After Matty Bell retired in 1949...

[couch 'em]

As far as the rich sterotype - it is silly to try to eliminate it. As soon as some sets foot on our beautiful campus in our affluent neighborhood they will think everyone is rich, even if the whole student body is on food stamps.

Instead, we should turn a negitive into a positive. Make a mockery of our supposed richness. Want to get inner city football fans? Have a "bling" night and encourage everyone to come with their chains and platinum "grills". Advertise "plenty of rich white girls for everyone!" OK, maybe not that far. But if everything we put out mocks our stereotype then it won't be used against us.

[Rayburn]

#1 Texas has ALWAYS been around. They had some down seasons in the late 1930s and mid-1950s, but Texas has generally always been a regional and national power, even before Darrell Royal.

#2 Paying players is an old vice. My grandfather earned $25 a week playing high school football for Cleburne High School in the 1920s as a 21-year-old.

#3 The coaching merry-go-round was a key factor in SMU's decline as was the unlimited scholarship situation. But you can also point to the decline of single platoon football as well. The change in the substitutuion rules which allowed college coaches to field two fully seperate teams for offense and defense hurt small private schools like SMU. It means bigger rosters and more scholarships needed.

[Sam I Am]

Please recall that after Matty Bell retired, Rice and TCU had some banner years before DKR came to UT and Bryant came to aTm. Remember Bell's teams won over Bobby Layne at UT and Tobin Rote at Rice. SMU declined in the 1950's despite having Don Meredith and other star recruits like Glen Gregory. The difference was coaching after Bell was in the coaching. Later on, Hayden Fry was an occasionally good coach, then SMU went through another dry spell until Myer and Collins came along. After the DP, other than possibly Forrest Gregg, we have not had the caliber of coaching to lead SMU back to its former glory.

[Arkpony]

Having attended SMU from 1955-1960, and lived in Dallas ome years after that, I can vividly recall how SMU would greatly outdraw both the Cowboys and Texans at the Coton Bowl. I remember Meredith's Senior year and how Sports Illustrated was shocked at the colapse of SMU that year..they called it "The failure of the Star system", meaning the SMU team sat around waiting for "star" Meredith to do it (and he almost single handidly did!) Preceding his senior year, Meredith and coach meeks were on the cover of Look Magazine (or one of the national publications). ANyway, we may not have always won, but the key was that we always had a CHANCE to win and every team respected us! No ONE took SMU for granted in those days. Meeks just wasn't the coach we expected. Then we had Coach Smith (who's great distinction was that he was one of the ones that QUIT Bear Byant's infamous summer training camp!! I would have preferred we hired on who stayed!) And we ran off Coach Fry after a 7-4 season (He just couldn't win the "big one" was the word)...(sigh)
Bennett's gonna get it done! Have faith!

[Sixties SWC Fan]

I'm always open to hearing from y'all Ponies why SMU and the privates started faltering by the mid-60's (except for Fry's conference title in '66). One of the most common themes seems to be the popularity growth of the Cowboys.
Very interesting overall subject on the privates of the SWC.

[mrydel]

I'm always open to hearing from y'all Ponies why SMU and the privates started faltering by the mid-60's (except for Fry's conference title in '66). One of the most common themes seems to be the popularity growth of the Cowboys.
Very interesting overall subject on the privates of the SWC.

I will attribute the problem to what Stallion mentioned. The basically unlimited number of scholarships. Texas and Arkansas were signing 70-90 players a year. If they "ran out" of Football scholarship money, they used track, BB, swimming, whatever to sign football players. When I signed at SMU I was the last for the year due to financial contstraints and I was number 35 if I remember correctly, maybe 38. Until the rules were changed to even up the numbers allowed by each sport and restricting the use of the cross over scholarships, the system was not competitive. SMU still had the ability and appeal to attract great athletes, but we were always shy on depth.

[Sixties SWC Fan]

I should note that Texas, though signing more than SMU, didn't sign anywhere near that many. Oftentimes, A&M or Tech signed more. Sometimes, a private would sign more, though not often. I think that's a factor but maybe too simplistic for covering the whole gamut.

Good luck to SMU in the future.