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SMU in no joking mood at WAC media day. Mustangs don't want to be laughingstocks for another season

11:30 PM CDT on Wednesday, July 28, 2004

By CALVIN WATKINS / The Dallas Morning News

RENO, Nev. – This is how bad the 2003 football season was for SMU: Professors in classes taken by football players made snide remarks about the Mustangs' 0-12 season. Not behind the players' backs, but in their faces. To stop it, senior defensive tackle Allan Adami got in some instructors' faces.

Allan Adami

"You got some teachers trying to make a crack about who is going to the games," said Adami, a second-team All-WAC selection last season. "I've talked to them to cut that stuff out. It's easy when you have a 270-pound football player telling you to shut up and stick to the lesson plan and forget about the football team."

Adami and his teammate, running back Foy Munlin, were at the Peppermill Hotel and Casino for the WAC's media day Wednesday, taking questions on how difficult last season was.

Adami said some professors were supportive of the team.

SMU braces to face six bowl teams: SMU will play six teams (Texas Tech, TCU, Oklahoma State, Boise State, Fresno State and Tulsa) that earned bowl berths in 2003. Two more losses and SMU will break the school record for the longest losing streak in school history at 14. It has the second-longest losing streak in the nation, behind Army.

Also, middle linebacker Reggie Carrington, a projected starter, could be lost for the season with a torn pectoral muscle. Carrington, a sophomore, was injured Tuesday during a weight-lifting session. D.D. Lee will replace Carrington at middle linebacker. Coach Phil Bennett said Avery Cleveland or Don Ieremia-Stansbury would move to the strong side to replace Lee.

Boise State picked to win WAC title

Two-time defending champion Boise State is the favorite to win the WAC title in a media poll. The Broncos (13-1 last season) have won 18 consecutive conference games dating to 2001. Boise State received 434 points and 23 first-place votes. SMU was picked to finish ninth in the 10-team conference. It finished last in the conference last season at 0-8. Hawaii quarterback Timmy Chang was selected preseason offensive player of the year; Boise State linebacker Andy Avalos was defensive player of the year.

Hawaii quarterback getting Heisman hype

Though he's a long shot, Hawaii senior quarterback Timmy Chang has been touted as a Heisman Trophy candidate. Chang is Hawaii's all-time leader in total offense and passing yards. "I've heard about all that stuff," said Chang, who is from Waipahu on Oahu. "It's not something I'm thinking about. Me being a local kid, it could inspire others to attempt the same thing."

WAC RANKINGS
The WAC preseason football media rankings, with first-place votes in parentheses:
Rank Team Points
1 Boise State (23) 434
2 Fresno State (20) 427
3 Hawaii (3) 384
4 Tulsa (1) 312
5 Nevada 256
6 Rice 212
7 Louisiana Tech 199
8 UT-El Paso 179
9 SMU 95
10 San Jose State 87

I've had several professors at SMU who [deleted] about the football team. I think a lot of them are jealous to hear about all the money being spent on it, when it should CLEARLY be going to the psych department or whatever. They don't seem to even think of the possibility that there might be football players in that particular class, and here's their professor joking about how they suck. I've been this close to saying things after class to the professor, and if a discussion ever starts in the class, I've defended our guys.

On the other hand, there's one professor I had, Kenneth Hamilton, who was awesome. I had a class with him last year, and I think Foy Munlin was in there. The professor would ask every week "Ok, now by a show of hands, how many of you are going to the football game this week?" And then he'd go on about how this is our school and we need to support it no matter what. He pretty much demanded that the whole class go to the games. I think he's very interested in the athletics program at SMU, I always see him at press conferences and in the halls of Moody after basketball games. He's one of our good guys on the inside of that faculty world that seems to hate athletics so much.

Just another reason to admire #14 -- a true leader if ever there was one.

