Good To Be Home!

[Stallion]

but I'm in a quandry as to where to start-1) the "Fire the Coach Bandwagon" which began hitching up the horses this week; 2) the "Dude-Just Because Texas Tech Averages 51 Points Over the Last Two Years at Home Doesn't Mean they're a Good Football Team" crowd, the 3)"Gee I Miss Tom Rossley with His Competitive 15-48-3 Record" Crowd or 4)the " Blame Mike Cavan Because He Left the Cupboard Bare" crowd. THE ANSWER: SMU got beat by a damn good football team because it does not have talent ANYWHERE comparable to its opponent and will not for 4-5 years after it decides to play on an even playing field with their opponent.

[FloridaMustang]

A-freaking-men. Let Bennett rebuild for god's sake.

[Sam I Am]

Some SMU coaches have done more with less. Cavan and Bennett have had slightly better admission procedures in their recruiting, but had the disadvantage of being in the
non-BCS WAC. There is no indication that the SMU administration is going to level the playing field to compete in the Div. 1-A. If so, then what, Stallion?

[FloridaMustang]

Are there any outside groups advocating a level playing field? It seems like there isn't a whole lot of pressure outside of Bennett himself to lift the restrictions. This should be a major issue.

[fan]

I've got to agree with Stallion. I'm not a football expert but let's face the facts: does anyone on this board honestly think that either the coaches or the players are giving anything less than 100%? My God, I think these guys are playing their A**** off. Despite that we just do not have the talent to compete!!! The coaches cannot cover routes or make plays!!!

That being said, I'd like to get Stallion's opinion on whether or not he thinks that Bennett is the right coach for the job. We do need a "salesman" and Phil can put a positive spin on things.

[NavyCrimson]

i agree with u fan & stallion...it will take time...the coaches can't play for the players...NO MATTER HOW HARD THE PLAYERS ARE TRYING WHICH I BELIEVE THEY ARE...
my observations:
1) the wac which is one of the non-bcs-bs conferences has truly taken its toll on smu football & b-bal along with the administrations p-poor policies of holding us back ...
2) this in turn has killed our recruiting...my gosh...the last couple of games i attended including the tv games one could easily see how much bigger & faster our opponents have been...fellas - u can't beat that-end of story...our lack of recruiting due to past coaching, the administration & not being apart of the bcs-bs has taken its toll...
3) bennett - he's the right guy & it will happen in the next 4-5 yrs - but he'll need some solid forward-thinking decisions from the administration in order to make it work along with a NEW CONFERENCE!!!!

[This message has been edited by Navy&Crimson (edited 09-01-2003).]

[EastStang]

I agree the WAC is hard to sell to Texas kids. On the other hand, I saw nothing positive from any WAC team this weekend. So we might be competitive in conference even this year. Nevada struggled against So. Utah., SJS was killed by Fla., FSU was ground into the dirt by Tenn., Rice was beaten by UH, La. Tech was stomped by Miami. Tulsa and UTEP were destroyed as well. The only decent winner was Hawaii and we don't play them this year. We could be in the top half of the WAC which is a stepping stone.

[No Cal Pony]

EastStang, I can maybe agree that the WAC is a "hard sell in Texas." Yes, it would be better if SMU could play more in Texas, and the area, but if that were so much the case, how do you explain a fresno? They are WAC mates and compete for kids with the pac10 schools, and get them. This analogy is the same as big12 v. WAC. I mean, come on fresno or a ucla, stanford, cal, etc. The reason is clear to me. Hill has put together a program that seems exciting. They play major schools in other major areas. Means they end up on tv, one way or another. Also, they will admit kids that are suspect. We will never do that. Also, if a kid needs a little comfort in a major, we don't have that either.

Yes, the WAC isn't the greatest, but putting more guts into the team would help. It is still Dallas, Still D1. Still SMU, a school with a rich history.

Go Ponies!

[VarsityShop]

I see alot of excuses on why SMU is where it is......but TCU sure has over-come alot of the same obstacles.

Look where TCU was just a few short years ago and now a little private church school is borderline TOP 25 year in and year out.

TCU proves it CAN BE DONE!

As much as I hate to, you have to hand it to those guys at TCU.

Do you realize how much fun it would be just to be at the TCU level?

For Christ's sake even North Texas has passed us.

It can be done and TCU just wrote the book on how to do it.

I think Bennett is the right man, he just needs more time, and help from the school.

Better days are ahead, but there will be more ugly games before we get there.

This FIRE BENNETT talk is ludicrous!

Now we must figure out a way to beat Baylor or at least give them one hell of a game.

GO MUSTANGS!

[No Cal Pony]

I'm not saying there are "excuses," because there are none. It is just a sad set of affairs. SMU must decide to give the coaches allthe tools, or realize we'll wallow in being average. I will not accept average. That wasn't the SMU I knew. Yes, it will take time, but it could take less if the school let that happen too.

Go Ponies!

[Ponymon]

Generally, it takes at least 4 years for a coach to get the players he needs to be competitive. It is way too soon to evaluate Bennett, but I will tell you that his ability to recruit is much better than anyone we have had since Ron Meyer. He has been helped tremendously by the loosening of restrictions on recruiting, but even if these changes hadn't been made, I would submit that he is a far better recruiter than his successors. He has a lot to sell at this school and he knows how to sell it. He really only has had one year of recruiting his type of athlete so patience is warranted.

In the past we have always been able to get athletes in the skill positions, but not the lineman. Even Ron Meyer (with his open wallet) was challenged in bringing in top rated lineman. Year after year, these guys always seem to end up at OU, A&M, and Texas despite the fact that their chances of playing at these schools is much less because of the depth. Bennett appears to be doing a better job of getting lineman, but it will take time. We need size on the DEFENSIVE LINE. However, these guys also have to be quick, which limits the number of lineman available in the marketplace. To top it off, their academics are generally behind the other positions further limiting SMU's ability to attract. (If you notice, a lot of our defensive lineman are former linebackers that have had to bulk up because of our inability to recruit this position.) Bennett did a good job of recruiting some size this year, but it will take 3-4 years for these guys to bulk up to meet the better competition. I hate losing just like the rest of you and I can question play-calling with the best of them. However, I think calls for Bennett's head are totally off the wall and patience is warranted until his recruits are juniors and seniors. Then the excuses will start to dry up.

[Arkpony]

Amen, PonyMon!

[Stallion]

Ron Meyer had zero problems recruiting defensive linemen-Michael Carter-No. 1 recruit in the nation at his position. Harvey Armstrong-Texas Football Super Team-Richard Neely DMN Blue Chipper, Kevin Chaney-Texas Top 30 or so; the Haguum twins from Colorado were Parade All-Americans. I'm not sure if he had a hand in Jerry Ball's recruitment or not. Mitch Willis was a find who made it to the NFL for a good career. Since the DP you're correct that we've recruited about 2 highly recruited defensive linemen-Birdwell and Croy and that's about it.

[Waters]

Didn't Ron Meyers get us in trouble for some of is recruiting methods?

[Ponymon]

Stallion,
Your right that he did bring in a couple of top lineman. However, go back and reread your Texas Football mags again and you will see that he did far better in bringing in running backs than lineman. Carter, Kennsington, and Armstrong were about all the top lineman that he brought in over a 4-5 year period. Compared to Texas, A&M and OU, he never could get the numbers, even though he was putting $100 bills on billboards for recruits, such as Dickerson, rather than the business cards that other recruiters were using! By the way, Jerry Ball was a converted fullback that outgrew the position!!