Copeland

[Stallion]

No KnuckleStang -its not the Board of Trustees! I'm positive because Copeland told me so when he sold the "Commitment" and when he fired Cavan and DeMent. The man should either be judged accordingly or if he wasn't fully disclosing the situation he should resign for selling [deleted].

[KnuckleStang]

Huntn, I realize Copeland didn't go to SMU. My point is, the trustees call the shots around here, and they create a hostile environment for any D-1 athletic director. They deeply mistrust "bigtime" football, and want to believe we're the Harvard of the south. Copeland has had some success working with these people to ease our academic restrictions, and get us, at least to start, going in the right direction. To me, it just makes no sense to blame Copeland when there are extreme limits on what he's allowed to do. I agree with Stallion and yourself about the "Commitment" BS, but I think canning Copeland for not winning here is about the same as canning a coach for not winning here. Misplaced aggression.

[huntnfish]

Preach on Stallion. Everyone is held to Copeland's standards but Copleand.

[Stallion]

well we agree with that-but apparently Copeland doesn't.

[EastStang]

Don't make fun of my other alma mater now. Heck William and Mary with half of our scholarships (1-AA) came darn close to beating an admittedly bad BCS-UNC team on the road two weeks ago. They have a great coach (who was offered the job here by Copeland before he settled on Cavan) and signed the top QB in Virginia last year. They chose 1-AA because their natural rivals decided to go 1-AA together (Richmond, VMI, James Madison, Delaware, Davidson, App. State, Lehigh). They are on their fifth basketball coach in a decade though. The fact is that we and our rivals didn't choose 1-AA, but our administration, trustees included, acted like we were 1-AA for 15 years. I agree with Stallion that Copeland should not fire any more coaches. I also agree we've now got to produce. If Bennett goes 0 for 04, then we should have two vacancies this winter.

[KnuckleStang]

Eaststang, I would never make fun of W&M, I am a fan. My brother played for them in the mid '90's, and I think Laycock is a genius. In fact, I am flying down to Zable for the VMI game on the 25th. I only referenced them because I do not feel we are in the same league with them academically, and the trustees seem to think we are.

As far as the "Commitment" hoax goes. Let's put ourselves in Copeland's boots for a second. Our revenue teams suck, and he knows our trustees have no intention of making a real commitment to winning in D-1. Still, the athletic dept. needs money. At the same time, he also believes he can make strides in turning this thing around with some work on the phones and in the boardroom. He has three options: 1.) He can tell everyone SMU has a new "Commitment" to winning (even though that's a gross exaggeration), raise money, and simultaneously work like hell to make the necessary changes in the admissions process to be competitive, and hope we are indeed competitive by 2005 or so; 2.) Quit; or, 3.) Run a sweeping, comprehensive "Lack of Commitment" fund-raising campaign, and watch the Mustang Club endowment plummet to $1,000.

Copeland chose 1. I'm not sure what I would have done, but I can tell you one thing. Options 2 and 3 would have done us absolutely no good. I don't like being "lied to" any more than Stallion or anybody, but we all know the score. And given Copeland's situation, I think the guy is running this thing the best way he knows how. If he's allowed to keep working, it might just pay off in the end. Hell, he's had better luck changing things than anybody else has.

[OldPony]

I find it amusing that we discuss girls soccer (?) coach as a reason to hire or fire anyone. I think Dement thought he could win despite the restrictions. Cavan was just a bad hire and there was no reason to fire Rossley except that Copeland wanted his man in there. He got him and we all got punished. Cavan might be a decent coach if given a proper chance but I doubt it. It appears that no one else is willing to give him a chance so we may never know. Tubbs may be a great hire but I think it was forced on Copeland but like any good twirler, Jim found the band and got in front of it. Bennett, though, was smart enough to know what he was getting into. He should either turn it around within 3 more years or hit the road WITH big Jim in tow. I'm not talking BCS bowls but I am talking the "something" bowl. The other JC couldn't have held the SWC together and we are now in the best position we have been since its destruction. Maybe big Jim just got in the way but I don't think so. I would give him mixed marks. Mixed marks don't allow for another failure in football or basketball though.

