Was Coach Roark retained by Coach Jones?

mustangfan01 · Post by **mustangfan01** » Thu Jan 24, 2008 4:50 pm

Roark was ranked as one of the top 5 non-BCS recruiters....along with the fact that he bypassed on opportunity to leave for a similar job at Univ of Tenn 2 years ago -- so it's hard to challenge his commitment to SMU.

Roark would be an asset to this new coaching staff.

RedRiverPony · Post by **RedRiverPony** » Thu Jan 24, 2008 5:10 pm

He was contacted by Nebraska, but I don't recall any Tennessee offer.

He also is good buddies with Jeremy Crabtree, who did that ranking.

TheBestAvailable · Post by **TheBestAvailable** » Thu Jan 24, 2008 5:58 pm

mustangfan01 wrote:Roark was ranked as one of the top 5 non-BCS recruiters....along with the fact that he bypassed on opportunity to leave for a similar job at Univ of Tenn 2 years ago -- so it's hard to challenge his commitment to SMU.
Roark would be an asset to this new coaching staff.

Where are our top 5 recruits he pulled?????

Also, how can you rank as a top anything recruiter when the team you recruit for has classes that rank in the low hundreds every year?

What is the ranking criteria?

I call BS.

PonySoprano · Post by **PonySoprano** » Thu Jan 24, 2008 6:39 pm

I believe Devon Bailey, who was a top 10 player in Oklahoma, was recruited by Coach Roark.

Stallion · Post by **Stallion** » Thu Jan 24, 2008 6:51 pm

Muse too. How about mcCann.

stampedesbabyboy · Post by **stampedesbabyboy** » Thu Jan 24, 2008 7:02 pm

DeMyron Martin, Jessie Henderson, Justin Willis....Freshman All-Americans!
Andrew McKinney had multiple Big 12 offers

SoCal_Pony · Post by **SoCal_Pony** » Thu Jan 24, 2008 8:14 pm

Wasn't he our recruiting coordinator for the past 5 years?

During that time, we were ranked almost dead bottom by Rivals in C-USA, only Rice had a materially lower score.

I do know that Ark State had a higher Rivals ranking over the past 4 years.

I'm with BestAvail on this one. I don't buy it.

PonySnob · Post by **PonySnob** » Thu Jan 24, 2008 10:18 pm

stampedesbabyboy wrote:DeMyron Martin, Jessie Henderson, Justin Willis....Freshman All-Americans!

And how did those players do as sophomores/juniors?

PonySoprano · Post by **PonySoprano** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 10:01 am

PonySnob wrote:
stampedesbabyboy wrote:DeMyron Martin, Jessie Henderson, Justin Willis....Freshman All-Americans!

And how did those players do as sophomores/juniors?

You're absolutely right. JJ should pull all of their scholarships and tell these guys "good luck at SFA"

Post by **Webmaster** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 10:51 am

I don't make it a point to get on here and editorialize, but I think I should make 2 points. First is that as the recruiting coordinator, Roark shouldn't receive sole praise -- or blame -- for the recruits. You have to look at the guys each coach brought in.

Second, Sawyer is one of the better coaches on the former staff. I say this for several reasons. As a former DL, I recognize that his understanding of technique is excellent and he's a very good teacher. He's a consummate motivator -- and he's the right kind of motivator IMHO (as compared many of the other coaches in the Bennett era). Every year, the Mustang DL's have either been a strength of the team, or as in last year, were a bunch of guys who played way over their heads. I'm not real fond of the way the defense turned out last year, but seriously, look at what he had to work with... Charlie Berry and a bunch of freshmen nobody had ever heard of.

Then look at the recruits Sawyer brought in. And don't forget to credit him for the recruits he was responsible for initially bringing in, who were then turned over to that recruit's respective position coach (which is usually the coach we credit in the Recruiting Roundup).

Lastly, I really like the fact that Sawyer isn't a Bennett guy -- he's an SMU guy who fought his way onto Bennett's staff. He came on to the staff for essentially no money and coached his way up the org chart.

The reason I'm pimping Sawyer so hard, is that he's the one guy off the former staff that I think would be a crime to let go. In the final analysis, you have to evaluate a college coach by 1) the recruits he brings in, and 2) how well he's played the card he's dealt (e.g. taking unheralded players like Adrian Haywood and turning them into All-Conference performers).

Which opens another long debate... Are true DT's as hard to recruit as people say? What if Desmond Jones was still around as a 5th year senior alongside Berry? What if Alex Odiari came in as expected last year? Why didn't Bennett's staff put any more recruiting emphasis at the DL position (i.e. for the last 3 years -- recruiting classes '04-'06 -- we only recruited one true freshman DL in DeGroat... the other, Chase Smith was quickly moved to OL)?

I think Sawyer took some lemons and made a lot of lemonade.

SMUFan · Post by **SMUFan** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 11:00 am

Nicely put, and I agree with you.
I also think it's time to stop ripping the former coaches and start supporting the current ones.

PonySnob · Post by **PonySnob** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 12:42 pm

PonySoprano wrote:
PonySnob wrote:
stampedesbabyboy wrote:DeMyron Martin, Jessie Henderson, Justin Willis....Freshman All-Americans!

And how did those players do as sophomores/juniors?

You're absolutely right. JJ should pull all of their scholarships and tell these guys "good luck at SFA"

My point was that they all had spectacular freshmen seasons, but regressed some the following year............

Bergermeister · Post by **Bergermeister** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 1:32 pm

Webmaster wrote: Sawyer is one of the better coaches on the former staff. .

That's not saying much. Good luck, Mr. Sawyer.

Post by **Webmaster** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 3:34 pm

Bergermeister wrote:
Webmaster wrote: Sawyer is one of the better coaches on the former staff. .

That's not saying much. Good luck, Mr. Sawyer.

The downside of team sports is that one great team-member doesn't automatically equate to having a great team.