Has Nobody Heard?

[jettison]

I here we are head coachless.

[SMUguy]

I heard the same thing, that he informed the team this afternoon. From what I've heard/read, several coaches already have been contacted:

Bobby Hauck (Washington assistant)
Minter (head coach at Cincinatti)
Jimbo Fisher (LSU assistant)
Art Briles (Texas Tech assistant)

and reportedly we have asked for permission to talk to three Oklahoma assistants: Mike Stoops, Brent Venables and Mike Mangino, but OU has an unwritten rule that assistant coaches don't interview for other jobs before the season is complete

Can anyone confirm all this? Or is this just wild rumor?

[ponyfanforlife]

yes sir we sure are, they asked him to resign, he said no, so they fired him, no word on the other coaches yet.

[Hilltopper]

Should we assume Coach Kueck is leaving too?

[RedRiverPony]

Did we not request permission to talk to Junior Spurrier?

[PerunaPunch]

Cavan's refusal to resign is unfortunate. And if true, certainly doesn't improve my impression of him. After the job he's done, he should have been a man and resigned -- he certainly doesn't deserve to be paid for next year.

Again, if this is true, I hope his next employer considers the ungracious way he's handling this situation

[PerunaPunch]

At the risk of completely alientating myself from the list...

If we're going to be paying Cavan for next year, can't we use him for something constructive? Maybe working the concession stands or picking up snack wrappers after the game??

[PerunaPunch]

At the risk of completely alientating myself from the list...

If we're going to be paying Cavan for next year, can't we use him for something constructive? Maybe working the concession stands or picking up snack wrappers after the game??

[SMUguy]

Peruna Punch, you are seriously disturbed.
And damn funny. I like your idea

[stangfan]

I started cheering when I heard the news about Cavan being booted out!! What took so freakin' long? He's been suckin' for years! Congratulations MUSTANGS...perhaps we'll get someone who cares...

[MustangMom]

I also feel that SMU football needed a coaching change, but come on - Coach Caven is a fine person and we should give him credit for that. Just because he did not do as well coaching as we would have liked, it not a reason to totally bad- mouth him.

I wish Coach Caven and his family the best.

------------------
Go Mustangs!!
-MustangMom

[PK]

You are right MustangMom, Cavan is a good guy, a nice guy, and to some extent I feel sorry for him because I think he was trying hard to make it work. Unfortunately the world of coaching is tough and results are very important and it became obvious that he was not going to be able to produce the necessary results (WINNING) on a consistant basis. Maybe the chemistry at some other location will be better for him. I hope it works for him somewhere...

The bottom line is that I do not think he was the right coach for SMU and SMU is what I care about. My sights are now set for the future and I hope Copeland is able to make the right decision this time and the future will be bright.

[PerunaPunch]

An additional thought...

Coaching successfully at this level is reliant on numerous variables: coaching (obviously), facilities, recruiting, administrative and alumni support, motivating, building relationships with players, injuries, schemes, coaching staff, and on and on.

So can Cavan be a successful coach? Sure. He's probably a good coach. But here, at SMU, with all the hurdles that the program has to overcome to be successful, I just don't think Mike Cavan has the wherewithall to succeed. And I think history tends to support me on this one.

At this level, the coaching (and programs) are pretty elite. When you see what a coach like June Jones did to SMU in the second half of that game, you come to the inescapable conclusion that our coaching is presently not at that elite level.

Can Cavan build a winning team? Absolutely. Can he build a champion on the Hilltop? No. So we need to go ahead and pull the cord on the life-support device (as bad as we might feel for doing it) and get a coach in here who can build that championship calibre team.