SMU visit to East Texas

[skyscraper]

http://www.etfinalscore.com/ET-Football ... sits-tyler

Long Q&A on the link.
Thought this was most interesting part:

Q: How do you try to tackle recruiting in East Texas going against the likes of Texas, Texas A&M, Baylor and Texas Tech?

Morris: I think one of the biggest thing is the emphasis that we will place on East Texas. We are going to have a free coaches clinic that I can’t be a part of, but our staff will be a part of one on May 17 in Tyler. We’re going to kind of tie that in with all of our staff being out the next few days in East Texas. Everyone has their own area of East Texas; I’ve divided it up much like we are doing the D/FW area and we are just putting a huge emphasis on (this region).

[No Quarter]

I used the WIKI to get some quick numbers.

There are over five million residents in the D/FW area and also in Greater Houston. Together that amounts to more than one-third of the population of Texas. East Texas counts something over two millions and of course over a much larger area.

Hard to question the plans and tactics of Coach Morris. Certainly SMU needs to show the flag everywhere in Texas. Still, part of me wonders if this is the best use of resources.

[LA_Mustang]

2015 estimates are roughly:

DFW - 7 million
Houston - 6.5 million

[smupony94]

This was also a chance for alumni in the area to meet the coaches

[Stallion]

Yes East Texas has some of the best athletes in Texas. Its West Texas I think you can pretty much ignore these days-those recruiting fields have dried up

[ponyfan37]

East Texas is loaded w athletes.

[Mustang75]

I was there with 200+ Mustang fans and HCCM said that the primary relationships that they are trying to build (and repair) are in the DFW & Houston markets. East Texas coaches have been ignored by SMU for so long its time to fix that since many of them end up in Dalllas & Houston. I think every assistant coach was there and they are like brothers with Van Malone as the big bro and very happy to have the opportunity to coach at SMU with coach Morris. Best news was they were all wearing socks!

[ojaipony]

A lot of TRUE DITRs in east texas. Can't ignore it. To me it's a 1-2-3 priority (DFW-Houston-East Texas).

Oh, and by the way, that was exactly the same recruiting regional approach Ron Meyer took. Just sayin'.

Personally, I'd like to get to the point where we are getting 5-10+ in the DFW top 100, as many in the Houston top 100 we can get (minimum of a couple) and best we can get in East Texas.

[White Helmet]

A lot of TRUE DITRs in east texas. Can't ignore it. To me it's a 1-2-3 priority (DFW-Houston-East Texas).

Oh, and by the way, that was exactly the same recruiting regional approach Ron Meyer took. Just sayin'.

Didn't Bennett try to emphasize east Texas too?

[ojaipony]

A lot of TRUE DITRs in east texas. Can't ignore it. To me it's a 1-2-3 priority (DFW-Houston-East Texas).

Oh, and by the way, that was exactly the same recruiting regional approach Ron Meyer took. Just sayin'.

Didn't Bennett try to emphasize east Texas too?

I think so and he got probably the best recruits collectively we've had post-DP (the OLs, JG, T Reed, E Sanders, Bease, etc right?). I think HCCM comes in with a much better rep/contacts though (and armed with much more firepower in terms of his staff). So a little bit of an apples to oranges comparison.

[skyscraper]

[ojaipony]

Yep, bingo.

"just keep hitting the tree in the same spot"

[Mustangs35SMU]

Didn't Bennett try to emphasize east Texas too?

He also had a crap load of ties there and I believe he's from Marshall.

I'm biased being from Longview, but there's definitely a crap load of talent out in the Pineywoods. West Texas on the other hand...

[Planter's Punch]

With the amount of ground the assistant coaches have to cover and the number of HS connections they have to make, I wouldn't be surprised to see one or two poached by another program after the first year.

[Junior]

I used the WIKI to get some quick numbers.

There are over five million residents in the D/FW area and also in Greater Houston. Together that amounts to more than one-third of the population of Texas. East Texas counts something over two millions and of course over a much larger area.

Hard to question the plans and tactics of Coach Morris. Certainly SMU needs to show the flag everywhere in Texas. Still, part of me wonders if this is the best use of resources.

he's not going to limit his recruiting to east Texas, but he can't just ignore it.