Its Official

[Hoop Fan]

Money - its not that Dan Marino would be intimidated by TT and OSU, but until our offensive line and receivers show they can match up better, no qb has a chance to look good in those games.

T-Shoot, Phillips is the incumbant and earned alot of peoples respect the way he played against TCU last fall. Whats wrong with that? Eckert hasnt played a game at SMU yet. He'll get his chance.

[Ace of Spades]

And he is not. Look at Reggie McNeal, yeah he was instanct success or looked to be instant improvement the last couple of games, but then last year. yeah he got the job done. Chris is a great athletic, but not what we need here in this offense. Im anxiously awaiting the fall.

[dandyfan]

This coaching staff does not have the luxury of waiting until after the first 4 games to start the season. If Coach B. and friends dont come up with 4 wins this year someone else will be coaching this talent next year. The QB has to produce now. For those of you that think a slower, less accurate version of Vincent Young is the answer...just watch UT flounder this year. Or, better yet, as someone has already mentioned, A&M did a dandy job with their "all purpose" QB last year.

[Hoop Fan]

This coaching staff does not have the luxury of waiting until after the first 4 games to start the season. If Coach B. and friends dont come up with 4 wins this year someone else will be coaching this talent next year. The QB has to produce now. For those of you that think a slower, less accurate version of Vincent Young is the answer...just watch UT flounder this year. Or, better yet, as someone has already mentioned, A&M did a dandy job with their "all purpose" QB last year.

First 4 games are Tech, TCU, Ok State and San Jose. I would agree that San Jose shapes up as a must win, but expecting even one win in the first three and suggesting the coach should be fired if he doesnt borders on ludicrous to me. Changing coaches after 3 years given where this program was when he got here would only set us back further. As much as I want to beat TCU or Tech, its a pipedream based on the mismatches in the trenches. And Phillips was the one guy who went toe to toe with TCU last year and competed and you guys want to dismiss him, I dont get it. For me, Bennett needs to win at least 3 WAC games next year, preferably go 4-4 in the league. It truly is unacceptable to go throught the WAC schedule without a win.

[Mike Damone]

And he is not. Look at Reggie McNeal, yeah he was instanct success or looked to be instant improvement the last couple of games, but then last year. yeah he got the job done. Chris is a great athletic, but not what we need here in this offense. Im anxiously awaiting the fall.

I'm not 100% sold on Phillips myself, but this is the dumbest f'n post I've ever read. What, because Reggie McNeal had a sophomore slump at A&M under a new coaching staff, we should be worried? What does that have to do with anything. For every one of those situations, I can give you a thousand where players improved from their freshamn to sophomore seasons. I wish somebody would've told NC State and Va. Tech to bench Rivers and Vick after they had started their freshmen years.

[LA_Mustang]

Ace of Spades wrote:

Chris is a great athletic, but not what we need here in this offense. Im anxiously awaiting the fall.

How can you say that? We have yet to run one play in a game that counts with this offense. Phillips is the most physically gifted QB we have and the only one with any D-1 experience. He showed his potential last year against TCU and we all know he has the physical tools. Tshoot and Ace of Spades have made several posts trying to downplay Phillips and I know that the two of you have a connection with one of the other QBs but constantly trashing Phillips is doing nothing for your cause. If you knew Chris, he is a great young man with a load of potential. We are very lucky he is here and not playing for the Hogs at Arkansas.

[Stallion]

.....that 6-3 defensive lineman from Atlanta is 6-0 and I don't believe received a single Division 1A offer(unless it was after signing date). As far as I've seen reported on at least two major recruiting services Dallas Washington ALWAYS wanted to go to Arkansas and turned down SMU-now it might be based on academic issues I'm not sure-but SMU pursued Washington and he chose Arkansas.

[ALEX LIFESON]

I have to back Stallion on this one, he is right on the money.

[StangEsq]

I wish somebody would've told NC State and Va. Tech to bench Rivers and Vick after they had started their freshmen years.

I don't think even the falcons would've benched Vick after the freshman year he had at VT.

[GrapevineMustang]

Judging from most of the posts I read here the name of this site should be PHILLIPSFANS.COM---- [/quote]
Oh, come on. Your loyalty to Tony Eckert is admirable, but nothing has been decided yet -- ALL of the QBs are still in a learning mode with the new offense. The fact is that Phillips is the only QB on the roster that 99.999% of the fans on this site have seen in a real game. It doesn't mean that anyone things Eckert or Romo can't play, just that Phillips showed some promise at the end of last season. Is he a star? Of course not. But the comment about is "inability to throw the ball" is insane, at best. He has an excellent throwing arm. Whether he improves all of the other elements enough to become a well-rounded quarterback remains to be seen. But challenging his ability to simply throw the ball is nuts. With the watered-down version of the offense that the coaches installed in the spring, it's impossible to get an accurate read on any of the QBs.

[money]

stallion,
i never said that 6-3 lineman was from atl. i said from a 4a in east texas. and the kid i speak of did sign with a d-1 school on signing day. and dallas had the grades and he did want to come to smu to join former atl rabbit Jammie Harper.

[Hoop Fan]

stallion,
i never said that 6-3 lineman was from atl. i said from a 4a in east texas. and the kid i speak of did sign with a d-1 school on signing day. and dallas had the grades and he did want to come to smu to join former atl rabbit Jammie Harper.

Okay, so whats your point? Is it a veiled criticism of the coaches or what? I'm sure our coaches love to turn down big nasty defensive line who get good grades when they want to come to SMU. Makes total sense.

[dandyfan]

hoop fan,

i think the point is...these coaches have to plug in what we have into the right slots. we cant afford to over look talent. by the same token we cant afford to go after every recruit OU, UT and ARK does, BUT, when we have a chance to get one we had better jump on it. i think the whole point of this thread is... we are losing a quality athlete and more than that a team leader, among the younger kids at least. EVERYONE needs to make sure this doesnt happen often. and when it does happen...just exactly what is to blame. someone closer to the player has already mentioned that this might be more than just a "playing time" problem.

[KnuckleStang]

Did anyone honestly believe we were going to keep 27 quarterbacks around? These guys all think they can play. And probably, each one of them, in his heart, thinks he should be starting. This is normal. In a situation like this, we're going to have defections. This would happen at any other school, it's definitely not unique to SMU.

[dandyfan]

kstang,
agreed, they do occur. 5 in three years. 4 of them have been starters at one time or another. i am not sure that starting is the problem here.