A face from SMU's past

[rich59]

Myrdel, you nailed it. Dave Smith was a player's coach. I thought he would be a great success at SMU as head coach because of all the attributes mentioned earlier but circumstances intruded and after three years he was gone. I was saddened and angry when Dave was terminated. I got to know Ron Meyer fairly well and had a great deal of respect for him also but never was coached by him so can't compare the two in that respect. I thought the Dave Smith uniforms were too big a change although, aside from the big change, I thought they were classy looking. Maybe Dave was trying to instill a little Ohio State vigor to the Mustangs, like Fry did at Iowa when he changed the uniforms to look like the Green Bay Packers. I personally would like SMU to go to a retro look, slightly modified, with plain red helmets, red jerseys and the tannish pants like they wore when Rote and Walker were here. To me the classic uniforms those at OU, Arkansas and Penn State wear are the best, contrasted with the garish stuff that some wear like Oregon.

[ponyte]

I find the 'player's coach' comments baffling. I know Coach Smith and have a great deal of respect for him. Having never played for him, I can only relate what other players that did play for him had to say. Not one liked him. Not a single one. The most vocal quit the team under Smith but returned under Meyer. In addition, none expressed any respect for the way Smith ran his program. There were complaints about favoritism and lack of consistent discipline.

As a freshman, I thought Meyer was a bit overzealous in his approach to conditioning, intensity and time requirement. The players ahead of me that had experienced Smith's program all seemed very pleased with Meyer's approach. The player's embraced the intensity, hard work, consistent discipline and businesslike approach that Meyer brought with him.

My experience is limited and I would like to hear more opinions from those that played for Smith when he was the head coach.

I know Smith to be a fine man and love to see him when the opportunity arises. Yet, I have never heard him described as a 'Player's' coach. Indeed, I have heard nothing but the opposite.

[mrydel]

My remarks are related to when Dave was OL coach under Fry. I have no knowledge of his acceptance, ability, or mentality as a head coach. As an assistant, his players would have walked through fire for him.

[rich59]

There were some dynamics going on when Dave was head coach that made it difficult. To begin with the decision to fire Fry was made one year before the actual event. Fry, in 1972 had a good year, being one play at Va. Tech from going to a bowl and there was a lot of sympathy for him in the media and among team members in spite of the fact that the 72 season was one of only three winning seasons in eleven. Some of Dave's staff were "Junction Boys" which may have caused them to coach differently than the SMU squad was accustomed to. The media got on Dave pretty quickly and there were some overtones because of Dave's faith. The episode about severing the ties with a "sugar daddie" hurt a lot. And there were some other issues that were not public. It was a difficult time for Dave as a head coach as opposed to the one year he had at OK, State. Having said those things I also have heard players on his squad voice distaste and yet those players I know who played when he was an assistant almost all give him high marks, including me. It is odd but true that sometimes great assistants don't make great head coaches and sometimes assistant coaches change when they become head men. I read that Lombardi as an assistant was totally different as a head coach. He might not have been as popular with his players at Green Bay without the success they enjoyed. I was fortunate or maybe unfortunate(because of lack of ability) to get to know a number of head coaches. My high school coach was a legend in Texas high schools but I don't know many who liked him although we all feared and respected him. A very likeable head coach at one college was a failure and was fired. Another great assistant that everyone worshipped never had any success as a head coach and a head coach I knew, one of the most successful in Texas college history was not well liked or trusted. I don't think anyone ever disliked Woody Woodard yet he could make chicken feathers out of chicken salad almost every time. I am still sad about what happened at SMU during 73, 74 and 75.

[NavyCrimson]

"Rich59: I personally would like SMU to go to a retro look, slightly modified, with plain red helmets, red jerseys and the tannish pants like they wore when Rote and Walker were here. To me the classic uniforms those at OU, Arkansas and Penn State wear are the best, contrasted with the garish stuff that some wear like Oregon."

Thank you!!! Thank you!!! Thank you!!!

Just make it Harvard crimson as in our school color. What a classic look!!!

[Stallion]

Junction Boys and Dave Smith probably shouldn't be used together since Smith was one of the A&M players who got the hell out of Dodge rather than sticking things out under Bear Bryant.

[rich59]

Nevertheless, there were, I believe, at least two former Aggies who were among the Junction Boys on Dave's staff. One of them I knew well and he had nothing but the highest regard for Dave. There is a lot more than meets the eye about the Junction story and unless one was there, I question judgmental statements about it. To begin with there is a lot of hyperbole about that story and going through two a days during that time was tough in any program. The fact is that Dave was a QB, certainly more of a passer than a runner and his skills did not fit into Bryant's scheme. Dave may have saved a team mate's life at Junction but he ultimately left A&M and pursued his coaching career.

[rich59]

Interesting anecdote regarding the Junction Boys and SMU. In the book"Junction Boys" by Jim Dent, I think, there was a story about when A&M was getting ready to play SMU during Bryant's first year. A coach was telling one of the Aggie linemen that SMU had a big tackle named Forrest Gregg who could be intimidated if the Aggie fired out and put a real lick on him on the first play from scrimmage. In the book, the Aggie did that and had no trouble with Gregg from then on. SMU, that year had at least a half dozen players who went on to play in the NFL, three of whom are in the NFL Hall of Fame,(Gregg, Berry and Hunt) they had three ends who played in the NFL and beat the Aggies by a score of 6-3. Shows what kind of a coach Woodard was. Anyway, I have a close friend who was a sophomore on that SMU team and played a lot that year and in that game. I asked him if Forrest Gregg could be intimidated like that. He thought a minute and then said, "I don't believe that Forrest Gregg was ever intimidated by anyone or anything." I read in a biography of Lombardi that he said that Gregg was the best football player he ever coached and it was said that Gregg was the only player Lombardi ever coached that he was afraid of. I guess the story in "Junction Boys" might have been a stretch.

[NavyCrimson]

Doak Walker on LIFE magazine. I have it but sorry that I don't have a clue about how to post stuff on this web site. I got it off of ebay.

Closest thing I know of: http://smumustangs.cstv.com/sports/m-fo ... ts-45.html

[HB Pony Dad]

Doak Walker on LIFE magazine. I have it but sorry that I don't have a clue about how to post stuff on this web site. I got it off of ebay.

Closest thing I know of: http://smumustangs.cstv.com/sports/m-fo ... ts-45.html

[NavyCrimson]

I knew you were a better man than I.

[Rayburn]

Glad to see this thread resurrected.

The idea of Forrest Gregg being intimidated by anyone is really pretty funny.

Woody Woodard was a heck of a nice guy but, from what I understand, Hank Stram was largely in charge when he came over from Perdue. Which prompts the question: What direction would SMU football have taken had Stram been hired in 1957 instead of Meek? Stram wanted the job and always contended that he was not hired because he was Catholic.

Meek had a short and unsuccessful stint as a head coach at Utah in the 1970s.

[NavyCrimson]

You got it. SMU is a school made of "what ifs" for coaches.

[ponyte]

A Mustang Mania poster with a schedule.

[ponyte]

Another Mustang Mania poster from 1979