Will it matter?

[Terry Webster]

I have been wondering if finding a new coach will ultimately change anything. For a long time, I have read and heard that people will show up if we have a winner on the field. Back in 2011, SMU beat TCU in Fort Worth, and then had a big home game against UCF. Because of my job and distance, I rarely get to home games, but I made a point to attend the game. There was lots of Big East talk going on, things were looking up. We were 4-1 and things were looking up. I was stunned to show up at Ford with only 13000 other people to watch a terrific game against a good UCF team. I don't think things were ever the same for June since. I think that he came to the realization that SMU/Dallas was never going to support the program the way he felt it should. It seemed to me that his passion for the school kind of died then. I may be wrong, but it got me wondering, will a new coach who wins make a difference with attendance and support? I know that we have a great example with Coach Brown, but that is only 7000 climate controlled seats instead of 32000. Can we really get to the point where we can sell out Ford without our opponent buying 15000 tickets? Obviously, I hope so, but it has me wondering if a new coach can change things.

[Rebel10]

I was at that game and it was more than 13,000 people there. June wasn't that same after the ASU mess and his best recruiter leaving. He said after the last game of that season that there would be a big fall off in talent and he was right. Whatever the case hopefully we will have some that will not publicly degrade the schools facilities and at least meet the local coaches. If he wins and is highly visible in the surrounding communities and not a recluse the potential is there.

[GiddyUp]

We have covered this over and over. I say we never get more than 18-20k in conf unless we became top 20 and beat good teams constantly. That UCF gaMe was strange and i will never understand it

[Rebel10]

June cried the rest of the season because at the time he thought he would leave like Sumlin and Graham left but his plan backfired on him and he reaped what he sowed. Looking forward to getting a coach that at least acts like he wants to be here.

[sbsmith]

I think that he came to the realization that SMU/Dallas was never going to support the program the way he felt it should. It seemed to me that his passion for the school kind of died then. I may be wrong, but it got me wondering, will a new coach who wins make a difference with attendance and support? I know that we have a great example with Coach Brown, but that is only 7000 climate controlled seats instead of 32000. Can we really get to the point where we can sell out Ford without our opponent buying 15000 tickets? Obviously, I hope so, but it has me wondering if a new coach can change things.

June expected too much too fast from the SMU fanbase. He only had one signature win prior to that UCF game and had gotten destroyed by A&M a few weeks earlier. If we had won out the rest of that season you'd have seen Ford filled for the C-USA title game.

[CalallenStang]

We have covered this over and over. I say we never get more than 18-20k in conf unless we became top 20 and beat good teams constantly. That UCF gaMe was strange and i will never understand it

To get more than that, we need the "casual" Dallas fan who is a front-runner. We aren't getting the front-runner fan after beating 3 crap teams and TCU to a game that conflicts with Rangers home game in ALCS (front-runner heaven). Especially with no advertising of said game.

[floridianstang]

We have covered this over and over. I say we never get more than 18-20k in conf unless we became top 20 and beat good teams constantly. That UCF gaMe was strange and i will never understand it

To get more than that, we need the "casual" Dallas fan who is a front-runner. We aren't getting the front-runner fan after beating 3 crap teams and TCU to a game that conflicts with Rangers home game in ALCS (front-runner heaven). Especially with no advertising of said game.

Well said. And like the previous poster said, we had only beaten TCU and did get beat bad in college station.

[gostangs]

June's reaction to that game was telling in regards to his ego. We beat TCU - which nobody at that time thought was that big a deal, and we have a game with a team that nobody in Dallas could even put on a map - who brought no fans at all, and he thought everyone was going to come running and sell it out? Dallas fans do not do participation medals. They want sustained winning vs good competition.

[San Antonio Mustang]

Will a new coach matter? It depends on the coach. If he is a salesman like a Mack Brown then he will sell recruits, the media, the fan base, and the casual Dallas fan. If you add to that a wining record for more than a week or two then yes it will matter. If he is like June, a good coach, but not a salesman then it will take a lot more wining. I for example stopped making the trip and incurring the overnight hotel expense when I concluded that the only thing that I would get out of it is frustration at our ineptness. It that changes I will come back. I suspect there are a few thousand like me.

[Hilltop]

The UCF topic has come up many times in the past and I have two general thoughts:
1) SMU did a terrible job promoting the team's successes that season. In a time when it was normal to see yard signs around north Texas promoting upcoming SMU games, none were handed out and no special promotions were used to increase attendance at that game.

2) this very rarely comes up, but the opening game that season was at A&M. Many fans were very excited about this game and made the trip down to College Station for what we thought would be a good but ultimately losing game. In fact, out of all the visiting teams at A&M that season, the only school that had a larger traveling group of fans was UT. That's right SMU showed up with twice as many traveling fans as other name schools such as Baylor. Instead of a quality game, fans were witness to a complete manhandling by A&M reminding everyone there that SMU was still not ready for the big stage. If June would have even mildly had our team ready to play that day, I believe we would have seen a continued surge in attendance at home and SMU support in the community.

June was a terrible coach against winning teams let alone Power 5 conference teams. I am ready to see someone with an open mind and an actual scheme that works to come in. I greatly appreciated what June did in years 2 through 5, but the way he ran the program after ASU should have been grounds for termination at least a year ago.

[PerunaPunch]

I was also at the UCF game. Not sure if the Dallas casual football fan base (who is intimately familiar with UT, TTech, A&M, etc.) knew that UCF was a quality program on the rise.

If you compare that season to SMU basketball last season, I went to a BUNCH of games in Garland with 300-500 other stalwarts in the stands, and I saw several Mustang Ws against teams nobody ever heard of as the team compiled their impressive record. It wasn't until later in the season and a couple of marquis wins that Moody sold out (and only then against top-tier, in-conference opponents). So I agree with whoever said it above that June expected too much if he expected Dallas to jump on the bandwagon after one "quality" win.

[DanFreibergerForHeisman]

Obviously, the same scenario today might be different with what University Central Florida has done, but even more so, the landscape of SMU athletics has change with what has happened at Moody.

If the football team shows it can be nationally relevant, I think the crowds will follow.

[Pony ^]

That UCF game was a mess and a huge disappointment. I am one of those people that still think if we were top 25 and facing a good team, we still wouldn't sell out

[Rebel10]

I was also at the UCF game. Not sure if the Dallas casual football fan base (who is intimately familiar with UT, TTech, A&M, etc.) knew that UCF was a quality program on the rise.

If you compare that season to SMU basketball last season, I went to a BUNCH of games in Garland with 300-500 other stalwarts in the stands, and I saw several Mustang Ws against teams nobody ever heard of as the team compiled their impressive record. It wasn't until later in the season and a couple of marquis wins that Moody sold out (and only then against top-tier, in-conference opponents). So I agree with whoever said it above that June expected too much if he expected Dallas to jump on the bandwagon after one "quality" win.

Agree again with you.

[OR-See-Nee]

Dallas is a winner and bandwagoner town.

How many Dallas Cowboys players and coaches were attending bball games in Garland? How many local socialites were at the bball games last year?

One win does not a program make. Several wins gets people excited and on the bandwagon.

Win--and win often--and they will attend.