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Major ApplewhiteModerators: PonyPride, SmooPower
31 posts
• Page 2 of 3 • 1, 2, 3
hey LF68, you're a guy whose opinion i respect (and i'm a horn fan, too, hook 'em). seriously, what do you think the solution to this trainwreck of a program is?
Please, this is not a train wreck. It's 3 games into the season. If we're sitting at 1-7, 1-8, 1-9, then the sky is falling and it's a train wreck. Notre Dame right now is a train wreck, we are still quite a ways away.
It all boils down to attitude. And that starts with the administration. If the faculty, staff and others are not behind the idea of athletic success, then it won't happen. Also, the AD MUST be a man (or woman?) who makes decisions that are based on long-term goals, not immediate results. I think the lack of success has a lot less to do with Phil Bennett and lot more to do with the culture of losing that seems to surround the SMU football program. Being a fan of both UT and SMU I can see a lot of stark differences in the attitudes of not only the coaching staff and the team but also the fans. As a somewhat outsider I sometimes don't even get the sense that a football game is about to happen when I visit the Boulevard. It seems more like a party and there just happens to be an athletic event taking place right afterwards. As a Texas tailgater, there is no question the people are there for one reason only: to cheer their team to victory. I've had several alum friends join me at the SMU tailgate and when I asked them if they were going to the game they replied no and said they were there for the free food and beer. Now, I don't want to get off on that too much, but my point with is that I perceive a complete difference in attitude from the fans at both schools (and not to say there aren't your fair share of die-hards... I'm speaking more to the general mass of people). I think it just all boils down to attitude. No amount of catchy slogans and clever advertising is going to get people enthusiastic about a team if they don't have a winning attitude. Changing coaches might be a good idea, but it's really only a band-aid. If people truly got behind this team and this program, success would come a lot easier. But that's just my $.02. Keep the change. 
Official Cult of Chris Phillips Member
dude, it's a certified train wreck. i've been at/watched all 3 games. you can call it what YOU want, and i'll be the first to eat crow if we're not 1-7 after 8, but it is really, really ugly. we may have one win more than ND, but we don't look any better IMO.
It's still not a train wreck. The first three games have been horribly disappointing, and there are some very ominous signs unless the team rights itself immediately, but it's not a train wreck. We're 1-2, and personally I think the 0-2 start last year seemed much more disastrous, and we did manage to break even in the end. We still have one win, and the offense has put up points so far. By no means does this team seem to be playing good football, and by no means does it look like we're going to win based on the way we seem prepared and play, but we haven't started conference, we don't have a lame duck coach, and we've played one game away from home.
My hopes have been seriously, seriously tempered for this weekend, and if we are handed another half-ass effort shellacking without ever really showing up, then you can sound the train whistles. But if this team goes into Forth Worth and tightens up defensively, continues to puts points and the boards, plays fundamentally sound football, and seems well coached and well prepared, then even going into conference 1-3 we would still be in a salvageable position playing sound football with some play-makers. It seems to hinge on the product we put on the field this weekend.
125 points and 1,658 yards total in 3 games to be exact.
I agree with what Longhornfan68 posted. I am also a fan of both schools.
And I'm completely for Major Applewhite. I would take him as an OC or head coach any day of the week. I don't care about his age, he is sharp as hell when it comes to football. AND he motivates his players! Amazing concept. He's also an amazing teacher.
This team blows!!!
I thought trainwrecks involved heavy things on tracks moving at moderate speeds hitting things. What do I know? Sir, shooting-star, sir.
Frosh 2005 (TEN YEARS AGO!?!) The original Heavy Metal.
Longhornfan68 is very perceptive. However, at UT there's a "winning attitude" because if Texas just goes out and runs off right tackle every play, it's going to win 70 percent of its games. People there are more involved because everyone loves to associate with a winner.
At SMU, it's completely different. All those years of losing have trained our fan base that losing is inevitable, winning is a pleasant surprise. People don't invest emotionally in a consistent loser because it's too deflating, week after week. Better to just have the attitude of going to a party with a football game attached. At UT, a 7-5 season is a disaster. Wonder how many people would jump off the bandwagon if UT had SMU's record over the last 20 years? I'm not saying that SMU fans (the few we have) are any better than UT fans, just saying there's a legitimate reason many SMU fans (or rather, potential fans) don't get behind the team. And yes, the fix for this comes from the top down. If the board of trustees were to make a commitment to winning, the trickle-down would result in a rapid improvement in all athletic programs. However, the super-elite of SMU's board are horrified at the thought of another major NCAA scandal. As long as the athletic programs don't embarrass them in front of their friends at their next tea party, the policies (particularly those that inhibit recruiting) holding back SMU athletics will continue to be in place. At TCU, it was just the opposite. TCU was horrified at being left out of the Big 12. It was a wake-up call for their highest leaders. At TCU, becoming irrelevant is perceived as a greater threat than another NCAA scandal. Of course, they don't have the death penalty stigma, but this isn't 1979, either. SMU continues to operate as if the death penalty were two years ago instead of 20. The only way to make people forget the death penalty is to field a winning football program. Give the football program a point of reference besides what happend in 1987. SMU has done a lot to put the football program in position to win, but it hasn't done everything it can to succeed within NCAA rules. The attitude is still that if we go all-out to win, we might spawn another death penalty scandal, but I seriously doubt SMU could re-create that level of cheating ever again. Who's going to pay thousands of dollars to recruits just to win a C-USA championship? Sorry for the long-winded rant...touched a nerve, I guess
Longtime, you seem to have forgotten the mackovic years. It was tough being a fan of UT during those years but they still had them.
If you don't think you can win, you won't win. Motivation definitely seems to be lacking in our team. That motivation I think has to come from the top down. I agree completely with you that we don't do everything we can to win wihtin the NCAA guidelines. Not sure how we can change that as fans but I'm listening to ideas.
The difference b/t last year and this year is huge. Last year we didn't have a returning starting QB who finished the previous year ranked 10th in the nation in efficiency. Sanders and Morstead were also unknowns. This year, with a year of experience under their belts, we were expected to be a better team. The biggest reason we turned things around last year was because JWill, by his words, figured out he needed to slow down the game. He did that and succeeded in leading us to 6 wins (although it could have easily been 7 or even 8). Also, our run D was pretty decent last year. We can't stop anyone this year and with our play-calling, it will be a stretch to see us turning this season around. I hope it happens b/c I want to see SMU win but all signs point to 6 wins being a stretch and PB being gone by season's end.
31 posts
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