Is SMU a better job than...

[ponyinNC]

Ok, now that we've waited so long and other openings have surfaced, it's time to compare SMU to the other HC vacancies...

Arkansas ~ We are not looking at the same coaches, and everyone knew this job would be available, so does not matter.

Baylor ~ hmm, Waco sucks, perennial BIG 12 doormat, poor stadium and facilities...but BCS conference, with BCS $

Duke ~ see above, except switch Big 12 to ACC, and RDU area is a nice place to live unlike Waco..but again BCS, and Spurrier proved you CAN win an ACC title at Duke

Georgia Tech ~ They fired Gailey even though he's gone to 6 staright bowl games. Oh, if only we had that problem!!

Michigan ~ see arkansas

Nebraska ~ If they don't hire Gill, maybe comes to SMU...

Northern Illinois ~ They do have stability, as their coach retired after 12 seasons there. But a 2-10 season in the MAC?? Is that better or worse than a 1-11 season in CUSA??? You tell me...

Ole Miss Sounds like they got Nutt, so they beat us there.

Southern Miss 14th consecutive winning season, 10th bowl invitation in the last 11 seasons...They are clearly the class of CUSA.

Texas A&M ~ Sherman?? now that's a WOW hire, but not in a good way. I actually think we will get a better coach than the Ags..

Washington State PAC 10, BCS again is hard to compete with.


This is who we are now competing against...

[SMU2007]

i'd say we are worse than all of those schools with the possible exceptions of baylor and duke. while they are both in bcs conferences, they are both awful football programs that have many hard games during the year and will be much harder to bring to a level where they can compete. at least smu plays in an easy conference where a coach could make a fairly quick turnaround. all the other schools have MUCH better name recognition, will be much easier to recruit, have a bigger fan base etc.

[Dukie]

i'd say we are worse than all of those schools with the possible exceptions of baylor and duke. while they are both in bcs conferences, they are both awful football programs that have many hard games during the year and will be much harder to bring to a level where they can compete. at least smu plays in an easy conference where a coach could make a fairly quick turnaround. all the other schools have MUCH better name recognition, will be much easier to recruit, have a bigger fan base etc.

SMU is a far better job than Duke. Dallas versus RDU is a draw; the ACC has big programs but that makes it far harder to turn things around at the doormat school; Duke's academic restrictions are worse than SMU's; Duke football is completely overshadowed by Duke basketball; and, the worst point of all, Duke's AD is arguably more incompetent than Copeland was. I am not exaggerating on that last point.

Personally I'd rate SMU above Baylor, Southern Miss, NIU and Wash State, but then I have a bias against living in godawful places (Waco, Hattiesburg, and Spokane) and think the MAC sucks more than CUSA.

[ponyinNC]

Unfortunately, I think we are more similar to NIU (losing season in a bad conference). Duke and Baylor are tougher gigs, to be sure, but you cannot discount BCS $$.

[RGV Pony]

Pullman, WA=Lubbock, TX. So if it was TxTech vs. SMU, even though Lubbock is a toilet, they'd get the better coach d/t BCS $.

I think Arkansas will learn the hard way the grass isn't alway greener. Nutt had them almost always competitive in the game vs. LSU...most other coaches would get blown out every year.

USM, you'd think, would be a great situation. Low academic standards, biggest school by enrollment in the state, and all the kids who were shunned by Auburn, Alabama, Ole Miss, Miss St, and transfer possibilities.

Duke...if ever there was a coaching graveyard, that's it. Hell, Pye came from there! After the Lacrosse thing something like 57 faculty petitioned to have the school de-emphasize bigtime athletics.

Baylor...someone explain that to me. That got the bball death penalty, essentially, then hire a midmajor coach and get great recruiting classes afterward. BUT they already had a 1.2M guy with BCS skins and couldn't get it done.

