Tulane is a must win for Bennett

[Caballo]

This game is a must win to show that the team is improving. When you have our record for the last 16 years looking over your shoulder, every game that you should match up at least relatively evenly is a must win.

Just Win Baby!!!!!

[jtstang]

I am more concerned about the recruitng turd he is now laying than our play on the field.

This a very astute observation, but also not the fault of the coach. As I mentioned on the Recruiting board, this athletic program has never recruited the kind of quality athletes it takes to field a winner in the modern era, except when we were paying players. We are so far gone as a program that we have disappeared off the radar of most even marginal recruits. We are in a catch-22: we cannot recruit until we start to win, and we cannot win without quality recruits. I do not advocate the return of the slush fund, but changing coaches will not change the legacy of losing that has consumed SMU athletics.

[BUS]

Win - oh sure we need to win.

But come on guys. Look at how our players are bigger, faster, better than we have had in a long time.

I think that some on this board are short sighted. SMU in not an easy place at which to coach.

Hang in there and give Bennett more time. He IS doing the job.

To change now would set the program back.

Get behind the coaching staff and players.

Next year we can have this talk. Maybe, but I dont think so.

[SoCal_Pony]

JT,

I realize Bennett is no more to blame for our failures than Cavan or Rossley, my hope is that his firing will be a catalyst for change. I can’t imagine Copeland will be allowed to hire another FB coach…see there’s one positive change already. New AD should advocate more changes to the ‘Model’…the biggest potential upside of all…

This wallow in the mud mentality that some have…’Oh a new coach can’t change things so what’s the point’ doesn’t fly with me.

And BUS, look at Mike Price and UTEP..things CAN change quickly, under the right model and coach. One final question to you BUS...are you at all pleased with the fact that only 1 player last year received quality BCS offers and aren't you concerned at our recruiting to date this year?..(ok, that was 2 questions)

[BUS]

From what I see the last class was pretty good. SMU has to find the diamonds in the rough. Small school kids. I think Bennett is getting guys that will improve the team. Look at who is playing now. The young ones. The o-line guy that transfered out was a BIG senior, but he could not crack the two deep rotation.

Yes, we need to get better.

You bring up the Model.
You hit the nail on the head. New majors, allowing more transfer hours would and will help.

Copeland is not long for this job due to retirement. What will happen is, if Bball and Fball start winning, we may have a promotion from within - IF not, I think a LOT of the current A-staff will be gone when the new person comes in and brings his people with him/her.

[ponyte]

Tulane is a 'must' win not because of our coach or AD, but because of our players. It is the players on the field that will make or break this program. The better they do, the better our chances at recruiting. Like it or not, we improve the program with the kids we have now. I have been impressed with thee quality of our players this year and I am willing to take our chances with them.

Our players have had an encouraging Sept. A few mistakes cost one win, then a great win and then a hard slap in the face. Our kids need to win to get over the A$M game and gain confidence for the next few weeks. A loss to TU will only reinforce feelings and thoughts of previous years of losing. And a win places the team back at .500. That is a rare place to be for SMU football over the last few years.

[DiamondM75]

...Copeland is not long for this job due to retirement. What will happen is, if Bball and Fball start winning, we may have a promotion from within - IF not, I think a LOT of the current A-staff will be gone when the new person comes in and brings his people with him/her.

Here is my thought. FIRE COPELAND and then move Bennett into the AD job. Now we don't have that huge contract to pay out.

Bennett is a motivator, likeable person and a great salesman. Just the kind of guy that would make a good AD. With his coaching and recruiting experience, he should be able to recognize a good FB coach for his replacement.

Just 2 cents worth.

[jtstang]

JT,

I realize Bennett is no more to blame for our failures than Cavan or Rossley, my hope is that his firing will be a catalyst for change. I can’t imagine Copeland will be allowed to hire another FB coach…see there’s one positive change already. New AD should advocate more changes to the ‘Model’…the biggest potential upside of all…

But you're missing the biggest problem of all. We have sucked for so long, we are considered losers by every decent Div-1 prospect out there. We've had a bunch of changes in the "model" and apparently there are more to come, but our record hasn't gotten any better. We went 0-fer two years ago for godsake. You could dig up Vince Lombardi and prop up his dead corpse on the sideline, but that's not gonna help make any quality recruit pick a loser school like SMU over UT or A&M or OU or even, god forbid, TCU.

