Generations of SMU Fans

[Treadway21]

Wasn't Bum Phillips up for the job and they chose Smith over Bum?

[mrydel]

Wasn't Bum Phillips up for the job and they chose Smith over Bum?

Yep

[SoCal_Pony]

As I recall, Dave Smith was one of the Aggie football players who quit Bear Bryant's grueling camp. That somewhat prejudiced me against him, but he was a nice person. I met him only once when SMU came to Little Rock to play ( and beat as I recall) Arkansas. He took the team to Arkansas Children's Hospital to visit the kids there the night before the game. A class act!

Why does Bear Bryant's camp get glorified when he likely would have been arrested for doing that today?

One time JD Crow passed out (not Junction, related) due to heat exhaustion & the grueling nature of the practice. When he woke up, the first person he saw was Paul Bear Bryant, who told him, 'Well John David, you should have told me you needed a break'.

[CoxMustangFan]

We talk about this "lost generation" all the time, but the students on campus today should be pumped (with HCLB and HCCM).

[Water Pony]

"Individual commitment to a group effort - that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work."

Vince Lombardi

[Topper]

He was fired but although I doubt he knew it at the time, it was the best thing that could have happened. He had been at SMU too long and was beyond stressed with the demands on him. He got new life in a relaxed atmosphere at NTSU and then grew to great heights from there.

My Dad spoke to Hayden shortly after he was fired. According to the story as told to me, the dismissal came as a complete surprise and out of the blue. He said that he had just been given a great evaluation and a new car as a bonus for the season.

I never disliked Dave Smith and thought that there was some pretty good talent on his teams. They lacked depth, however, and after pretty good early season records would fall apart against the better SWC teams with few exceptions. I felt a little bit sorry for him when the scandal hit. I remember the Times Herald reporter who broke most of the stories spoke to my class and saw himself as a Woodward/Bernstein type. He was extremely proud that he brought down SMU football and Dave Smith. Can't think of the reporter's name but he hung around Dallas for a few years thereafter.