Correction - History Lesson - But Won't Make Any Difference

[SMUstang]

My memory is not perfect. I had 6 years for Cavan and 5 for Rossely. The reality is the opposite. The numbers below are corrected.

Gregg had a 3-19-0 record the first two years out of the death penalty against SWC competition.

Rossely had a 15-48-3 record against SWC competion and kept us from being embarrassed in games we shouldn't have even been playing. Besides that, he had a pretty innovative and interesting offense.

Cavan had a 18-28-0 record in the WAC. We won the most games under him, mostly with Rossely's recruits. Then each year after that we won fewer and fewer games.

Bennett has a 3-21-0 record his first two years against WAC competition. Certainly not as good as any of the above mentioned coaches. We have gotten whipped by Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, TCU, Boise State, La Tech, and others during his short tenure. (Can you believe La Tech?)

If Gregg and/or Rossely had the freedom that Bennett has now, plus "The Committment", and Ford Stadium, and The Boulevard, we would be miles ahead of where we are now.

I used to be a big supporter, a season ticket holder for both football and basketball, and a Mustang Club member. Any question why I'm not now? We have progressively gotten worse year by year.

[Sam I Am]

Even though I frequently cite that others have done more with less, none of our coaches have done any good since the DP. I truly think that the coach does make a big difference, but I also accept that the system has worked against any of them succeeding. Regretably, I think SMU will have to replace Bennett too until we write a blank check and hire a miracle worker.

[RGV Pony]

Bill Snyder's 1st two years at K-State: 6-16

[SMUstang]

Bill Snyder's 1st two years at K-State: 6-16

6-16 sure beats the he!! out of 3-21 (Now 3-23) doesn't it? And against Big-8 competition instead of WAC competetion.

[EastStang]

But turnarounds have occurred with moribund programs over the years. Mac Brown at UNC, Snyder at K-State, and all of these took time. We just took the handcuffs off our coaches two years ago. Let's give Bennett the benefit of the doubt for this year and see if we get some wins. This is the last game of any honeymoon period. We tried to get out of OSU and schedule a stiff, but couldn't get out of the contract without a huge financial penalty. So, if we don't win or even lose badly, no one is going to fault him. After OSU, we need to start seeing some positive progress and results. We need a win against SJS, or things will get very ugly.

[Stallion]

that's just ridiculous. You only get 6 chances to beat Rice Institute and then you lose your job. THE MAN CAN NOT RECRUIT.. And please stop trying to pass [deleted] to a [deleted]-er. Gregg and Rossley's records in the SWC were not as stated. Gregg never won a game in the SWC and Rossley won only a handful of games in 6 years in the SWC. Your numbers as pathetic as they are have been inflated by wins against the likes of NTSU etc. The real winning percentage against teams ACTUALLY in the SWC approaches about 12-14%.

[BRStang]

I will say that the games during the Rossley era were at least more fun to watch than under this regime.

However, the most effort and enthusiasm I saw under Bennett was against Tech two weeks ago. This may be a good sign for things to come when SMU gets into WAC play later this month.

Give Bennett the rest of this season before making any final judgments on his coaching and recruiting abilities. That is at least fair...he will have had 3 seasons.

[OldPony]

What a stupid analysis to start this thread. All of these coaches had different problems and different circumstances. Bennett appears to have better circumstances going for him than the others but when you start calling for the guys job in less than 3 yrears, it just makes you look foolish. No one could have possibly put a winning team on the field in the past 2 years- No one. No one would want this job if Bennett were to be fired before the end of his 4th year- No one (but an idiot). If you want to challenge Copeland because he has been so slow to be able to get restrictions removed, that's fair game but even then he can p[oint to some mixed results under his watch.

[SoCal_Pony]

For the record, during the Gregg / Rossley years, our combined record was 13-51-3

Of those 13 wins, 3 were against non D1-A schools, CT and NTSU (we also lost once to NTSU).

Of the remaining 10 wins, only 1 was against a team with a winning record, Arkansas, which went 8-5 that year.

Of the remaining 9 wins, the combined records of the teams we defeated were 27-71-2. That is a 28% winning percentage which would place you as one of the 10 worst teams in all of college football during this 7-year period.

[PlanoStang]

For the record, during the Gregg / Rossley years, our combined record was 13-51-3

Of those 13 wins, 3 were against non D1-A schools, CT and NTSU (we also lost once to NTSU).

Of the remaining 10 wins, only 1 was against a team with a winning record, Arkansas, which went 8-5 that year.

Of the remaining 9 wins, the combined records of the teams we defeated were 27-71-2. That is a 28% winning percentage which would place you as one of the 10 worst teams in all of college football during this 7-year period.

Maybe, but the experts aka media were saying we wouldn't win a game in 5 years coming off the DP.

[PonySnob]

Maybe, but the experts aka media were saying we wouldn't win a game in 5 years coming off the DP.

I seem to remember that some in the media were saying 10 years, not 5. In either case, neither Gregg or Rossley lost 14 games in a row with no end to the streak in sight.

[SMUstang]

What a stupid analysis to start this thread. All of these coaches had different problems and different circumstances. Bennett appears to have better circumstances going for him than the others but when you start calling for the guys job in less than 3 yrears, it just makes you look foolish. No one could have possibly put a winning team on the field in the past 2 years- No one. No one would want this job if Bennett were to be fired before the end of his 4th year- No one (but an idiot). If you want to challenge Copeland because he has been so slow to be able to get restrictions removed, that's fair game but even then he can p[oint to some mixed results under his watch.

For the record, I am not calling for Bennett's job. I wish him the very best. But I say if he doesn't show some progress soon, then he should be fired. We have very seldom been competitive against anyone that mattered under him. We have been blown out to the point that I am almost embarrassed to tell anyone I went to SMU. My sons who went to Texas Tech laugh at me because I still care about SMU. We might be better off without a football program at all than one that goes 0-12 most of the time. In the WAC no less.

[OldPony]

Sorry- I'm embarrassed for you too with 2 sons at TT. Calm down- I'm just kidding. When you start calling for progress, you must realize where you started. We have improved greatly in athletic ability under Bennett. This won't turn into many W's though for a couple more years. Bus is right. To turn into a real football team we need to win the war in the trenches. We are not getting the guys in talent or number to do that yet although this year's recruiting class does hold some promise. Everyone wants to talk about QB's, recievers or running backs but the big people are what really matter. W's will follow the recruitmenmt of big, athletic linemen. Things are already better in these departments BUT it will take many of our current guys the full four to five years to become big and mature enough to get us to respectability without more talented linemen. Bus has been right for a long time. Bring me some big guys.

[SoCal_Pony]

The point of my post is that those of you who yearn for the good old days under Rossley….well I don’t think they were all that good.

You may look fondly on a 5 year span that produced only 1 victory against a team with a winning record and had the 5th worst winning percentage in college football, not me.

Don’t let today’s failures cloud your thinking that ANY era post dp has been good, they haven’t.

[SMUstang]

The point of my post is that those of you who yearn for the good old days under Rossley….well I don’t think they were all that good.

You may look fondly on a 5 year span that produced only 1 victory against a team with a winning record and had the 5th worst winning percentage in college football, not me.

Don’t let today’s failures cloud your thinking that ANY era post dp has been good, they haven’t.

I certainly don't think that any era, post death penalty, has been good. My point is that, relatively speaking, we had more success under Gregg and Rossely than we have had since. Given the same resources and circumstances, I think Rossely would have taken us farther than Cavan. The jury is still out on Bennett. We seem to be regressing, if that is possible, given where we started. I'm tired of being the laughing stock of Division 1-A.