Stallion is the only.........

[FloridaMustang]

Hilltopper - show me the fans.

Gerald J. Ford and most of the alums that contributed to the stadium were probably not alums in the past 15 years.

[fbdad]

Peruna..I'm not being defensive. Neither I or my son have ever done anything but support this program so we have no need to be defensive, offensive maybe.... I've always enjoyed your input on this board and was quite disappointed to see you pick up the lack of talent Stallion banner.I pointed out the safety issue as just one example where a freshmen has been forced into the lineup.I only hope they can regain their redshirt status next year when the seniors and others come back healthy and some of our developing Freshmen RS this year start producing. Sturdivants going to be a good safety for us. He has good ball sense. I watched him closely with UTEP and he was on the ball constantly overcoming some of his lack of knowledge of the present "system".He'll do well this year.One play that sticks in my mind is when he overran the play once only to turnaround, pursue, and tackle the ball carrier.I have no argument with the level of play, I just get pissed when general lack of talent comments are made. Ask Stallion,he referred to me as the "Pissed Off Parent" as he retreated back to the Maniac board.I'm only sorry he didn't stay there.

[sam]

Punch,I will do this again as I have in the past about some of your posts.You completely lie in your posts and claim to have"inside knowledge" which makes people who live far away like me and others tend to believe you at first. I want you to clarify your statement that SMU only had ONE person on the entire team that was offered by a legit Div 1 program when Bennett arrived.

[fbdad]

Sam, its his and Stallions definition of "legit Div I program" that has evidently confused you...I personally don't know what that encompasses..I guess it depends on what year you are talking about..I can't imagine that regardless of definition we didn't have more than one player recruited by a"legit Div I program". The elitest definition of legit for local schools, I'm going to guess, is schools such as Texas,Oklahoma maybe TT and A&M. Schools such as Baylor,Rice,Houston are evidently not in that category although we don't belong on the same playing field according to the experts.I'm getting somewhat confused.....I hope Peruna can clarify for all..

[Stallion]

considering our present Sagrain rating of No. 157 and 0-5 record it would appear that those talent evaluators who rated our senior and junior classes in the high 90s may have been charitable in their evaluations. I never made the comment about 'legitimate Division 1 prospects". I do remember that one of those classes had on;y one player rated as a 3 star recruit. I've commented that very few of those players received offers from other BCS schools. A "temporary 4 year and out" fan like you may be happy with outrecruiting Rice, Tulsa and UTEP but I'll make no apologies for having higher expectations than that for SMU.

[PonyPower]

Originally posted by sam:
... You completely lie in your posts and claim to have"inside knowledge" which makes people who live far away like me and others tend to believe you at first.

Well, that's actually not true. I've been there when Peruna Punch has heard many of these things -- not all, but many -- and his sources are very legitimate.

Now how has this thread turned into a "who-knows-more-than-the-other-guy?" contest?

[sam]

Again this is not true and I don't care who you heard it from.If it was a coach than this is very bad as they are degrading the talent as an excuse for their bad coaching. Again I will ask,If we only had ONE player on the roster that was offered by a legit Div. I school when bennett arrived,Who was it. I think this is a case of blind devotion.

[PerunaPunch]

Couple of things for everyone's consideration:

1) When I hear anything, I try to share it with my friends at PonyFans. I hope that most of you guys can appreciate that and return the favor. Just like Stallion, who keeps us abreast of what's going on recruiting-wise for those who don't subscribe to all those services, and Guru who keeps us apprised of what's going on in central Texas, and Red River Pony up in Oklahoma, etc. If a coach tells me we're recruiting <insert name>, I try to report it unless I've been told to keep my mouth shut. If we never share information until it's completely set in stone, this board would be just like the Dallas Morning News. Personally, I PREFER to follow our team as it happens, not hear about it after it's all said and done. I mean, how fun would it be if we waited for our recruiting news until all the kids had signed an we received the official SMU news release in February? Snore.......

2) I think I do a pretty good job of including in my posts whether my information is absolute fact, a rumor from a well-placed source, here-say or wild-ass speculation. Maybe not, but I try.

