Early Recruiting

[Sic_em]

Why the lack of early commitments for SMU? I know there are several factors at work, with 0-12 being the most obvious, but is it also a case of SMU's academic standards working against them or is Bennett reluctant to put too many offers on the table until he sees what kind of senior year some of his targets are having?

To be fair, TCU, a team that went 10-2 only has 3-4 public verbals at this point. On the other hand, Baylor, who went 3-9 last year, and whose program has struggled for several years, already has 11 early verbals and a surprisingly strong class at present. Among other Texas schools, UH has 6 or so, UT is at 8, Tech is at 8, and A&M has 13, I believe. Not sure about Rice, UNT, or UTEP.

Still, despite Bennett's struggles, I felt that because of all his reported connections with Texas HS coaches, SMU would have some early verbals by now. Thoughts?

[SMUFan]

Going 0-12 and having higher academic standards than some schools does put a dent in the recruiting plan. However, we'll be fine. Coach Bennett has shown that he has a staff of recruiting machines, and that will continue this year. No, we won't be battling LSU and OU and USC for the premier blue-chips in the country. But we'll have a class of talented, athletic kids who will mature into good players. Great players? Who knows. But the caliber of athlete on the football field continues to get better every year. And that will continue in February, especially if we can win a few games and show improvement and serious competitiveness in the games we lose.