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Below is a post from Jeremy Lacy who attended SMU and worked in the athletic department.

"Hey guys-

I will tell you all what I know about the SMU Death Penalty.. And again, if I slip into my stories I'll try to stop.

When I got to SMU in 1992, our seniors on the football team (Mike Romo,John Devoss, JWolf (Jason), Bruce Van Derven, Korey Beard, Rongea Hill) were just finishing up. That group was the first post death penalty class for SMU.

I took a job working for Bill Weidner, who is now a Deputy AD at Central Florida U, as an athletic recruiting assistant. The interesting thing about Bill was that he wore many hats. He was the athletic recruiting coordinator, but also the assistant compliance officer. For this reason, I personally was loaned out often to the athletic compliance department where I worked closely with ALL of the compliance records and details of how our athletic operations worked.

That being said I will say this... SMU did cheat leading up to the death penalty.. its true. Lance McIlhenny and Dickerson and James and all those guys were given benefits.. along the same lines as UT and Ohio State, etc.

But once we started up again in 1989, we ran that operation by the letter of the NCAA. All coaches, players and assistant coaches were required to read the NCAA compliance rules for their sport every year. (We read the rules for all sports). The NCAA rules for football prohibit bandanas underneath helmets and towels dangling from players belts in the back. (I bet you guys didn't know that huh?)

Anyway, I know firsthand that SMU no longer cheats. We abide by all admissions requirements and athletic requirements.

And 1 story... One night my junior year (1995), all of the coaches and I was there too, sat in the team film room from 5:30ish to about midnight scouting high school film. I was sitting with our RB coach, Clovis Hale, and we started watching film of this Running back at a high school in Waco that wore #5. Every play he looked like a men among boys. He was strong, physical, could catch, everything. So when we looked at his SAT scores, he scored a 530. Yes thats right, a 530. So we crossed him off our list for a visit to the school to be recruited. The players name? LaDainain Tomlinson. Tomlinson went on to star at TCU and the San Diego Chargers."

It's 2006, do we take guys with a 530 SAT score now, or are we still picky on our players' SAT scores?
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of course most on here have realized that SMU has run a clean program for years and that we were cheating our [deleted] of in the 1980s. The interesting part is the Ladanian Tomlinson part. For years I've had this running battle with TCU fans who claim that the great Fran found Tomlinson in a "Pumkin Patch" and was the only school smart enough to recruit him. They've been claiming for years that they simply are the best player evaluators this side of Gil Brandt. That is all a load of crap as Tomlinson was rated one of the Top 20 players in Texas on one site I saw as a Junior. Everybody backed off because he had academic issues. That being said TCU stuck with Tomlinson-he did FULLY qualify so advantage TCU.

I guess my question is this. If TCU takes players with a 530 SAT, they must have a major or academic program that is geared towards those guys. Right?

Perhaps more clearly stated. Does SMU have a track or academic program that they can plug outstanding athletes with a 530 SAT score into?

If not, then we really shouldn't expect so much from the Ponies each week and I can be happy with a 4-8, 5-7, or 6-6 record in C-USA

Can you fully qualify with that score? I doubt it. So whatever his major, if he had fully qualified by the time he was at TCU, he must have retaken the test or something.

You can take the SAT/ACT more than once. He fully qualified so he must have improved his score. The qualifying range has changed in the interim but he must have significantly improved his score. At the time I think SMU averaged any retaken SAT/ACT scores but not exactly sure about today.

WOW, a 530...you use to make a minimum of 400 for spelling your name rite. Now the minimum is 600 but the SAT is harder I've heard. I know for a fact that most athletes take "the easy road" for an education. Pyscology is one of the most chosen majors among SMU football players however there are some who come into SMU with planned majors since their days in highschool. Most of the courses taken are followed thru by athletic academic counselors. They help them take the neccasary courses to stay eligible for NCAA standards. It is all up to the athlete to excell for that "paper"

The thing is, you don't know the whole story--yes, Ladanian Tomlinson did do poorly on the SAT, but he made a commitment to our institution in promising to excel should he be admitted; he came through with this promise. These kind of "deals" are commonly made everywhere. Notwithstanding, I'm not defending his score..., it's horrible. But, looking back, I feel that Ladanian Tomlinson, Gary Patterson, and everyone else involved made a good decision and kept with it.

Oh, and by the way, the 530 was the first time he took the test.

I do understand that and know some schools that institute polices for "special" athletes that have not so great test scores. (not trying to ensue that special means stupid)

And as for the 1st time score, that doesn't mean anything. I didn better on the test my first time than I did the 2 other times I took it.

I could be wrong about this (I'm sure Stallion's memory will help), but at that time (when Tomlinson was in HS), wasn't SMU's position that the player had to be admitted to SMU before being offered a visit or actively recruited? If so, that would be the reason why LT was "crossed off the list" when they saw the 530, because take it another 6 times or not, it would've been unlikely for him to gain admission in time to recruit him effectively.

Plus didn't, or doesn't SMU still average the scores, as opposed to other schools that simply take the highest?

FrogieFever wrote:The thing is, you don't know the whole story--yes, Ladanian Tomlinson did do poorly on the SAT, but he made a commitment to our institution in promising to excel should he be admitted; he came through with this promise. These kind of "deals" are commonly made everywhere. Notwithstanding, I'm not defending his score..., it's horrible. But, looking back, I feel that Ladanian Tomlinson, Gary Patterson, and everyone else involved made a good decision and kept with it.

Oh, and by the way, the 530 was the first time he took the test.

Is there a difference between your admissions office and a funnel?

I'm proud to have and wear my TCU SUCKS t-shirt!!

I think you needed a minimum SAT of 700 back then.

If you signed your name and left, you would get a 440 due to the fact that you get points off for each wrong answer.

at some point a sliding scale came in.

Stallion wrote:at some point a sliding scale came in.

It was about 1998. 820 on the SAT means you need a 2.0 GPA. If memory serves, the higher the SAT the lower GPA can be and vice versa.

FrogieFever wrote:The thing is, you don't know the whole story--yes, Ladanian Tomlinson did do poorly on the SAT, but he made a commitment to our institution in promising to excel should he be admitted; he came through with this promise. These kind of "deals" are commonly made everywhere. Notwithstanding, I'm not defending his score..., it's horrible. But, looking back, I feel that Ladanian Tomlinson, Gary Patterson, and everyone else involved made a good decision and kept with it.

Oh, and by the way, the 530 was the first time he took the test.

I almost tripled his score the first time I took it. Almost being a relative word.