MustangSally wrote: .... On the other hand, there's one professor I had, Kenneth Hamilton, who was awesome. I had a class with him last year, and I think Foy Munlin was in there. The professor would ask every week "Ok, now by a show of hands, how many of you are going to the football game this week?" And then he'd go on about how this is our school and we need to support it no matter what. He pretty much demanded that the whole class go to the games. I think he's very interested in the athletics program at SMU, I always see him at press conferences and in the halls of Moody after basketball games. He's one of our good guys on the inside of that faculty world that seems to hate athletics so much.

I had classes with Professor Hamilton when I was in school, and you're right, he was great. I remember one class in particular that also included a basketball player: Keith Chambers. Every day after a night game, he'd ask Chambers about the game. If Chambers had jacked up a bunch of ill-advised shots, Professor Hamilton would mention that, but in a teasing, supportive manner. What it showed was that he was at every game. (He also did this mostly before class started, so he wasn't wasting the class for those students who didn't care about sports.) Professor Hamilton was as encouraging as any teacher I had, both to athletes and to the rest of the students. SMU needs more like him.

The sad fact is that for the 13 years that football has been back after the DP, there has not been much to be proud of with regards to performance on the field. Who can blame the faculty for asking how much money is going to be thrown at a program that clearly cannot compete on the playing field? I am sure that academic departments have to justify every dollar that they receive and that the faculty all have some sort of "deliverables" that must be met. What about the football program - what have they delivered except for constant embarassment to the university for the 3,2,1 or 0 win seasons. It is time for SMU to either decide to honestly compete at a Div 1 level or to devote its limited resources elsewhere.

Two losses to to break the longest losing streak at 14. I see an 0-3 start--doesn't look good.

PonySnob, don't be so self-righteous. If you feel that way, drop out.

If only everyone had the juevos Adami does.
If he had more size, he'd be an All-America DT.

I seem to recall that it was the faculty that GOT us into this mess! These liberal fruitcakes wanted us to drop down to club football after the DP and insisted on the players meeting the tougher academic standards of the regular students rather than the easier standards applied to the athletes of other schools! They also wanted the final say on admittance to the school before an offer could be made. We never got any early commitments because we had to wait for their fall semester scores from their senior year and SAT scores before that blessing would be given. The faculty REJOICED and REVELED in the team's poor record. However, in return for this stringent policy SMU's academics were supposed to rise to the level of the Ivy League. Well, we have made it close at the business school, but after 16 years we still aren't mentioned in the same league with the big boys in many of the school's liberal arts programs. As a matter of fact, it is a little embarrassing to see public schools like Texas and A$M receive more academic kudos than SMU given the tremendous disparity in tuition costs. Maybe it is time for the JOKESTERS, excuse me, I mean PROFESSORS to get off their butts and do what it takes on their end to move SMU up in into the first tier academically and out of the second tier. When these professors laugh at the team's record, they should be really looking at themselves in the mirror. They are the real JOKE!

well said - Ponymon!!!

if these want-a-be profs (teachers) were really that good, we would be a tier 1 school now!

but like u said - the b-school is definitely there with the other tier 1 schools for sure & good for them!

I don't know what the future holds for Allan. I don't know what he's majoring in, and I don't know if he harbors ideas of trying to add weight to take a swing at a professional career (NFL, Canada, ArenaBall, etc.) What I do know is that he has more spine and heart than just about any player I've seen at SMU. Since the day he arrived as a way-too-skinny lineman to now, as the heart and soul of the defense, he's had one style: passionate. He plays every play like it's his last, and he seems to ignore pain. If he doesn't continue playing after this year, and if he doesn't have some big-bucks executive job waiting for him, I would hope that Coach Bennett would seriously consider adding him to the staff. I'm sure Austin is having quite an effect on his linemen, and I bet Allan would have a similar effect on his guys. He is a living example of what can be accomplished through dedication and hard work, and would be a tremendous mentor for future Ponies. I don't think you could have enough Adamis on the staff. They bleed Red and Blue as much as anyone.