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I think this is an objective way of looking at how we've compared to the rest of college football over the last 25 years. A few additional notes before you click on the link to view the chart:

1. Data is from collegefootballpoll.com and includes all Division I college football programs
2. I derived a percentile final year number by dividing rank by total teams. (0 would be worst and 100 best)
3. I only included the last part of the Rossley regime and Morris' up to (before) the Frisco Bowl.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/U7F8eOpTQTunm4Q83

2014 is wrong-Morris wasn't the coach until 2015. June Jones earned that collapse by quitting on the team

Good point and agreed. Updated so it's a little more clear. Can't change the color, but added note that Mason was interim coach.

I'll add another:

Dave Smith
1975
---- 4

Ron Meyer
1976
--- 3
---- 4
---- 4 1/2
----- 5
-------- 8
---------- 10 SWC Championship

Ron Meyer + 6 from predecessor in 6 years
Chad Morris +6 from predecessor in 3 years

June Jones +7 from predecessor in 2 years.

and -7 in 3 years proving he wasn't building a strong program even in CUSA. In fact, as you are well aware just about every SMU Championship in Football and Basketball over the last 70 years came more than 3 years after- hell more than 5 years into the coaching tenure. That's Championship program building

The-7 was in the American. We will see this season what kind of foundation Morris left.

What number scales are you two using? +7? -7?

And what difference does conference affiliation make? This is SMU as compared with all other D1 college football teams. Conference affiliation is irrelevant.

One thing that's interesting to me is that there were only three years were we were better than average, two under JJ and one under CM.

No of wins in comparison to predecessor's last year

Under which coach did SMU use up the W - L record and go under 0.500 all time? What conference were we playing in then? How did that conference compare to the SWC (if different) and later conference affiliations? Which coach or coaches improved the W - L ration? What strictures did that coach or those coaches face as opposed to their predecessors?

This chart shows the awful sine wave we're stuck in. I have mentioned it on here during each
coaching change since Cavan.

Shows how firing a coach during an upward swing just for a change can result in an inferior coach
being hired. Rossley for Cavan Cavan peaked with Rossley's team and then went south. Also
with Fry (7-4) for Dave Smith (6-4-1, 6-4-1, 4-7).

Shows how firing a coach because of a really down year puts us back to square 1, and can delay
the next upward swing ala Bennett, and JJ. Not sure if JJ was forced out, or just quit
because of all the B.S. being thrown at him by some fans that didn't like his flirtation with
Arizona, his offense, his style of recruiting, or lack of hitting during some practices, etc.

A lot of the problem is a lack of coaching continuity The good news is at least the sine wave
( and attendance) has been slowly trending upwards since DP, and Dykes is starting at a peak in the wave.

I appreciate all of the work required to create this graph.

but I feel as if it places too much emphasis on the subjective "ranking at the end of the season" at the expense of other important variables like "strength of schedule" (chad's teams played an easier one). That leads to some questionable conclusions.

For example--your chart shows that Chad's 2016 team (lost to Tulsa and blown out by Navy, Temple and Memphis) was as good as than June's 2013 team (that went 4 - 4 in a new conference almost beating Cincinatti, #3 ranked UCF and Rutgers).


And that this year's team was better than all of June's teams except for the one that beat TCU in 2011. That would include:
the 2009 Hawaii bowl team that blew out Collin Kapernick's Nevada,
the 2010 team that made the conference championship and lost 17-7 to UCF,
and the 2012 team that almost beat TCU, put up 72 points on UH and blew out Derek Carr's Fresno State

June's teams have largely been better than Chad's teams but the chart does show that times have been volatile lately and we've not risen as high as we'd like

Can the players ever be named as a cause of SMU's football fortunes? Who was it among the coaches before Sonny that benched a couple for starters for team rules infractions and a game was lost that the pundits - and ponyfans - expected SMU to win? The loss possibly cost a bowl invitation. How might a "W" have changed the career of that coach and recruiting and continuity, etc.

My own view is that rules should be observed, whether set down by Lou Saban or Woodard Chalmer, but what do others think?

That 2013 UCF team was never ranked No. 3 in the Country. They lost to South Carolina earlier in the year. This year's UCF team was better, played in a much better conference, ended up higher ranked, was undefeated and was named NATIONAL CHAMPIONS by Disney among others. We came within about 30 yards of a regulation tie in closing minutes this year and didn't even need a polar ice-cap to do it. June coached in a watered down league that was the weakest we have played in our history. The AAC pretty much put June out to pasture after Gilbert graduated. The AAC right now has separated from the pack and is the consensus top non-P5 league in the Country-and specially our Division is close to the SEC East and PAC 12 South in Sagarin ratings

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_UCF_ ... tball_team