Northern Ill=ULaLa

[bigdaddy08091]

We are the best job in the country. Who would not want to coach and live in the Highland Park Area? So tell me why we have such a hard time getting in quality coaches?

[QuikSStang]

We are the best job in the country. Who would not want to coach and live in the Highland Park Area? So tell me why we have such a hard time getting in quality coaches?

if highland park was the only selling point in getting a coach, we could get pete carroll easy. how about the other stuff like the football program or facilities?

[bigdaddy08091]

We are the best job in the country. Who would not want to coach and live in the Highland Park Area? So tell me why we have such a hard time getting in quality coaches?

if highland park was the only selling point in getting a coach, we could get pete carroll easy. how about the other stuff like the football program or facilities?

Pound for pound our facilities are the best in the country. The football program is part of the university. So I will ask again. Tell me why we have such a hard time getting in a quality coach?

[Stallion]

the SMU job as perceived by the Coaches is in the lower 10 percentile of all jobs in the country. Coaches would rather go to just about any job in Texas and CUSA to avoid academic and administrative [deleted] that they have to put up with at a school like SMU, Rice, Tulane.

[QuikSStang]

We are the best job in the country. Who would not want to coach and live in the Highland Park Area? So tell me why we have such a hard time getting in quality coaches?

if highland park was the only selling point in getting a coach, we could get pete carroll easy. how about the other stuff like the football program or facilities?

Pound for pound our facilities are the best in the country. The football program is part of the university. So I will ask again. Tell me why we have such a hard time getting in a quality coach?

i just dont agree that our facilities are top notch. personally, i think theyre average at best. but again, just my opinion

[ponyte]

SMU has one major advantage over most programs. SMU is located in a major media market. DFW is number 5 in population and #7 in TV households. There is the potential for SMU to have a huge media following. A new coach, if market savvy, could become a very recognizable figure in a short period of time.

[ponyinNC]

SMU has one major advantage over most programs. SMU is located in a major media market. DFW is number 5 in population and #7 in TV households. There is the potential for SMU to have a huge media following. A new coach, if market savvy, could become a very recognizable figure in a short period of time.

While I agree in principle, I think being in a big market actually hurts us, as we have to compete w/ Cowboys, Stars, Mavs, Red River Shootout, etc. Comapre that to Hattiesburg, Waco, Dekalb...what else is there to do on a sturday except go to the game???

[bigdaddy08091]

the SMU job as perceived by the Coaches is in the lower 10 percentile of all jobs in the country. Coaches would rather go to just about any job in Texas and CUSA to avoid academic and administrative [deleted] that they have to put up with at a school like SMU, Rice, Tulane.

So we will get a lower percentile coach, again? Stallion this may be true, but there has to be something else standing in the way of SMU landing a proven HC. The restrictions at Navy and Air Force are much tighter?

[SMUMan02]

SMU has one major advantage over most programs. SMU is located in a major media market. DFW is number 5 in population and #7 in TV households. There is the potential for SMU to have a huge media following. A new coach, if market savvy, could become a very recognizable figure in a short period of time.

I'm just afraid this media market is saturated between the Cowboys, Rangers, Stars and Mavs.

[FWMustangGirl]

SMU has one major advantage over most programs. SMU is located in a major media market. DFW is number 5 in population and #7 in TV households. There is the potential for SMU to have a huge media following. A new coach, if market savvy, could become a very recognizable figure in a short period of time.

That's why we need someone who can appeal to the market beyond the SMU family. It pains me, but TCU has done a great job of getting FW to support them. A few years back there were signs all over town that said "TCU - My Home Team." The people in FW (for the most part) support TCU by default. Even alums of other schools go to TCU games because it is a family-friendly activity on Saturdays in the fall, and because it is what they grew up doing if they grew up in FW. Our kids will miss out on this tradition because we are trying to keep them from associating with TCU as much as is possible. The part that TCU hasn't figured out is how to get the people from their tailgates into the games...