[huntnfish]

Old Pony:

The girl's soccer comment on the Greg Ryan bad hires was used as an example of bad hires and decisions across all sports. The guy has been here for 8 years and we are on our third football and basketball coach in that time. Copeland must be held accountable eventually, right? Or I guess some of you think would should give him the opportunity to continue forever regadrless of his past failures. Man I wish could get that same deal in my job.

[Bergermeister]

Copeland said he wants you fired, too. Guess y'all are even. Next topic...

[Johnny Rock]

I am glad to see that others feel the same way I do in that Copeland needs to go. We need a fresh start in the athletic program. Since the announcement of the imfamous "Commitment", SMU has been significantly worse. Copeland leads the athletic program and he is responsible for the longest losing streak in the history of SMU. SMU could possibly be the worst team in Division 1-A (we will find out when we play San Jose St.). Meanwhile, our foes in Fort Worth have assembled one of the top non-BCS football teams in the country and experienced several post season tournament appearances in basketball. Why you ask? TCU'S athletic director hired name coaches with Division 1 success, i.e., Fran, Tubbs, etc. Copeland didn't. TCU'S athletic director also did not over schedule their football team every year like SMU. Copeland should be fired for his scheduling alone. Why are we playing top 20 caliber teams every week? We should be playing teams we have a chance of beating. Copeland sucks....it is as simple as that. And for those of you who disagree with me...well, you are wrong and part of the problem. The end.

[davidsmu94]

I'll admit that I am biased, I hate Jim Copeland, primarily for what he did to the Men's track Program, but if you are a Pony football fan, you have plenty to be upset about. Poor records in football, sagging attendance, student apathy ect. I can't think of one Jim Copeland hire, which has worked out so far (correct me if I'm wrong). but the Men's Soccer and Track teams were from people he inherited. Also women's BB was inherited, so were men's and women's swimming. If I had the kind of results Jim has in my job, would I be fired? I think so.

[rich_alum]

I believe we have to schedule those better teams for attendance reasons. Besides, I enjoy playing them for both the off-chance of a monster upset and also to get a first hand view of some of the nations top players (i.e. Woods, Symons, etc.. last year)

I think it will make our guys that much better going into conference to have played against talented teams as well.........especially when we play the likes of Fresno and Boise (winner of these two could be BCS bound)

People on this board really need to settle down......the potential to lose a lot of games this year shouldn't come as a surprise. These things take time.

[MrMustang1965]

Oh man! I thought I was on the Sam Houston State message board for a second!

If you think things are bad here at SMU, try this on for size: Athletic Director Bobby Williams has been there since 1982; football coach Ron Randleman has been there since 1982, too. Here's the Bearkats' win-loss record during their tenure: Won 121, Lost 120, Tied 3 in 21 seasons at Sam Houston.

And although the petition idea is a novel one, I tried the same thing at Sam Houston last year to get Ron Randleman dismissed. It only garnered five signatures during the four months it was online.

[Diehard Pony]

Britton Banowsky has wanted SMU in C-USA since the 1999 attempt because: 1) he lives in Highland Park and has for a long time; 2) he wanted to move the conference office to Dallas, but didn't feel like he could without a program located here; and 3) is very good friends with Gerald Turner. The only thing that kept us out in '99 was the Malin thing was under investigation and we were 0-6 in football (remember Cavin losing weight each week). Copeland gets no credit for C-USA and, in fact, I guess you could pin the blame on him for us not getting in in '99 (Cavin and Malin).

I am in Stallion's camp on this one. He should be judged by the Committment standards, and we are about as far removed from the established goals as you can get.

Finally, Dr. Turner has had as much or more to do with what changes have been made to academic requirements for athletes as anyone.

[RGV Pony]

People can complain about the Commitment or say they won't renew season tix etc. etc. Sadly, though, I think those folks are forgetting one important lesson from the Ron Meyer era: MONEY wins championships. No, I'm not suggesting SMU cross the line. However, there is a way to do it the right way. Everybody give more. Again, I'll cite as an example a school to which I pay tuition & fees for my stepdaughter...LSU. No public funds are used for their football program, it all comes from TAF. Apples and oranges, perhaps, but $$ wins championships. SMU needs more. Don't have any championships? Give more money.