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The more I think about it, the more I like this guy for SMU. Was fired for after having a season with a winning record and going to a Bowl. Proven Winner in a very competitive conference. Former Dallas Cowboys head coach would be huge for recruiting in state of Texas I would think. No baggage to scare off recruits parents. Class act. This guy is pretty big time.

I know he was brought up awhile back, but would love to hear your thoughts as things stand now.

i agree he could be great for smu, but he definitely does have baggage in this viewing area that could affect recruiting. For the most part, he is only known here as a complete disaster as the Cowboys HC. Otherwise, i like him too.

In any other market, he would make a fine choice. Here, unfortunately, he is viewed as a joke.

Nobody is going to bring up Gailey's ACC mediocrity? We are eager to take away National Championships/appearances from some coaches but nobody is bothered by 7-5/6 on repeat in the ACC?

I agree totally with SMUFBBlog that while Gailey may be a good coach, Dallas may not be the best market to try to earn his stripes in.

SMU Football Blog wrote:In any other market, he would make a fine choice. Here, unfortunately, he is viewed as a joke.

If he comes in and turns this program around and wins....he will not be a joke.

Gailey, Coker, & Fran are the best of what is available at this point. Only question is who is at the top of that list? Fran is the only one who has been a program builder, but I think he is a jacka**. Some former TCU star players that played under Fran told me that we should take him.

I would be happy with any of these.

PonyDogg wrote:

SMU Football Blog wrote:In any other market, he would make a fine choice. Here, unfortunately, he is viewed as a joke.

If he comes in and turns this program around and wins....he will not be a joke.

I think SMU Blog hit the nail on the head. If you look at Gailey's 2 years with the Cowboys, he actually did better than Parcells. But so many people in DFW are Cowboys fans, and have a bad opinion of the guy, SMU would probably get a very negative response from the people in the market they need to win over.

Also, someone else pointed this out in another thread a few weeks ago, and I thought it made sense. Wouldn't it look kind of strange that we hired the guy who got fired from GT, since GT got the coach we wanted?

Personally, I like Chan Gailey. He seems like a good football guy, even though his college record was not phenomenal year-in, year-out. I just don't know, given the 2 points above, if he is my first choice for the SMU job.

Personally, I like Chan Gailey. He seems like a good football guy, even though his college record was not phenomenal year-in, year-out. I just don't know, given the 2 points above, if he is my first choice for the SMU job.

He wasn't ours either. PJ was and is not an option now.

God forbid we get a negative response about our team from the people of Dallas. I do not think there are more than 9 that still go to the games and I bet that 7 of us will still attend even if Gailey were hired.

mrydel wrote:God forbid we get a negative response about our team from the people of Dallas. I do not think there are more than 9 that still go to the games and I bet that 7 of us will still attend even if Gailey were hired.

good point. The DMN trashing us is better than being ignored entirely.

[EDIT] i worry more about recruiting with Chan than public perception, if the two can even be separated

mrydel wrote:God forbid we get a negative response about our team from the people of Dallas. I do not think there are more than 9 that still go to the games and I bet that 7 of us will still attend even if Gailey were hired.

one of Orsini's focuses on this hire is to also change that perception by the people of Dallas. why hire someone who continues the status quo? make a hire that people will be intrigued by and may come to a game.

mrydel wrote:God forbid we get a negative response about our team from the people of Dallas. I do not think there are more than 9 that still go to the games and I bet that 7 of us will still attend even if Gailey were hired.

Perception = Reality, my friend. If you think the perception of SMU in the DFW area isn't one of the reasons we can't recruit kids from local high schools, then you are sadly mistaken.

Should we make a move solely based on PR? No. But he better be our absolute best candidate by a long shot so that he stands the best chance of proving everyone wrong that questioned the move.

[quote="locostang"]Gailey, Coker, & Fran.... Only question is who is at the top of that list? Fran is the ONLY ONE who has been a PROGRAM BUILDER[/quote]...............Forget the [deleted] part. Fran is best from that group. Forget Coach nice guys. One hasn't proven he can rebuild a program. The other one has failed to maintain a program that was best in the nation before he took over....Your answer is correct concerning Fran is the program builder of the group.... However, I wish and hope our list is not down to three coaches who have all been FIRED.

Big Hoss wrote:

mrydel wrote:God forbid we get a negative response about our team from the people of Dallas. I do not think there are more than 9 that still go to the games and I bet that 7 of us will still attend even if Gailey were hired.

Perception = Reality, my friend. If you think the perception of SMU in the DFW area isn't one of the reasons we can't recruit kids from local high schools, then you are sadly mistaken.

Should we make a move solely based on PR? No. But he better be our absolute best candidate by a long shot so that he stands the best chance of proving everyone wrong that questioned the move.

The kids being recruited today were 8-10 years old when Gailey was in Dallas. They do not care what he did with the Cowboys. Their parents may, but when was the last time a teenager listened to his parents. With the proper PR, and turning the radio dial off of the Ticket, Gailey could be accepted at SMU. I do not back him, I just think it is amusing how picky we all are in wanting a coach when we are arguably the worst team in college football, coming off a 1-11 season, and currently have no coach on the payroll. Unless we were to hire Cavan or Bennett, I pretty well feel anyone other coach with a pulse (this is where Coker comes into question) would be an improvement.