and effort in order to have a winning program.

And to helicopter....dude you have an axe to grind that's truly sad to behold. We better hope that kids want to come here under the illusion that SMU is an elite institution? We attract better prospective students than any school in the state outside of Rice and its not even close. SMU, as an institution will continue to rise through the academic ranks regardless of our football program. Thankfully, you won't be around this forum long and you'll fade into obscurity. But continue to throw rocks at one of the top 50 universities in the country.