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Something bigger must be going on. For PJ, it was a whirlwind. We moved fast and decisively.

It makes no sense to be stalling and fumbling over Fran, Coker, Chan, etc. Its been said over and over, we could wrap any one of thes guys up in a couple of days.

Something bigger must be going on. Whether we are helplessly hoping we can nail a big timer once they are willing to talk, or (pipe-dream as it may be) have someone huge already lined up. i dont know.

So let's assume SO isnt sitting in his office wasted with a bottle of Louis XIII and hooker playing spin the bottle with what many would deem middle-of-the-road coaches.

Who are we waiting for?

Who is bowling or in the NFL, with coaching experience, that we cannot talk to or announce we are talking to? The best part of our situation right now is there are at least 2 guys we know we could close today that would probably take this program where it needs to be in the next 4-5 years.

Assuming the likes of Fran & Coker are plan Q^3, who could we possibly be holding out for??

Put another way, who could SMU be pursuing that believes recruiting is of so little importance that they don't care about even figuring out who they will recruit until there are only 21 days of full contact with recruits?

I used to consider this as a possibility until I finally decided that the only thing that really doesn't add up is exactly what you suggesting. There are no deals and even if there were, they are no better than anything SMU had with Paul Johnson.

You want to know what adds up? The search is going badly.

Sorry.

That doesn't necessarily mean it won't ultimately be a successful one.

Is there a coach (on a pedestal) that we could get who could make up for a lost recruiting class? Could that coach do better in his first "full" year than a coker could in 2?

Granted, short of Bill Belichick, I dont personally anyone could do more for recruiting than Fran.

Its hard to keep faith in the search anymore, so don't banish me to daydreamer island. Going back through any coaching possibility is much more interesting to me than arguing about a baptist president at seldom methodist.

I have tried to think of somebody like you describe, but (i) I can't think of anyone that would be an instant turnaround that isn't available today; and (ii) waiting for someone so you can cut a deal is a dangerous game, as we have already learned.

What is more important in the long run-getting the right coach or securing a small number of recruits for next year?

jimhagle wrote:What is more important in the long run-getting the right coach or securing a small number of recruits for next year?

Unquestionably, the former.

But I don't believe "the right coach" would allow what is happening to recruiting to go on. That is how the two are related.

jimhagle wrote:What is more important in the long run-getting the right coach or securing a small number of recruits for next year?

how is a good coach going to utilize talent with no players? we cant have a recruiting class of 7 one year and then 25 the next. its way too unbalanced

SMU Football Blog wrote:Put another way, who could SMU be pursuing that believes recruiting is of so little importance that they don't care about even figuring out who they will recruit until there are only 21 days of full contact with recruits?

I used to consider this as a possibility until I finally decided that the only thing that really doesn't add up is exactly what you suggesting. There are no deals and even if there were, they are no better than anything SMU had with Paul Johnson.

You want to know what adds up? The search is going badly.

Sorry.

That doesn't necessarily mean it won't ultimately be a successful one.

Couldn't agree more. Charlie Weis thought recruiting was less important than coaching in the Super Bowl, and look what happened to him! (That first year's recruiting class would have been Juniors this year.) But they still ANNOUNCED that he was going to be the coach in early December.

We do NOT have anyone locked up. We are NOT waiting on a coach to finish their bowl game before they talk to us. We are NOT waiting on an NFL coach to finish their season.

Stop the delusions.

The only likely scenarios are that we are waiting on the fallout from UCLA (and now perhaps WVU, depending on who gets in the mix there) or that, as Blog says, the search has been fubar'd.

my fear is we are burning a recruiting class for someone like Fran. Honestly, if we are chasing a shooting star, we darn well better hope Fran's still unemployed in January.

I think Fran's recruiting starting in January could easily trump Bennett with a year of contact.

peruna11 wrote:my fear is we are burning a recruiting class for someone like Fran. Honestly, if we are chasing a shooting star, we darn well better hope Fran's still unemployed in January.

I think Fran's recruiting starting in January could easily trump Bennett with a year of contact.

a year of bennett contact is inviting the recruit to camp. if that recruit shows up, invite him to a game. offer scholarship. there was no courtship of players to his recruiting methods.

And Bill Parcells just got a job. Cam Cameron doesn't strike me as a bigger hire than say, Chan Gailey or Larry Coker, or Dennis Franchione. Dennis Green isn't a name that gets me all teary eyed. Mike Shula is the only other name that strikes me as a possible who would be perhaps better than the others.

QuikSStang wrote:a year of bennett contact is inviting the recruit to camp. if that recruit shows up, invite him to a game. offer scholarship. there was no courtship of players to his recruiting methods.

I hope all this was done with soiled pants, tucked tail and lots of whimpering...

peruna11 wrote:Is there a coach (on a pedistal)

For some reason, when I saw this word I pictured Stallion chasing after very young, little girls.

mrydel wrote:

peruna11 wrote:Is there a coach (on a pedistal)

For some reason, when I saw this word I pictured Stallion chasing after very young, little girls.

ha!

corrected! thanks.

peruna11 wrote:

mrydel wrote:

peruna11 wrote:Is there a coach (on a pedistal)

For some reason, when I saw this word I pictured Stallion chasing after very young, little girls.

ha!

corrected! thanks.

I am not a spell checker and it was not intended as that. I just had this picture rush through my mind when I read the sentence.