Why Fran > Johnson

[SoCal_Pony]

A Paul Johnson hire, IMO, is a sign that SMU continues to want to win the ‘right’ way, with STUDENT ATHLETES or athletes who are also students, or whatever non-sense they call that.

It would reflect yet another victory by the Trustees over the Mustang Club.

I seriously doubt PJ would bring an immediate infusion of much needed JC help.

I question his ability to recruit.

I see a continuance of all-academic honors.

I also see a man who can coach and therefore we will see some improvement. Problem is we are SOOOOOO bad that we need more than ‘some improvement’.

A Fran hire, followed by the immediate signing of 8 to 10 JCs, and I know that SMU is finally serious about winning.

I can’t imagine the stakes being much higher. When long-time fans on this board question whether or not they will renew season tickets, it speaks volumes.

[mustangxc]

echo!

I want SMU ranked in the top 25/50 in academics, and top 25/50 in athletics, but I could care less about being the #1 school for student-athlete graduation rate.

[SoCal_Pony]

Still think Fran > PJ, but the delay is ruining this years' recruiting class.

Could it be that Rick was our 2nd choice and if he commits to UCLA, Fran will be the quick back-up hire we all speculated would occur after PJ turned us down?

[cs09viking]

A Paul Johnson hire, IMO, is a sign that SMU continues to want to win the ‘right’ way, with STUDENT ATHLETES or athletes who are also students, or whatever non-sense they call that.

It would reflect yet another victory by the Trustees over the Mustang Club.

I seriously doubt PJ would bring an immediate infusion of much needed JC help.

I question his ability to recruit.

I see a continuance of all-academic honors.

I also see a man who can coach and therefore we will see some improvement. Problem is we are SOOOOOO bad that we need more than ‘some improvement’.

A Fran hire, followed by the immediate signing of 8 to 10 JCs, and I know that SMU is finally serious about winning.

I can’t imagine the stakes being much higher. When long-time fans on this board question whether or not they will renew season tickets, it speaks volumes.

PJ's resume is pretty good. Its not easy to win multiple D-II championships and Coach of the Year. And dont forget, he owned Ohio St's Jim Tressel when JT was at Youngstown.

He completely turned around a Navy team that went 2-20 before he got there...

And if you can recruit a kid to play football and then give up his life for his country...then i think you can recruit a little. BTW, 25-30% of the Navy roster was filled with Texas players.

as it stands today: JOHNSON > FRAN

[Eagle01]

PJ's resume is pretty good. Its not easy to win multiple D-II championships and Coach of the Year. And dont forget, he owned Ohio St's Jim Tressel when JT was at Youngstown.

He completely turned around a Navy team that went 2-20 before he got there...

And if you can recruit a kid to play football and then give up his life for his country...then i think you can recruit a little. BTW, 25-30% of the Navy roster was filled with Texas players.

as it stands today: JOHNSON > FRAN

It's 1-AA, not DII.

Just a pet peeve of mine, sorry.

On topic, Johnson rarely took JUCO's (as I recall), focusing on building the program from within rather than going for a quick fix that needs to be repeated every two years.

[huskerpony]

This is ridiculous.

Fran was terrible at A&M. He barely had a winning record ( 32 - 28 ) and had a losing record in the Big 12 (19-21).

R.C. Slocum had a better record there! (123-47 overall; 34-22 Big 12; and 44-6-2 SWC)

Plus, Fran is a slimeball and has 42 NCAA violations reported against him by his own Athletic Director!


Fran and Johnson aren't even in the same category.

COKER > Fran for god sakes!

Just look at their records:

Coker: 60-15, National Championship, Ranked in the Top 20 5 of 6 years, Top 5 for 3 years, and bowl games 5 out of 6 years, playing for the NC in 2 of them. Better Record than Butch Davis.

Fran (at A&M): 32-28, never finished a season ranked, 2 bowl games--lost both, best finish--3rd in division. Worse Record than R.C. Slocum.


Plus, Fran had 1 season with a better record than Coker's worst season.


FRAN IS HORRIBLE and a dispicable human being to boot.

Get off your Texas high horses. Everything in Texas isn't better. Some stuff is, but it isn't FRAN!

[jtstang]

It's real simple, math whizzes.

Franchione has a reputation of taking a bad program and turning it into a good program. This reputation is earned.

Coker has a reputation of taking a good program and turning it into a bad program. This reputation is also earned.

Which is a better fit for SMU?

[friarwolf]

Please hire Franchione today.................

[huskerpony]

Now Fran has a reputation for being worse than the previous coach. Taking a team that recently won a conference championship and never finishing better than 3rd.

Coker has a reputation for being better than the previous coach and winning a national championship which the previous coach couldn't do.

Plus Fran has a reputation for being a slimeball.


Is that in clear enough terms of reputation for you since you can't understand math?

[Bergermeister]

the delay is ruining this years' recruiting class

I think our recruiting class was "ruined" after the Arkansas State game. The kind of "players" we've been getting come here because of the school, not football. Obviously.

[joekapp11]

Slimeball, no slimeball... whatever. I want a winning football coach not a church youth group leader. If he happens to be a good guy, even better.

[jtstang]

Is that in clear enough terms of reputation for you since you can't understand math?

Coker took a good program and drove it into the ground. What would he do with a program that's NEVER LEFT THE GROUND IN TWENTY YEARS, [deleted]? You may be willing to take a chance having jsut become a ponyfan three weeks ago, but those who have been watching this train wreck for twenty years would think twice about it.

Fran turned aroudn New Mexico AND TCU and made them both relevant when they were irrelevant before he got there. Slimeball or not, SMU is irrelevant now and needs somebody who won't drive them further into mediocrity. If the choices are Fran or Coker, it's Fran every single day of the week and twice on Sunday.

[mrydel]

Now Fran has a reputation for being worse than the previous coach.

We have overcome that issue.

[huskerpony]

Is that in clear enough terms of reputation for you since you can't understand math?

Coker took a good program and drove it into the ground. What would he do with a program that's NEVER LEFT THE GROUND IN TWENTY YEARS, [deleted]? You may be willing to take a chance having jsut become a ponyfan three weeks ago, but those who have been watching this train wreck for twenty years would think twice about it.

Fran turned aroudn New Mexico AND TCU and made them both relevant when they were irrelevant before he got there. Slimeball or not, SMU is irrelevant now and needs somebody who won't drive them further into mediocrity. If the choices are Fran or Coker, it's Fran every single day of the week and twice on Sunday.

One winning season at New Mexico doesn't count for much.

Winning at TCU after the good teams left the WAC doesn't count for much.


I'll give him a couple of good years at Alabama, but Fran is just as guilty of running a program into the ground at A&M as Coker is at Miami and Slick Rick was at Colorado and UW. More so even because he wasn't successful there ever.

And going 60-15 isn't exactly running a program into the ground. I don't care who you are or whose players you are doing it with, making a national championship run and winning your conference isn't easy. Coker and Slick Rick both did it. Fran didn't.

[SMU Football Blog]

Now Fran has a reputation for being worse than the previous coach. Taking a team that recently won a conference championship and never finishing better than 3rd.

Coker has a reputation for being better than the previous coach and winning a national championship which the previous coach couldn't do.

Plus Fran has a reputation for being a slimeball.


Is that in clear enough terms of reputation for you since you can't understand math?

Fran improved UNM; Fran improved TCU; Fran improved Alabama.