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If you consider yourself an avid SMU fan then you must read A Payroll to Meet. After re-reading the book it is clear to me SMU football has been plagued with same recurring problems since 1915. David Whitford dives into history of the university as well as the football program and the power battle between the administration and Dallas business elite. He showcases the pattern of SMU football being a national power under Ray Morrison and how SMU dropped off the map for a couple decades until the Doak Walker/Kyle Rote years where the did not return to greatness until the Pony Express. Obviously, the book goes in depth about the Ron Meyer/Bobby Collins years and at the beginning he has a foreword describing SMU becoming respectable again under June Jones.

History repeats itself and the more you understand the history of SMU football the more you understand the current state of the program. This is not a post death penalty problem (sure, it has added to our current problems), but these types of problems SMU football has faced from the beginning in 1915.

I think we will be great again. I think we will have future seasons where we finish in the top 10, but I do not believe we will ever be a steady power. History repeats itself and SMU is a fine example of the saying. Spend some time learning the full history of this storied and determined program. It truly is a fascinating read.

The author was on here many years ago selling a newly discovered box of books which he signed. I second your assessment add a "must read"

Yeah. Great read.

The guy who authored this book tries to promote it every time something happens to SMU. I know what happened and am not going to help him profit off SMU's misfortune. The sooner we put the past in the past the better off we will be.

Fantastic read. Go get it now.

Hmmm. Must be Throwback Thursday.

I refuse to read it. too depressing. for once I like to watch an SMU football game without the announcers mentioning the death penalty.

It has a lot of good stories and background about SMU. Sure the primary subject is the death penalty, but there is so much more in this book.

Rebel10 wrote:The guy who authored this book tries to promote it every time something happens to SMU. I know what happened and am not going to help him profit off SMU's misfortune. The sooner we put the past in the past the better off we will be.

so you didn't like Pony Excess, either?

Junior wrote:

Rebel10 wrote:The guy who authored this book tries to promote it every time something happens to SMU. I know what happened and am not going to help him profit off SMU's misfortune. The sooner we put the past in the past the better off we will be.

so you didn't like Pony Excess, either?

Nah, that Thad guy is a [deleted]. He's always offering to buy me dinner or go do something. Who does that?

smupony94 wrote:

Junior wrote:

Rebel10 wrote:The guy who authored this book tries to promote it every time something happens to SMU. I know what happened and am not going to help him profit off SMU's misfortune. The sooner we put the past in the past the better off we will be.

so you didn't like Pony Excess, either?

Nah, that Thad guy is a [deleted]. He's always offering to buy me dinner or go do something. Who does that?

Someone who wants to get into your pants.

This book is the reason I did all of the uniform concepts from the Doak Era and Pony Express Era. I was born in 1990 and the only thing I knew about SMU before attending were the Craig James and Eric Dickerson stories my father would tell me. This peaked an interest in learning about SMU's history. I ended up purchasing a library edition of the original Payroll to Meet and read it in one day. When I saw the preview for Thad's original documentary (forgot what he called it) I was really pumped. Then I heard they were turning it into a 30 for 30 which was even better. Watching Thad's doc was like watching a movie based on the book. The Pony Express stories are not much different than bible stories or old tales to me. I wasn't alive to witness it, but it is nice knowing we were once the most dominant team in the country. I understand a lot of fans look at this era as the nail in the coffin, but I believe we should always embrace our history.