THE STATE OF SMU FOOTBALL

[SMUtrojanFAN]

Maybe I'm stretching here, but is there a possibility that the talent pool OVERALL has increased immensely so that there are more players who are better than before, yet we are maintaining our level of recruiting - which would therefore lead to a decrease in our ranking??

[SMU_is_bowling]

I would say that is possible, but if the talent pool is increasing, then we are still sliding, because everyone else is pulling from the same pool right, so they are still getting better talent, according to Rivals.com the recruitinig "experts"

[SMUtrojanFAN]

True, but this would also imply that our talent isn't necessarily "getting worse" year-by-year, right?

I guess it's a moot point. We've recruited who we recruited and I believe we can win with the players we currently have.

[SMU_is_bowling]

I agree TrojanFan . . . we have a good team this year, no reason to think it will drop off next, but more than anything, we need to beat Marshal!! And this squad can do it!

[mustangfan01]

In the year after next we will have lost these starters/major contributors:

Bobby Chase
Rey Pellerin
Ryan Kennedy
Tony Hawkins
Reggie Carrington
Joe Sturdivant
Jon Lindley
Ben Poynter
Caleb Peveto
Darrin Johnson
Johnny Fitzgerald
Wilton McCray
Justin Rogers
Cory Muse
Brandon Bonds
Adrian Haywood
Zach Sledge
Blake Warren
Randall Goode

That is a LOT of talent. That is our entire current defense except for the Lowery/McCann side. That is our entire offensive line except Tommy Poynter/Sean Lobo.

Unfortunately, you can't look at that list and predict an inferior team. We will have strong, experienced seniors to replace them, very talented Juniors (FR today), and the raw recruits that are redshirting or on scout team that will be contributing. Our O-Line will be bigger pound-for-pound, we will probably have bigger linebackers, better corners, faster receivers...and I am still leaving out Demyron, Justin, Vincent, Tommy Poynter, Sean Lobo, Chase Smith, Morstead...and the numerous others nobody on here can foresee. We might even bring in a Juco stud or 2..who knows?

Our offense will continue to become faster and stronger, and our secondary will improve. I have full faith in Phil to not be handing out schollies to kids who can't play. It doesn't matter what the h*ll Rivals says. Will people step up? Yes. Will our current young players be exponentially better? Yes. Can any of you see the future? No.


Which leads me to my final point... I could be completely wrong.

[that's great raplh]

dont be fatuous jeffrey