I'm drunk & wrote 1,300 words about the SMU football program
Posted: Sun Nov 17, 2013 12:13 amThis post is predicated on the fact that we need a new coaching staff. It is not meant to be another reiteration on the merits/drawbacks of June Jones’ tenure at SMU.
My goal in posting this and floating these ideas is to facilitate a meaningful discussion on what can be done to make SMU football more competitive and relevant in the DFW community.
COACH: Obviously very important. I’ve heard some say that we need a dynamic offensive system that is entertaining and will draw people’s interest to SMU. I always thought that was the idea of bringing June Jones here, and it hasn’t really worked. In my opinion, the main way to attract the casual fan’s attention is to WIN, not just score 40 ppg. TCU has never really had a high octane offense but they've attracted the casual fan in Ft Worth. WINNING, whether by four points or forty points, will get people talking about SMU football. With that said, my #1 choice is and has been for some time, Philip Montgomery at Baylor. He’s been with Art Briles and has learned from the best. We need that kind of energy here. If he’s not available for whatever reason, my second choice would be Willie Fritz at Sam Houston State. He’s won big everywhere he’s been, has considerable Texas ties, and we could save money on his salary (current making ~250k at SHSU) and get better assistants who RECRUIT. And after tonight, I’m drunk and tempted to throw out another name- Ed Orgeron. Doesn’t have the Texas ties but he is a hellacious recruiter and has a ton of energy. Regardless of who we hire, they need to be charismatic and committed to promoting SMU football in DFW – radio shows, TV appearances, and generally being visible in the community. People should be saying “Oh I saw [new Coach’s name] at Mi Cocina/Campisi’s/Bandito’s last night.†Be VISIBLE. Be approachable. Visit all of the fraternity/sorority houses, like LB and (to his credit) Doh did. Get the students involved and make them feel invested. Have an “Ask the Coach†session at Hughes-Trigg where students can come ask him questions about the program. In that same vein, the coach should tell his players to get involved in the SMU community. Befriend other students. Don’t just hang out with other athletes, but reach out to the student community. When I was at SMU, we were always happy to have football players over to the house to hang out, smoke medicinal, whatever, and they weren’t even good then. Let the players join fraternities (not sure if JJ does or not). Doing so will get the houses even more invested in SMU football and seeing their fraternity brothers compete on the field. Not sure if we still do this, but have all the football players help incoming freshmen move into the dorms. It’s a great way to reach out to the student body (and meet new freshman chicks). There’s always been somewhat of a schism on campus between the affluent student body and the athletes. Let’s close that. Creating a personal connection between regular students and football players will draw more students to the games, in my opinion.
RECRUITING: The lifeblood of the program. Look, we’re not in the Big 12 and that puts us behind the 8-ball. But I’ve always said we need to go toe-to-toe with, and occasionally beat out Tech, Baylor, and TCU for recruits if we want to get to the next level of the CFB hierarchy. We don’t have the star-studded schedule, or the big fanbase, or the top-notch facilities to compete with those schools as it is. But we do have some advantages. First of all, Waco and Lubbock are shitholes and Ft Worth is only decent. DALLAS is frickin awesome. There aren't that many cool nightclubs in Lubbock or Waco. We need to pitch DALLAS and our location primarily. Not to mention our solid academics and beautiful campus. Finally, tell these guys they can ride the bench for 3-4 years at those schools or they can get on the field right away here. Similarly, we need to mine other team’s rosters for transfers. Guys leave Texas to go to P5 programs all over the country- and inevitably, some get recruited over, homesick, etc. We need a pipeline of transfers from P5 programs back to SMU. GG worked out pretty well here. Lache Seastrunk worked out pretty well for Baylor. That’s what we need to do consistently to fill holes on our roster. These guys all think they should be NFL draft picks, and if they’re not getting playing time at a big school they’re going to want to get on the field somewhere. That is where we should factor into the equation.