3) To fbdad's point, which is completely valid... I guess you can draw that line anywhere you want to. Obviously this is going to be a large generalization, so please don't hammer me with the exceptions that for the most part proves the rule. The premise is: That if our goal is to eventually be a Top 25 team, we have to win recruiting battles (at least some of the time) against Top 25 schools. The same criteria can be extended to conferences. If we want to be competitive in the WAC, we need to win recruiting battles against top WAC teams (or teams of that caliber). Same holds for CUSA or wherever else you want to be competitive.

My point is that – up until last year – the vase majority of our recruits that even got offers got them from North Texas, LA Tech, New Mexico, SFA, SWTS and the like rather than Baylor, TCU, Houston, OSU, TTech, UT, A&M – the teams we all want to be competitive with.

I also think it's important to differentiate between "interested in" and "received interest from" and having a signed offer letter. It's pretty easy for a school to say, "Yes, we're interested in you. Come out and take a look." Except in the rare case where a kid is so committed to SMU that they won't talk to other schools, I think it's more telling to look at offers rather than "interest."

[PerunaPunch]

sam,

Sterling Harris.

[PerunaPunch]

Oh, and by the way sam, that information doesn't necessarily have to come from a coach. It's pretty much a matter of public record. Do a little homework and look it up yourself, before you call somebody a liar.

[McAndless]

This thread needs to be killed. I had the great pleasure of being far more "connected" that such loyal posters on this board, and while PerunadonkeyPunch has some valid inside information, and Stallion provides legitimate recruiting insight, it seems that the point is being missed by all. Sterling Harris was the only one in that recruiting class offered by legit Division 1 schools? Cody Cardwell turned down Texas Tech, Danny Murphy turned down Arizona State and Kentucky offers, Warrie Birdwell was committed to Colorado before considering Stanford and A&M before choosing SMU after Neuhiesel's departure. I know Birdwell quit and Murphy was forced to retire, but don't give me that crap.
My only real problem with this is whether Peruna Punch has real sources. But I think Peruna needs to know something very important...because you're an alum and avid fan, we all appreciate you, but don't think your information is the Gospel because it may come from a "connected source." You are told things to buy into with some spin on it, as to say, "We aren't very good right now, but give this program time, it's coming!" which could be translated into, "I'm not doing very well as a coach and my staff and players have lost their mind too because they are a direct reflection of me! Don't stop the support yet, though"
Go ahead and immediately disregard this post like I have no clue and attack my credibility all you want. I won't respond to that garbage, but when you're facts and excuses for why we are so bad makes me laugh. I bet Northern Illinois' recruiting classes were probably in the top 1000 4 years ago. And while TCU has recruited better than SMU in the past few years, you're telling me they're getting top 25 classes? No.
Recruiting experts are in business because Stallion subscribes to their ridiculous websites and hang onto every word to leave Bobby Burton's mouth.
I'm not blind to the effects of good recruiting, but now that Bennett has turned out to not be the savior he was once annointed, let's not give him the crutch that he was left with such awful talent pools and give him four years of his own players before we can evaluate him.

[Stallion]

First of all none of the guys you cited were in the recruiting classes we are talking about. Its been generally understood that the two prior Cavan classes had some decent recruits. Second TCU doesn't have to have Top 25 recruiting classes because they don't play a Top 25 schedule-I guarantee you TCU's classes have collectively been rated among the Top 3 non-BCS schools in the country-they have outrecruited their opponents consistently which is why they win. Third, I bet if you really studied Northern Illinois you would find so many non-qualifiers, partial qualifiers and JUCO transfers, just like you would at Marshall, that it would make your head spin.

<small>[ 10-07-2003, 08:46 AM: Message edited by: Stallion ]</small>

[Hoop Fan]

what about Comet? Didn't he have offer from A&M??

[Stallion]

Cunningham was in the prior recruiting class as was Birdwell. Cunningham is in his 5th year.

[McAndless]

Stallion, inform your partner of his mistake. Sterling Harris was in the same class, I believe of 1999. The 2000 and 2001 classes were not highly ranked by anyone, but that is not the only reason Bennett is 0-5. Let's blame Cavan's recruiting for a lack of program management by our current coach so we all feel better, but I threw the rosed colored shades out a long time ago. I'm now going to get busy doing other things and I will post again in a few days if any truth needs to be shed.