SMU's recruiting street cred in Texas

by **Mitch McConnell** » Fri Apr 29, 2011 6:55 pm

It's only going to change when they knock off a TCU or A&M. You have to prove it to these Texas kids that you're for real.

The 2-year bowl run is welcomed but this program needs a signature win to validate itself. That hasn't happened under Jones -- yet.

If they get one of those this year, it will make a difference on the perception in this state.

Don't think for a moment that A&M and Baylor got a lot of mileage with kids by winning in Austin last year. How many stories are there out there where kids who committed to either one because of what happened.

by **Charleston Pony** » Sat Apr 30, 2011 6:19 am

agreed; I was hoping that win might come against either Tech or TCU last year. Remember, the year TCU "shocked" OU...who was the only team to beat them that year? That's right, it was SMU...but who remembers other than Pony Fans?

by **Stallion** » Sat Apr 30, 2011 7:17 am

I can guarantee you won't get 95% of the Top 100 when you only offer 5. Some of you aren't paying real close attention to what is going on.

by **RGV Pony** » Sat Apr 30, 2011 7:20 am

Stallion wrote:I can guarantee you won't get 95% of the Top 100 when you only offer 5. Some of you aren't paying real close attention to what is going on.

What's really odd is JJ did the opposite when he got to Hawaii. Morrison and Suan and I think another coach were plucked from Hawaii high schools. How is it that a premium was placed on Hawaii hs cred but not Texas ?

by **2ndandlong** » Sat Apr 30, 2011 8:14 am

Part of the deal in Hawaii was they didn't give him much of a travel budget. The same travel budget at SMU gets you a lot more because of cost to travel to another state.

It wasn't a choice as much as it was a necessity.

by **Mitch McConnell** » Sat Apr 30, 2011 8:59 am

We've already established that the lack of offers in the state is a problem.

Good God!!

But you know as well as I do that you can offer all top 100 kids in the state -- which they should -- but they may look at the offer and go "Whatever, buddy. Beat somebody in the state.''

SMU FLAT OUT NEEDS TO BEAT SOMEBODY IN TEXAS OTHER THAN UTEP, RICE OR HOUSTON IN ORDER TO BE TAKEN REALLY SERIOUSLY. IT'S THAT SIMPLE.

Do you think SMU had an easier time selling the program in early 1980s because they could show kids the win in Austin and then the 44-14 win at Texas Stadium? You bet your [deleted] they did.

Win at Amon Carter or win at Kyle Field and that's going to change.

by **Stallion** » Sat Apr 30, 2011 12:32 pm

I wish people would get a basic understanding of the subject matter before offering 35 posts on a subject they know little about. SMU already had recruited the No. 3 and No. 6 recruiting classes in the country BEFORE they beat Texas. That's how they beat Texas because they had signed better players.

by **Mitch McConnell** » Sat Apr 30, 2011 2:29 pm

Ok, so you're suggesting that beating Texas back then did ZERO to help the cause. It was just kind of like a fart in the wind. Of course cash incentives helped those teams too. Why didn't u point that out?

Kids are visual, buddy. They want to see you do something. June needs a big win. He doesn't have that in this state. I think that's part of the problem here.

But as I've said I want to see what happens in this current evaluation period and then react accordingly.

by **Pony4Life** » Sun May 01, 2011 10:52 am

Mitch McConnell wrote:We've already established that the lack of offers in the state is a problem.

No, SOME people think it's a problem. Meanwhile, coaches who know a hell of a lot more than any of us ever will have no problem getting players from across the country, as long as they are the most talented players out there willing to play for SMU.

Stallion wrote:I wish people would get a basic understanding of the subject matter before offering 35 posts on a subject they know little about.

You can't say things like that ... some things are just too easy.

Mitch McConnell wrote:But as I've said I want to see what happens in this current evaluation period and then react accordingly.

So Big10/Patton/LookAtMeMitch is now taking a rational approach?
Who are you and who hacked into your PonyFans.com account?

by **Alaric** » Thu May 05, 2011 8:30 am

Stallion wrote:I wish people would get a basic understanding of the subject matter before offering 35 posts on a subject they know little about. SMU already had recruited the No. 3 and No. 6 recruiting classes in the country BEFORE they beat Texas. That's how they beat Texas because they had signed better players.

street cred not needed back then, just $$$

by **originaloverthehilltop1** » Thu May 05, 2011 5:10 pm

yeah, #3 and #6 classes were recruited with big slush fund. that must be the ingredient we are missing for a success "model".

by **GoRedGoBlue** » Fri May 06, 2011 8:59 am

The head coach personally visited the top 85 players.

I think that had a lot more to do with it than he extra $100 they were offering over Tx or ATM offers.

Furthermore, James was just luck that his wife went to Smu the year before.

It's not like the money is the only reason why they chose Smu. Smu had gotten much better and myer was recruiting Texas hard.