Another DMN Article: Watkins

[Pony_Fan]

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Steep grade on Hilltop for new SMU AD
SMU struggling to deal with lack of money, fans and success

09:11 PM CST on Monday, February 6, 2006
By CALVIN WATKINS / The Dallas Morning News


UNIVERSITY PARK -- The athletic department has a $3.5 million deficit, a declining fan base and slow progress toward major postseason appearances in football and men's basketball.

Whomever replaces retiring SMU athletic director Jim Copeland in the spring will attempt to solve the department's problems.

"We're building the blocks," said major booster Gerald Ford, who is on the search committee for the new athletic director. "It's a challenging time."

Other than approving the hires by Copeland in football and men's basketball, this is school president Gerald Turner's biggest athletic hire during his 11-year tenure.

"There are a broad set of abilities you need to look for," Turner said. "There are three major components of this position. You need a strong leader, a person who has the ability to communicate well externally and promote the university. And you have to have credibility on campus."

The new athletic director has to market SMU to Dallas to increase the fan base.

SMU failed to do that over the years, as evidenced by a decrease in season ticket sales for football and scant attendance in men's and women's basketball.

Even Turner seems to accept that Dallas won't embrace the Mustangs.

"The problem is with every season that we have, there are at least two pro teams playing at the same time," Turner said. "The ability to be the only show in town, like we were in the 1940s and 1950s, doesn't exist."

Lamar Hunt, a prominent SMU supporter, who has served on numerous athletic boards, said the new AD has to become business savvy to promote.

"More and more, the athletic director's jobs are becoming about business moreso than athletics," Hunt said. "A few years ago, you could hire a former athlete such was the case with Jim, to run the athletic department. Now, you need someone who can market. We have a terrific market in Dallas, and we should take advantage of it."

Raising money is another issue for SMU.

The Mustang Club, the fund-raising arm of the athletic department, saw its financial pledges fall between 2003 and 2004 by $200,000.


FILE 2004/Staff photo
SMU president Gerald Turner (left) and AD Jim Copeland (right) were all smiles when hiring men's basketball coach Jimmy Tubbs two years ago, but the program continues to struggle.
In 2005, pledges increased $400,000 to $1.6 million due in part to the success of the football team, which finished 5-6 with three straight wins at the end of the season.

In 11 years on the job, Copeland raised more than $81 million for the athletic department, yet there are still financial concerns.

Copeland is on his second set of blueprints for a new basketball practice facility, which could cost $10 million to $12 million. Coaches say a new practice facility is vital to the success of the basketball programs. SMU's peers, TCU and Rice, have them. The offices at Moody Coliseum also need work or to be replaced. When it rains, a puddle forms in one of the offices.

"I certainly knew facilities needed significant work, Turner said. "And having done [Ford Stadium] we're turning our attention to [other areas]. We just don't have the fan support and donor support to go at things across the board all at once."

Upgrading the soccer stadium, building a new swimming and tennis center and building locker rooms at the Dallas Athletic Club for the golf teams are some of the department's goals.

"There are a lot of things we have going," Copeland said. "Unless I was going to stay around until the end, it's really best that someone else put their stamp on those things."

What frustrates SMU fans more than anything is the lack of success in the two revenue-generating sports, football and men's basketball.

Football hasn't reached a bowl game since 1984, and the men's basketball team last played in the NCAA Tournament in 1993.

A new athletic director has to determine if Phil Bennett (football) and Jimmy Tubbs (men's basketball) are right for the future.

"It's taken longer than is required," Turner said. "We just have to be persistent in doing it. It always takes longer to turn something around than what you think it does."

[MrMustang1965]

Reads like a back-handed apology for Blackistone's column the other day.

[KnuckleStang]

Guess y'all can quit talking about Charlie Waters. Lamar Hunt says former athletes are out.

[SMUstang]

It reads like Watkins sat down and interviewed Turner, Ford, Hunt and Copeland and wrote what they said. Nothing wrong with that.

[Dement-ed]

Turner's comment makes me wonder if a stud CEO with a proven record of major fund-raising might be considered even if he never has worked in athletics. I don't know that's what he means .... just curious.

[McClown27]

DMN only runs negative stories nowadays. We are hiring under a position of more strength than when we brought in Copeland.

[SMUstang]

That's for sure. I don't know why Copeland even took this job. He was hired even before Turner.

[Pony Fan]

He needed a job.......

[DiamondM75]

It reads like Watkins sat down and interviewed Turner, Ford, Hunt and Copeland and wrote what they said. Nothing wrong with that.

That's journalism. NO bias, NO opinions, NO sensationalism. The facts and what was said. That's journalism.

[jtstang]

That's journalism. NO bias, NO opinions, NO sensationalism. The facts and what was said. That's journalism.

Last time I checked, a huge part of modern journalism included op/ed columnists, such as Blackistone, whose job it is to state personal observations and opinions. Nothing wrong with what he wrote, just as there is nothing wrong with the strict reporting by Watkins.

[mr. pony]

And did you notice where the UT game story was today? On the back page at the bottom. That hasn't happened in a long time.

Another bouquet?

[MrMustang1965]

And did you notice where the UT game story was today? On the back page at the bottom. That hasn't happened in a long time.

Another bouquet?

That HAS to be a mistake! Probably made by the same person who called SMU the 'Frogs' in the basketball story a couple of weeks ago.

[JasonB]

Guess y'all can quit talking about Charlie Waters. Lamar Hunt says former athletes are out.

This is a result of Lamar's MLS and NFL experience. They started out trying to hire some ex-players to be GMs. But the GM job in most sports is evolving to where it is not about player acquisition, but marketing the team. Most coaches today want a major say in who comes in and out of a franchise, so the GM must focus on marketing.

Obviously, in college athletics, there is no "player acquisition", so being able to market the program becomes an even higher priority.

[Peruna_Ate_My_Rolex]

Guess y'all can quit talking about Charlie Waters. Lamar Hunt says former athletes are out.

So does this mean that Secules won't be considered for the job since he is a former athlete?

[Fresh]

I doubt it means that. He's a former athlete, but he also has administrative experience. I expect he and Carlton Cooper will have "preliminary discussions," if not more.