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Many years ago I read a story in one of the Dalas papers about Frank Broyles applying for the job of football coach at SMU. The report said that Broyles all but got on his knees and begged for a chance. Maybe that was in 1957 when Broyles was at Missouri. The rest is history. SMU got Meek. Arkansas eventually got Broyles. SMU later got Broyles assistant Hayden Fry and more the pity he did not receive the support deserved.

It is interesting to think about the might have beens. It is hard to imagine that Broyles would have stayed at SMU. He might well have gone home to Georgia Tech, but the "Big Shoot-Outs" between Royal and Broyles might have been in Dallas and Austin for a while and maybe Broyles would have controlled the boosters so that football would not have been shut down at SMU.

Now we are waiting for the second coming of June. I believe that he will have better seasons, especially if he can recruit some defensive players. It is going to be a while before he closes on a 50-50 personal record at SMU as Fry was doing once. And I wonder if one of the applicants during the last coaching search will not be recognized in a few years as a real comer.

No Quarter wrote:Many years ago I read a story in one of the Dalas papers about Frank Broyles applying for the job of football coach at SMU. The report said that Broyles all but got on his knees and begged for a chance. Maybe that was in 1957 when Broyles was at Missouri. The rest is history. SMU got Meek. Arkansas eventually got Broyles. SMU later got Broyles assistant Hayden Fry and more the pity he did not receive the support deserved.

It is interesting to think about the might have beens. It is hard to imagine that Broyles would have stayed at SMU. He might well have gone home to Georgia Tech, but the "Big Shoot-Outs" between Royal and Broyles might have been in Dallas and Austin for a while and maybe Broyles would have controlled the boosters so that football would not have been shut down at SMU.

Now we are waiting for the second coming of June. I believe that he will have better seasons, especially if he can recruit some defensive players. It is going to be a while before he closes on a 50-50 personal record at SMU as Fry was doing once. And I wonder if one of the applicants during the last coaching search will not be recognized in a few years as a real comer.

Who were the other applicants during the last coaching search ?

Never really got the infactuation that some oldsters have with Fry. Its not like we were all that good then. Better then now of course- but its not like Fry was some legend or something.

gostangs wrote:Never really got the infactuation that some oldsters have with Fry. Its not like we were all that good then. Better then now of course- but its not like Fry was some legend or something.

He pretty much became one (a legend), but not at SMU. We didn't let him stay long enough to make it happen here. BTW kid...where did you come up with the term "oldsters"? Makes you sound like an oldster.

Frank Broyles applyed for the SMU job after Rusty Russel was fired in 1952. Frank begged for the job but the great Matty Bell hired Woody Woodard instead. Woody submitted his application on a post card from Wichita, Kansas and was hired because he was cheap and would not upstage Matty.

SMU had the best recruiting classes ever in 1951 & 1952 coming off the Doak Walker/ Freddy Benners era. The freshman teams dominated the SWC. (before 4 year varsity elgibility). SMU recruited about 24 kids that played in the High School All Star Game those two years. Rusty was fired because he perfered the single wing vs the "T" formation.

If Broyles had been hired with all that talent, SMU would have the proud football history enjoyed by Arkansas.

I was there as a participant. Ironically, offensive formations currently used by most teams look very much the same as the old single wing.

You nailed it Burleigh.

You can say that, that changed the direction of the last 40-plus years of our history. The sad part of this whole debacle was that Broyles was a Methodist, too. Another stupid SMU move picking the wrong guy for the wrong reasons.

Burleigh wrote:Frank Broyles applyed for the SMU job after Rusty Russel was fired in 1952. Frank begged for the job but the great Matty Bell hired Woody Woodard instead. Woody submitted his application on a post card from Wichita, Kansas and was hired because he was cheap and would not upstage Matty.

SMU had the best recruiting classes ever in 1951 & 1952 coming off the Doak Walker/ Freddy Benners era. The freshman teams dominated the SWC. (before 4 year varsity elgibility). SMU recruited about 24 kids that played in the High School All Star Game those two years. Rusty was fired because he perfered the single wing vs the "T" formation.

If Broyles had been hired with all that talent, SMU would have the proud football history enjoyed by Arkansas.

I was there as a participant. Ironically, offensive formations currently used by most teams look very much the same as the old single wing.

Burleigh

As I remember Russel had been a coach at Highland Park and came to SMU as and assistant offence coach and brought Doak Walker with him.

Some of his split single wing formations do look a lot like today’s spread formations. He did a lot of the recruiting of the 51 class.

Burleigh -

Thanks for the correction about dates, 1952 and not 1957.

You played for Joe Golding, right?

ozfan,
You are correct, Rusty Russel did go to SMU from Highland Park. Matty Bell hired Rusty because he was the premier single wing coach in Texas at the time. Matty became Athletic Director in 1950 and Rusty, Football Head Coach.

You are a long way from Dallas. Rusty Russel and Sleepy Morgan recruited me out of Kerrville, Texas in 1952. My working career was in Dallas, but you can't take the Hill Country out of the boy.

P.S. Just to get the history correct, Coach Bill Meeks replaced Woody in 1956, during Don Meredith era. Hayden Fry came after that.

Burleigh -

OK. So not Wichita Falls.

I do have a couple of questions though.

Was the public, and especially the football team aware of Broyle's application when it happened?

Was Broyle's reputation at the time already as a rising coach or more because he was remembered as a player at Georgia Tech?

No Quarter

As I recall Broyles anounced he was interested in SMU. I believe he was a successful coach somewhere, I can't remember where. He had a winning reputation and well liked.

The team wanted Broyles bad. We were shocked when Matty Bell told us a guy we never heard of from Wichita, Kansas was going to be our coach.

As my three years of under achievement with Woody unfolded, we often wondered where our Team would be if Frank Broyles were our coach.

Burleigh wrote:No Quarter

As I recall Broyles anounced he was interested in SMU. I believe he was a successful coach somewhere, I can't remember where. He had a winning reputation and well liked.

The team wanted Broyles bad. We were shocked when Matty Bell told us a guy we never heard of from Wichita, Kansas was going to be our coach.

As my three years of under achievement with Woody unfolded, we often wondered where our Team would be if Frank Broyles were our coach.

Burleigh

Even with the not so good coaching that you guys had after RR left, the teams were able to go against the best in the country and compete. Maybe we will still be around to see it happen again.

Burleigh,

Is it true that Berry was elected a captain because the team felt that Chalmers would have to give a captain some playing time?

Raymond Berry was elected Captain because he was the most dedicated player on the team. He was a junior college transfer from Schriner Institute (now University) in Kerrville. When he joined the team, he was a real quite, skinny guy with big hands and feet. He was very serious about football, not like some of the rest of us, more interested in girls and Gordos pizza.

Raymond was always the last player to leave the practice field. He only left because it was dark or he had no one to throw him the football.

Just to be honest, defense was not what interested Ray, and the rules at that time required you to play both ways. If you left the game in the first half, you could not re-enter until the next half, or re-enter if you left the field in the second half. Defensive end was not what he was built to play.

Raymond deserved to play, and I am sure if we thought being Captain would help Chalmers make a choice, so be it.