The only way out is to string together several winning seasons with the lower tier recruits we can get now, and we are apparently light years away from that.

[Hoop Fan]

jt, surely havent been waiting all this time for the day we started beating UT on the field and for recruits again. I dont believe for one second that you thought that was possible last week, last year, or 5 years ago. What has sent you over the edge today? Texas States performance at Aggieland? Our bad performance at Aggieland? The loss to Baylor? We didnt beat TCU by enough? Hey, for a guy with your stated expectations, just winning a game against our rival in September would seem to be something positive. If we win tomorrow, it will be the best September in memory. Why not wait until Sunday to proclaim hopelessness?

Being competitive in CUSA West and posting a winning record about half the time is what we should have our sights set on. Schedule some Texas rivals like Tech, Baylor, TCU and enjoy college football and the boulevard. That wouldnt be so bad. The fact that you mention OU and UT makes me think you are an imposter or have started the Friday happy hour a little early bro.

[SoCal_Pony]

JT,

UTEP was 6-30 before hiring Price....we actually had a better record during that same period...we were 7-28.

I would argue the changes so far to the 'Model' have not gone far enough. I am hoping a new AD will finally level the field...maybe not against UT or OU...but at least against our conference rivals and TCU.

[Hoop Fan]

JT,

UTEP was 6-30 before hiring SMU....we actually had a better record during that same period...we were 7-28.

I would argue the changes so far to the 'Model' have not gone far enough. I am hoping a new AD will finally level the field...maybe not against UT or OU...but at least against our conference rivals and TCU.

Utep is a strange program. The basketball program has been way up and way down over the years too. I want some more demonstrated progress on evening the playing field too, but we wont ever be Utep. I think they are probably the most accepting of Jucos of any school anywheres, sans maybe UNLV. Theres no reason we cant be doing whatever TCU and Baylor do academically though.

[SoCal_Pony]

Actually HF, it wouldn't surprise me if K-State has the most JC players...that was yet another reason I was excited about Bennett.

I am hardly giving up on him or this season...but tomorrow is huge...otherwise I suspect we go 1-5

[jtstang]

No this is not new news to me, or any of you for that matter. But I have had it with taking two steps back for every half-step forward. It has gone on for sixteen years, and there is no end in sight.

People come on here and lament the fact that we never get enough 3, 4 and 5 "star" players, ranked by Rivals or Joe's sandlot magazine, whatever. The reason I mention UT, A&M and OU is that those players as a rule always go to those schools, never to SMU. Of course we cannot compete with them. We pick from the leftovers, and always will.

Our real problem is that we've been so bad for so long that we pick from the bottom of the leftover barrel, well below the good second tier schools like TCU. Unless we can turn it around somehow with the leftovers of the leftovers, we will continue the downward spiral that has gone on since we came back from the death penalty. History has shown we cannot turn it around with such players, regardless of who is coaching. Accept the status quo will continue, it is a fact of SMU life.

[Hoop Fan]

Bennett has beaten TCU for recruits: Jamie Harper comes to mind. Bennett even beat out A&M for DeMyron Martin. It is not impossible. SMU has something to offer. This year is looking really slow so far for recruiting, almost certainly due to the 2003 and 2004 seasons. There is a timing lag in recruiting. Maybe the TCU win and a few more as the season goes by can allow Bennett to point to progress and pull some quality guys out of the fire in February. If not, we'll see what happens, but it can be done.

[jtstang]

Bennett has beaten TCU for recruits: Jamie Harper comes to mind. Bennett even beat out A&M for DeMyron Martin. It is not impossible. SMU has something to offer.

Okay we achieved getting off the bottom of the barrel on those two leftovers--atypical for us--but really what has it gotten us in terms of improvement? And, please, tell me what SMU has to offer now that it did not have to offer 5 years ago, and how the changes have helped us improve. We are no closer to putting a winning product on the field than we were then. In fact, we hit rock bottom in the meantime.