Honest Opinions About Coach Doh

[gregkinzer]

I can't read any more about the late A. Kenneth Pye without telling my side of the story. Pye had been hired into SMU to revive the school from the lull of being the only school to ever receive the death penalty. He was told to clean things up, and he did.

When I was recruited by Shumate, he made each of the incoming freshman go up to his office in the Perkins admin building to talk about the responsibility of being an SMU athlete in the new regime. He saw athletics as being very important for the school (winning help give free advertising to the school like when he was at Duke).

He looked me in the eyes and said (going on memory so the quote might not be correct) "We need you to represent the school in a manner befitting this university, and we need you to help us win." Then he handed me A Duke final four ring he had encased in glass and told me he wanted another one of these before I left......

Well, we didn't quite get it for him, and yes at times he appeared to be anti-athlete, but he had to ride the fence alot of time as the faculty was so dead-set against the athletic programs that he had to play peacemaker.

Was he perfect, no. But he was basically having to play Gerald Ford after Watergate. I have no issue with the job he did (even though I sure would have liked to have played with Larry Johnson )

[SMU Football Blog]

I can't read any more about the late A. Kenneth Pye without telling my side of the story. Pye had been hired into SMU to revive the school from the lull of being the only school to ever receive the death penalty. He was told to clean things up, and he did.

When I was recruited by Shumate, he made each of the incoming freshman go up to his office in the Perkins admin building to talk about the responsibility of being an SMU athlete in the new regime. He saw athletics as being very important for the school (winning help give free advertising to the school like when he was at Duke).

He looked me in the eyes and said (going on memory so the quote might not be correct) "We need you to represent the school in a manner befitting this university, and we need you to help us win." Then he handed me A Duke final four ring he had encased in glass and told me he wanted another one of these before I left......

Well, we didn't quite get it for him, and yes at times he appeared to be anti-athlete, but he had to ride the fence alot of time as the faculty was so dead-set against the athletic programs that he had to play peacemaker.

Was he perfect, no. But he was basically having to play Gerald Ford after Watergate. I have no issue with the job he did (even though I sure would have liked to have played with Larry Johnson )

Every kid want to win the game during the game. Every coach want to win the game during the game. Every administrator or team owner want to win the game during the game.

The difference is the ones that are really successful want to win every minute of every day and not just during the game. That is the difference between Jerry Jones and Mark Cuban and Tom Hicks. Two want to win every day; one only cares during the game (and even that is questionable). You decide where Pye fits into that spectrum.

[couch 'em]

The difference is the ones that are really successful want to win every minute of every day and not just during the game.

I just wanted to say that this is a great way of stating it. I will be using it. And not paying royalties.

[EastStang]

I agree that Pye was incredibly naive about what needed to be done here. He made rules that in retrospect were silly. On the other hand, you had probably a majority of SMU alums who were incredibly embarrassed by what happened and didn't want it to happen again. Giving was down because of the scandal. He also needed to repair the reputation of the University as a University. He went overboard. But at the time and we weren't in his shoes, he did repair the overall image of the University. Turner has reversed the Pye overreactions slowly. He did what he thought needed to be done. For athletics he was a disaster. But the rest of his legacy including making SMU more affordable, trying to increase the endowment, ensuring that SMU was compliant with NCAA rules and reported even minor infractions quickly, and those steps did make a positive impact in the long term. Do I wish that we had a different President, post death penalty. As a Pony Fan absolutely. As an alum, I would say yes, but I'm not going to dance on his grave, either.

[PonyDoh]

See I don't see how next year looks awful-definitely much better than this year If Doherty can sign the JUCO Guard everybody has been talking about-I don't think you miss Killen much at all. OK he scored well in some games-he has his deficiencies too. Bamba averaged almost 14 ppg in the last 10 games, throw in the Georgia Tech transfer and see the most improvement out of Dia. That's at least tall, and athletic frontline. Fill in with improvement from young guys like Malone and Nykundi and maybe some freshman like Dubois who I do think sounds like a steal for SMU and I think SMU will clearly be improved. Not competitive for anything but improved. The key is getting guys like Malone, Nykundi and Fall(still) in the workout room and filling the huge hole at PG with a JUCO -still trying to figure out who he is. I thought I had it figured out but the kid had such bad academics that I don't think it could possibly be the kid I'm thinking of.

I feel dirty saying it for the 3rd time in 2 days, but this is the correct take. Go through the roster from top to bottom and look at the increased athleticism & depth. This roster is being rebuilt and I think we'd all like to see a few more impact pieces, but its hard to deny that we're improving rather dramatically on paper.

[jtstang]

Were it not for the cheating and the death penalty, L. Don Shields would not have been forced out, Ken Pye would not have been hired, and the pendulum would not have been overswung in the opposite direction. Anybody who thinks the cheating is not responsible for the Pye model is being naive.

[MustangIcon]

Go through the roster from top to bottom and look at the increased athleticism & depth. This roster is being rebuilt and I think we'd all like to see a few more impact pieces, but its hard to deny that we're improving rather dramatically on paper.