MARKETING: No more soiree BS. Next year, have billboards with Darrian Wright flexing his biceps with a scowl on his face looking mad as hell. Or Der’Rikk Thompson in a sprint with a cloud of dust behind him. At least give off the impression we’re serious about football and it’s not just some sideshow. A million people come out to Boulevard every Saturday anyways- that’s not the problem. We need to get people interested in the product on the field. Also- embrace Methodist churches all over the area. We should try to be the BYU/Notre Dame of Methodists. With the exception of the TCU game, give Methodist church groups hundreds of tickets for every game, and give the kids T-shirts they can wear. Get people wearing SMU stuff around town. Hell, send every student ticket holder/incoming freshman/incoming grad student an SMU bumper sticker and T-shirt. Furthermore, collaborate with our sponsors. Someone buys a car from Sewell? Give them four tickets to a (non TCU) home game of their choice. Give 20 airline miles for every dollar spent on SMU tickets for the American Airlines credit card. Oh, you just opened a new account at PlainsCapital Bank/Amegy Bank/Bank of Texas? Here’s four tickets to the SMU-USF game. Oh, you have four kids? Here’s six tickets. Maybe they’ll show, maybe they won’t. But it doesn’t hurt to try and get more people in the gates. Empty seats don’t buy hot dogs.
FACILITIES: Ford is fine, the only thing it needs are more butts in the seats. But I’ve always said we should convert the top setions of the north endzone into a party zone with an awning, full bar, and flat screens showing other games though- to attract the casual fan. We do need an IPF in the worst way possible, in my opinion. Like I said earlier, we need to compete with Baylor, Tech, and TCU for recruits. All of those schools have or are building IPFs. Freaking HPHS has one. We need one, and we need it ASAP.
SCHEDULING: I like what we’re doing here. TCU and UNT are good schools to have on the OOC slate long term. Baylor games will be fun for a few years although we might catch an [deleted] whooping next August. I think the game in Ann Arbor will be fun. After that, we should always have two P5 teams (TCU + Baylor/Michigan/Tech/SEC team) UNT, and a local FCS school that we can beat up on and who will bring butts to Ford. Going 1-3 OOC is not helpful going into conference play. Two P5 teams is more than enough OOC, in my opinion. Long term goal should be to become relevant enough to play a major P5 program at Jerryworld/Cotton Bowl. We should also be open to scheduling games on Thursdays and Fridays because let’s face it- we’ll never be the main event on a Saturday.
UNIFORMS: The photoshop mockups that have been posted on here before are perfect. Blue uniforms, white helmets, all white aways. Give the players an incentive, though: Beat TCU, or win the AAC, whatever, and we’ll get some badass, tricked out spaceship uniforms for the next game. Never do the red helmets on red uniforms again, though.
Our end goal needs to be positioning ourselves well for the next phase of realignment. Our bball program is about to take off. Football needs to at least keep up and be attractive to big conferences in 5-10 years, with winning seasons and increased attendance.
My goal in posting this and floating these ideas is to facilitate a meaningful discussion on what can be done to make SMU football more competitive and relevant in the DFW community.
COACH: Obviously very important. I’ve heard some say that we need a dynamic offensive system that is entertaining and will draw people’s interest to SMU. I always thought that was the idea of bringing June Jones here, and it hasn’t really worked. In my opinion, the main way to attract the casual fan’s attention is to WIN, not just score 40 ppg. TCU has never really had a high octane offense but they've attracted the casual fan in Ft Worth. WINNING, whether by four points or forty points, will get people talking about SMU football. With that said, my #1 choice is and has been for some time, Philip Montgomery at Baylor. He’s been with Art Briles and has learned from the best. We need that kind of energy here. If he’s not available for whatever reason, my second choice would be Willie Fritz at Sam Houston State. He’s won big everywhere he’s been, has considerable Texas ties, and we could save money on his salary (current making ~250k at SHSU) and get better assistants who RECRUIT. And after tonight, I’m drunk and tempted to throw out another name- Ed Orgeron. Doesn’t have the Texas ties but he is a hellacious recruiter and has a ton of energy. Regardless of who we hire, they need to be charismatic and committed to promoting SMU football in DFW – radio shows, TV appearances, and generally being visible in the community. People should be saying “Oh I saw [new Coach’s name] at Mi Cocina/Campisi’s/Bandito’s last night.†Be VISIBLE. Be approachable. Visit all of the fraternity/sorority houses, like LB and (to his credit) Doh did. Get the students involved and make them feel invested. Have an “Ask the Coach†session at Hughes-Trigg where students can come ask him questions about the program. In that same vein, the coach should tell his players to get involved in the SMU community. Befriend other students. Don’t just hang out with other athletes, but reach out to the student community. When I was at SMU, we were always happy to have football players over to the house to hang out, smoke medicinal, whatever, and they weren’t even good then. Let the players join fraternities (not sure if JJ does or not). Doing so will get the houses even more invested in SMU football and seeing their fraternity brothers compete on the field. Not sure if we still do this, but have all the football players help incoming freshmen move into the dorms. It’s a great way to reach out to the student body (and meet new freshman chicks). There’s always been somewhat of a schism on campus between the affluent student body and the athletes. Let’s close that. Creating a personal connection between regular students and football players will draw more students to the games, in my opinion.
