This REALLY a question - not an implication

[ProudPonyPa]

I posted a question in another thread that never got answered. I think it was construed as a comment against the Ponies. I really apologize for the implication.

Here is the question: From a player's standpoint, is it better to be on a DIV 2 team that is doing well in its arena, or a DIV 1-A school that is not doing well at all?

I ask the question as if I were a student deciding if I want to transfer to play at a lower level 1-AA or 2, at a winning institution rather than throw the dice at a program that is rebuilding.

Added comments: A player only has 4 years to play football in college. When you bring in a new coach, and give him a 5 year evaluation, you have put a whole class through school. What about those kids? We as adults can sit back and be patient to see Coach Bennett turn things around, but as a player that is in his junior and senior years, it is all the more frustrating.

[EastStang]

Do you want to play games against TT or OSU knowing that you will probably lose, or do you want to play against SW Texas State knowing you have a chance to win. I would think each player would want to test himself against good teams. As far as coaching changes are concerned, that is something that can happen to any program. If you are a junior who was playing and get nudged aside by a freshman, do you transfer to 1-AA, or be a team guy. That's a tough decision. Dropping to 1-AA is not an option for SMU, unless it is forced by outside forces to do so. It's history and traditions are 1-A, not withstanding the last 15 years. I went to graduate school at a what is now a 1-AA institution. At that time the great discussion was whether to de-emphasize football and drop down. The argument was solved when Division 1-AA was formed and that school's historical rivals all decided to drop to 1-AA. That is not where SMU finds itself. The only way to get back to competitiveness is to put up with the pains of growing. For the athlete who finds himself in a losing program, the issue is more internal. Will I improve, do more reps, work harder, listen to the coach, keep focussed during the game, and then win. Most losses are caused by mental errors. Keeping focused in the heat of the game is something that one has to learn. That only comes when you're tested.

[PerunaPunch]

I don't think IAA is an option. At least for me personally, that'd put SMU about on the same level as watching my high school alma matter.

As a member of the Mustang Club, I contribute in my small way due to a desire to see the Mustangs back on top. If they gave up and dropped to IAA, I'd lose a lot of my enthusiasm (after all, you can't very well claim bragging rights in the state by beating SFA or SWTS, can you?).

I assume that many people who grew up following the Mustangs and the old SWC would feel the same way.

[PK]

PPP is not suggesting that SMU drop down. What he is asking is whether or not a current student, a team member, would want to transfer to a lower division winning team as opposed to remaining a member of a D-1 program going through the struggles of rebuilding. That is the decision that Sanders and McCown both made. I would guess that every player is going to have a different take on that. Some might want to and some would prefer to carry on the good fight for improvement.

[Lefty]

I would think any player with aspirations to be the best wants to play in D-IA, with the occasional exceptions (Josh McCown, Thomas Derricks) often having started elsewhere before transferring. I hope this is just message board fodder - I sure hope the powers-that-be at SMU aren't entertaining such discussions.

[smudad]

I know it's hard getting kids to think this way. However, when it's time to go to work - I mean real life work - he'd rather look for that job with his degree and contacts from SMU than those from SWTSU. For a current student considering his student future, that MUST be the consideration. Because, very few, if any, of our current players have much future playing football after SMU. Josh better get and save what he can right now. 'Cause it won't last all that long for him either,

[Duke Blue Blood]

SMU is not dropping to D-II. Stop talking about it. It is just not going to happen. Talk about more pertinent issues.

DBB

[LA_Mustang]

My god. Why dont you people actually read what PPP asked?? He never suggested that SMU should or might drop to DII....gezzz.

[McAndless]

If I can speak from experience, I lost many games at SMU while watching family members, friends and high school teammates attend smaller schools who enjoy winning seasons. At the time, it made me sick to my stomach losing how we did and being frustrated for those years, but since earning the degree and getting into the real world, I'd like to think I made the right decision to fight the good fight, and most importantly, I learned a pretty valuable lesson: There is more, much much more, to life than winning college football games.

[ProudPonyPa]

Thanks to all those who answered. All good answers!

There are still some who think I was suggesting that SMU drop to a lower division.

NONSENSE!!

And again, for those that think an experienced QB is an answer, T$M and UT are both sporting freshman QB's in Reggie and Vince - although Reggie even isn't enough for the Aggies to beat 699 yards offense under Symons of TT.

Bennett did say his expectations were to win the WAC in his first year. So NOBODY is more disappointed than Bennett. I have met him, and although I do not like him, I don't see him as the kind of fella that is going to take any of this sitting down.

If anything, he will find the answer(s) with that much more urgency. This not so great season may be the very thing that really fires him up.

Even Edison looked at every failure to make the light bulb work as a success. And how many times did he try? (some books say 5000, some say 10,000 times). Each "failure" brought him that much closer to success. Even lifting weights breaks down the muscle so it can rebuild...and be stronger.

General Washington lost more battles than he won, Lincoln failed miserably at running for public offices before he became president.. We are all educated here.

We need a few more players to get that "aha!" as they study Bennett's systems.

Bennett has many bullets for recruiting - great stadium and facility, SMU's heritage, the PALS program, his own reputation, being part of history as SMU football returns to a winning tradition, and his own creativity.

This season's win-loss record will hardly dent his recruiting efforts.