I agree with you here. Dia is a potential stud. Malone has the ability to be a very good player and showed flashes of it this season. Harp is a good heady player and will have a nice career at SMU, in spite of the fact that he has taken more heat on this board than any player in recent seasons. We only saw Rhodes briefly this season but he certainly is very athletic. Everything I hear on Faye and Nayakundi in practice has been very positive if not, glowing in some cases. Bamba's improvement has been very significant to say the least. Then you add in a couple freshman that are leaders on top teams in the nation in Mook and Dubois. As I posted on Dubois in another thread, he is the one who runs the offense and while he might be a combo its encouraging that he is the PG for a top 40 team in the nation that plays against top competition.

Also, for all the whining a complaining that I hear about our lack of a stud PG, no one ever wants to mention our depth in the front court. Look at any team in CUSA next season, save for Memphis, and tell me if they will have a minimum of 4 impact 6'8 and taller players next season like we will (Bamba, Dia, Faye, Malone). Both Bamba and Dia were double digit point guys this year. Malone was 7-8 ppg, although incossistent. Faye sounds like he could be a force in CUSA. All 4 players are likely double digit scorers next season. Thats not even mentioning Nayakundi bc we haven't seen him on the floor this year. And I know nothing about how TK has played or if he will be back next season or what, but I can say he is a legit 7 foot tall and you can't teach that.

[ponyboy]

Anybody who thinks the cheating is not responsible for the Pye model is being naive.

Right. The train wreck of the last 20 years, as you put it, falls squarely on the shoulders of those who chose to repeatedly pay players. Pye was a mere reaction to that sickening excess.

It's high time we stopped the self flagellation. I believe Orsini's just the guy to do that.

[Alaric]

I agree with the last couple of posts. This is the brightest the program's looked since Shumate's first class. The only disconcerting issues I see are the very strange losses to super weak teams & whether we're going to see a mutiny on the Bounty and the obvious lack of a decent pg. It's ironic that we've hired a football coach who basically has a no screaming/yelling policy. It would be nice for some of that to rub off.

Dubois appears to be a 2 that's probably capable of running the point - while not ideal, it's an improvement over this year. Depth overall, especially in the front court is looking incredible (for us). This years' class will turn out to be solid. Experience & leadershhip will be better next year simply by the virtue of all these guys having another year under their belt. Transition of next years' new guys ought to be easier simply because we'll have more guys with experience in the system for them to blend with. Player development has been better than with any coach over the last 20 years.

The real problem right now is everyone's unrealistic expactations going into this year & Doherty's previous fall from grace which is in the back of people's minds. Don't panic. We'll be an upper echelon Conference USA team the year after next and will be flirting with the NIT.

[couch 'em]

Were it not for the cheating and the death penalty, L. Don Shields would not have been forced out, Ken Pye would not have been hired, and the pendulum would not have been overswung in the opposite direction. Anybody who thinks the cheating is not responsible for the Pye model is being naive.

If not for cheating in the rest of the conference, we wouldn't have had to cheat to compete.

Clearly, University of Texas is responsible for Pye.

[jtstang]

Excellent try at a proximate cause analysis. However, you fail in your lack of analysis and discussion of the foreseeability element. Remember, you must peel the onion completely to the core. No, this falls squarely on the shoulders of the cheaters at SMU.

[EastStang]

And isn't this an indictment on the entire college football system. And if its an indictment on the entire football system, well isn't this an indictment of America. I'm not going to participate in bashing this great land. Cue the Aggie Band.

[papawasamustang]

I was very disappointed in the final 8 games of the season. I really thought 4 & 4 was a legit goal.

Also, considering all the hype for this recruiting class, I found it to be very below avg to avg. On paper, I'm not impressed with the incoming class.
Having said that, I was very impressed with this past years frosh class on paper for whatever that means.

I hope that the trip to Africa this summer has a dramatic impact on the team in many ways, one of them coming closer as a team. The experiences they share together & the bonding should be very benefical & special for all of them.

I hate to say it but my expectations for next years team are lower than this years. They will have to find some floor leadership somewhere to make up for a very young & inexperienced team.

My hope is that they put it together in the last 10 games of the conference season next year so we can be really excited about the 2010 season.

Doh gets one more free ride next year & then its time to see some serious progress.

[Pony81]

Bottom line is:
Postives:
Doherty as a salesman for the university is a clear asset.
Doherty can recruit. Dia and Malone are good examples.
Malone will be better than Dia. He looks more athletic and more consistent.
Negatives:
Doh did not plan to have a disaster like this season. No one could. Losing to UC Upstate, losing the USM by 25+, ect. ect. was ridiculous. Any self respecting coach at a school like SMU can do better. I mean come on....
Regardless of how well Dia, Malone and the incoming freshmen are they still have to learn to play as a team. This will take a year or two.
BOTTOM LINE:
NIT in 2010
NCAA - if we are lucky - in 2012. Look at UAB, Houston. They likely will not get a bid and we are light years away from that type of team.