RECRUITING: The lifeblood of the program. Look, we’re not in the Big 12 and that puts us behind the 8-ball. But I’ve always said we need to go toe-to-toe with, and occasionally beat out Tech, Baylor, and TCU for recruits if we want to get to the next level of the CFB hierarchy. We don’t have the star-studded schedule, or the big fanbase, or the top-notch facilities to compete with those schools as it is. But we do have some advantages. First of all, Waco and Lubbock are shitholes and Ft Worth is only decent. DALLAS is frickin awesome. There aren't that many cool nightclubs in Lubbock or Waco. We need to pitch DALLAS and our location primarily. Not to mention our solid academics and beautiful campus. Finally, tell these guys they can ride the bench for 3-4 years at those schools or they can get on the field right away here. Similarly, we need to mine other team’s rosters for transfers. Guys leave Texas to go to P5 programs all over the country- and inevitably, some get recruited over, homesick, etc. We need a pipeline of transfers from P5 programs back to SMU. GG worked out pretty well here. Lache Seastrunk worked out pretty well for Baylor. That’s what we need to do consistently to fill holes on our roster. These guys all think they should be NFL draft picks, and if they’re not getting playing time at a big school they’re going to want to get on the field somewhere. That is where we should factor into the equation.
MARKETING: No more soiree BS. Next year, have billboards with Darrian Wright flexing his biceps with a scowl on his face looking mad as hell. Or Der’Rikk Thompson in a sprint with a cloud of dust behind him. At least give off the impression we’re serious about football and it’s not just some sideshow. A million people come out to Boulevard every Saturday anyways- that’s not the problem. We need to get people interested in the product on the field. Also- embrace Methodist churches all over the area. We should try to be the BYU/Notre Dame of Methodists. With the exception of the TCU game, give Methodist church groups hundreds of tickets for every game, and give the kids T-shirts they can wear. Get people wearing SMU stuff around town. Hell, send every student ticket holder/incoming freshman/incoming grad student an SMU bumper sticker and T-shirt. Furthermore, collaborate with our sponsors. Someone buys a car from Sewell? Give them four tickets to a (non TCU) home game of their choice. Give 20 airline miles for every dollar spent on SMU tickets for the American Airlines credit card. Oh, you just opened a new account at PlainsCapital Bank/Amegy Bank/Bank of Texas? Here’s four tickets to the SMU-USF game. Oh, you have four kids? Here’s six tickets. Maybe they’ll show, maybe they won’t. But it doesn’t hurt to try and get more people in the gates. Empty seats don’t buy hot dogs.
FACILITIES: Ford is fine, the only thing it needs are more butts in the seats. But I’ve always said we should convert the top setions of the north endzone into a party zone with an awning, full bar, and flat screens showing other games though- to attract the casual fan. We do need an IPF in the worst way possible, in my opinion. Like I said earlier, we need to compete with Baylor, Tech, and TCU for recruits. All of those schools have or are building IPFs. Freaking HPHS has one. We need one, and we need it ASAP.
SCHEDULING: I like what we’re doing here. TCU and UNT are good schools to have on the OOC slate long term. Baylor games will be fun for a few years although we might catch an [deleted] whooping next August. I think the game in Ann Arbor will be fun. After that, we should always have two P5 teams (TCU + Baylor/Michigan/Tech/SEC team) UNT, and a local FCS school that we can beat up on and who will bring butts to Ford. Going 1-3 OOC is not helpful going into conference play. Two P5 teams is more than enough OOC, in my opinion. Long term goal should be to become relevant enough to play a major P5 program at Jerryworld/Cotton Bowl. We should also be open to scheduling games on Thursdays and Fridays because let’s face it- we’ll never be the main event on a Saturday.
UNIFORMS: The photoshop mockups that have been posted on here before are perfect. Blue uniforms, white helmets, all white aways. Give the players an incentive, though: Beat TCU, or win the AAC, whatever, and we’ll get some badass, tricked out spaceship uniforms for the next game. Never do the red helmets on red uniforms again, though.
Our end goal needs to be positioning ourselves well for the next phase of realignment. Our bball program is about to take off. Football needs to at least keep up and be attractive to big conferences in 5-10 years, with winning seasons and increased attendance.
