Turn around guys

[Nacho]

Maybe this should go on the recruiting board but I feel that it also belongs here. Some players only want to go to a winning program. In fact I think most players only want to go to a winning program. It's human nature. Most people don't like to lose. Fear of failure is a very significant driving force with human beings. To help insure that they won't fail they go to a winner.

Another type of player wants to go to a program that he can help turn around. This type of player is much rarer. He is inviting failure. There is something in his psychological makeup however that wants to be a hero. He wants to be that person who came in and can say later, See I did it. I helped turn that program around.

This is the heart of our recruiting woes. Not enough of the I want to help turn it around guys out there. I think also that when a program has been down so long even the I want to help turn it around guys are turned off by that school and look for another to help.

[SoCal_Pony]

This is the heart of our recruiting woes. Not enough of the I want to help turn it around guys out there. I think also that when a program has been down so long even the I want to help turn it around guys are turned off by that school and look for another to help.

Tell that story to Mike Price and the UTEP fans November 26th...I'm sure they'll get a good laugh from it...

[Stallion]

Yeah well life sucks-get used to it-bottom line is SMU has handicapped itself in too many ways to mention to achieve the distinction of replacing Rice as the biggest loser in Texas. Programs are turned around every year. The almost universal thread running through each turnaround is a strong commitment by the university to the football program. SMU still has not made that commitment. THE RESULT: We Suck.

[Nacho]

Programs are turned around because players and coaches are working together. We are dysfunctional. Players are coming out of the woodwork to go to UTEP because of Price.

What I am saying, and I am dumbfounded that you couldn't grasp it, is that we can't recruit because no one wants to come to a program like this.

[Stallion]

Nope that excuse does not fly. They don't come here for deeper reasons than just losing-they don't come here because of a 15 year history of neglect and lack of commitment. And UTEP proves my point-they are getting the Blue Chip Parade All-American Division 1A Transfers , they are getting the Junior College Players and they are getting MIKE PRICE. They are getting the exact players and coaches SMU isn't. WHY? Both programs are LOSERS of HISTORIC proportions. Because the university has made a commitment to the Football program.

[Nacho]

I am saying that if Price were here we would be seeing a similar kind of turnaround.

[jtstang]

Nacho's right--we've fallen so far only the the lowest tier of D-1 talent consider coming to SMU, and I mean players that don't get a sniff from BCS schools.

[Stallion]

and once again if UTEP had not made the commitment to Price, to his son, to an athletic model that would allow Price to compete-none of the above would EVER have occurred. It all starts with an athletic model and commitment from the university. Any coach worth a damn will tell you the exact same thing.

[jtstang]

It all starts with an athletic model.

Well, we ain't got one. That's not news.

[Nacho]

I guess we could debate this all day. Imagine the best coach you can think of. Just let that sink in. Now imagine that coach at SMU. With this current team what record do you think he would have? I think that great coach would have a good record, maybe not 8-3 but a still respectable winning record with the current players. I think we have better players than our ultimate record will indicate.

[Blunt Pony]

You are forgetting one other type of player. This is the one that wants to get a free ride and a good education with little pressure to win or contribute because of the acceptance of mediocracy. This type of player enjoys the campus and college life of being a football player without the pressure of actually having to win games or perform to expectations. This is the type of player who has no desire or ability to go to the next level and just wants to make the best of his college life. I know there are exceptions, but think about it and it makes sense. Why would a top talent want to come here unless he felt like he could not handle the heat of a big time program or did not have a burning desire to win or get to the next level.

[Stallion]

Geez you just don't get it-I can't imagine a good coach here at SMU because history and common sense establish that "good coaches" are not interested in this job. Listen to Bennett about what he was told about this job. The First Step is to make a Commitment to winning. Not to mention you are helplessly wrong about 8-3 under present conditions.

[jtstang]

Get a grip, fellas, there are a lot of dynamics at work causing SMU football to suck so bad. The "model" sucks, the coach apparently can't coach, and the players represent the bottom of the div-1 barrel as far as recruiting goes. So take this season as a snapshot: changing any one of the three items I listed above would not make a difference for this season. The change in "model" would take time to show effects, and we'd still be hamstrung by the coaching and and lack of talent. If we had better players, we'd still have a coach whose use of the players he has rightly brings his ability into question. If we had a better coach, he's still be hampered by the "model" and the players he could get under it. The bottom line is it cannotr be fixed by changin any one of these parameters, and there's no evidence that any of the parameters are going to be changed in any event. We should just give it up.

[Nacho]

I didn't say we would be 8-3. I said we would have a winning record.

I do very much get that other things need changing. I'm not arguing that. We have the best talent that we have had since the DP and yet we still can't win. We are and 11.5 dog to bottom 10 Marshall.

UTEP got lucky or made their own luck when they hired Price. Maybe somone will fall into our lap. Maybe I will win the lottery. This really is make or break time. We have to get someone and we have to change this model, including our present AD. The problem is that we are going to have to change coaches first.

[Stallion]

...and let me point out that you have no idea if our talent is better than at anytime since the DP-a point I do not agree with.