New Coach for Y'all

[HFvictory]

I do not think the Frogs are worried about being out-recruited by Bennett. TCU had a great class the last 2 years and have really added depth to their team and can continue to go after big OL & DL and bring in a few skill positions each year.

Look at the depth TCU has at QB, TB, WR, TE and OL right now and you know the recruiting has gone very well. Good luck with Bennett. I personally do not think he will get it done for you, but I sincerely hope SMU turns it around soon. I think Bennett made some moves out of desparation this year and none worked out. If you look at who drops off the board next year and the replacements coming in at SMU you cannot be very excited about the prospects next year. You can complain about the recruiting of prior coaches, but those guys were some of the few highlights of the team this year. Injuries certainly hurt in the past, but depth at the skill positions took a severe beating this year and will again next year.

<small>[ 11-23-2003, 07:41 AM: Message edited by: HFvictory ]</small>

[Stallion]

PortlandPony it was because of the momentum of a new coach who brought a new attitude-had some early success almost took us to a bowl game. The reason recruiting dropped off is because his program lost momentum on the field so that rah rah attitude by a new coach goes stale. Bennett will be fighting the same perception on the recruiting trail this year. Thank god we now allow early commitments and by the grace of god we can keep some of the excellent early recruits we have. Remember Cavan NEVER had that opportunity.

[ponyboy]

Then it was an unbelievable coincidence that we went from third in the state in recruiting in the two years before the Malin incident to the undeniably worst Division I recruiting in the state after Malin. Call it loss of momentum if you'd like, but seems to me similar to the "loss of momentum" a pilot might feel when hitting the side of a mountain.

[Stallion]

and you continue to misrepresent the truth about our recruiting to grossly unbelievable degree. We had the third best recruiting in the state for a two year period? You want to back that up?

[DallasDiehard]

Originally posted by MizterTea:

Originally posted by OldPony:
[qb] .... R.C. kept that program alive and won games on a national level when the rest of the SWC barely rivaled the present-day Sun Belt ....

Wrong. Slocum kept the program from reaching the heights it should have reached. His antiquated philosophies limited what might have been the most talented team in the nation for a few years, and he survived because his Good Ol' Boy personna appealed to some aggie alumni. (And are you saying that Texas and Arkansas were Sun Belt-caliber? Interesting perspective....)

[Stallion]

somewhere far between both opinions is the truth. Slocum retired with a lifetime winning record in the top 5 of all active coaches, won more conference titles than any coach I know of in modern Aggie history and for a good part of his career had the undisputed best football program in the state dominating the more traditional power Texas. His record stands on its own and yet he didn't win the big enchilada-he has a lot of company.

[EastStang]

Froggie go home. Had you read the posts here for the last three months, you'd know this issue has been chewed on for some time. (1) You fire a coach after two years , two things happen. First, you have a big check you have to write. Second, no other decent coach will come because he knows he won't be given a chance to succeed. (2) Bennett was a protoge of R.C. Slocum. Do you think he'd come to a school that fired one of his former staff members after two years? The answer is easy. When you have beaten us for 20 straight years (like we beat you) then you have the right to be embarrassed about playing us.

[gostangs]

HF - If you have really studied who "drops" off this year and who comes in next year - you would know that is the only thing that keeps us all from jumping off a bridge - this team gets better at every position next year - I can think of no exceptions. You guys improve in some (and have good depth in most) but in a few you do not look nearly as stong - DL and DB jump to mind - Stallion - you see this with non red & blue glasses - Am I right or just falling into next year syndrum?

[Metropolis777]

1st off READ MY ORIGINAL POST. No I haven't spent any time on this board.

I guess I'm seeing why SMU is in such a mess. I hope Bennett turns it around. But, I don't think he will. And furthermore he doesn't put a strong face on the program. My whole point is to get a significant name heading up the program to get people to care about SMU football. Okay, RC isn't an option. But I just think there is someone out there that will put a face back on SMU football.

Look at UH. They got Art Briles. A significant name in Texas state football and people started to take notice even before they played a game.

[Stallion]

well TCU has commitments from 2 National JUCOs, one who was a 4 star and decommitted from Texas and another who signed with Tennessee, committed to Arkansas but switched to TCU. Plus several backups in the defensive line-DL might turn out the be a Froggie strength next year not weakness.

[EastStang]

Look, we didn't have a lot of people who wanted the job 2 years ago. Bennett did. Bennett has coached at the highest levels of Div 1-A as an assistant, has Texas ties, and has very close ties to the DISD which are already paying dividends. We have academic restrictions that prevent us from picking up many JUCO's. We don't have majors for dummies like the Frogs do (Sports Management?) which make it hard for JUCO's to bring transferable hours to SMU. Art Briles is a good coach, who also had ties to UH, some decent players, and the ability to get JUCO players admitted. If Forrest Gregg came back to SMU and said, I want to coach here again, we'd probably take him, or Bum Phillips for that matter (what a mistake that was to pass him over for Dave Smith). But for now, we will keep trying to move our glacially slow academicians to add a P.E. major, and hope that for the next three years Bennett keeps recuiting great prospects so that we can be competitive when we move into CUSA, and hopefully that he is learning on the job as well. Many successful head coaches had some tough early years while they learned to head coach. We were close in four games this year including Tulsa, Baylor, Nevada. All pretty decent teams. But for now, I just hope that the Frogs take it easy on us on Saturday.

[Stallion]

BTW I ran across a report on the Malin situation. We lost 4 scholarships each for two years off the 25 man per year limit. Not off the 85 man limit. Therefore, we were never under 81 scholarships. Had very little effect on our program. Hell under Rossley we rarely gave out 81 scholarships in the first place.

[ponyboy]

Stallion, you're not suggesting the Malin situation had little effect on recruiting are you? Several years back, you stood right next to me in singing the praises of the Sterling Harris, Vic Viloria, Chris Cunningham, etc. classes. Those were top classes undeniably below the likes of UT and A&M but in the same class as the Texas Techs and TCUs. The Malin thing happens and BOOM we absolutely stink in recruiting. Perhaps it is coincindence or fall of in Cavan's momentum. But you cannot deny the attractiveness of the Malin theory.

[McAndless]

Not only did we lose 4 scholarships a year, we also had to cut back visits per year by 8. So 8 ships and 16 visits over two year span probably didn't help. There were probably a number of things that stopped Cavan's momentum, and this is certainly one of them.