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

[SoCal_Pony]

It is a fact that out of ~115 D1-A schools:

during Gregg’s 2 years, ~110 schools had better W-L records than us
during Rossley’s 5 years, ~110 schools had better W-L records than us
during Cavan’s 6 years, ~85 schools had better W-L records than us
during Bennett’s 2+ years, ~113 schools had better W-L records than us

I personally have no opinion as to whether or not Rossley could have taken us farther than Cavan.

What I do know is that all 4 of the above individuals are competent and experienced, that 3 failed miserably and the other is staring down a 15 game losing streak (to a lesser degree, the same can be said of Dement).

It leads to an obvious conclusion. Stop blaming our COACHES.

[SMUstang]

It is a fact that out of ~115 D1-A schools:

during Gregg’s 2 years, ~110 schools had better W-L records than us
during Rossley’s 5 years, ~110 schools had better W-L records than us
during Cavan’s 6 years, ~85 schools had better W-L records than us
during Bennett’s 2+ years, ~113 schools had better W-L records than us

I personally have no opinion as to whether or not Rossley could have taken us farther than Cavan.

What I do know is that all 4 of the above individuals are competent and experienced, that 3 failed miserably and the other is staring down a 15 game losing streak (to a lesser degree, the same can be said of Dement).

It leads to an obvious conclusion. Stop blaming our COACHES.

OK - but who is responsible for the game plan? Who is responsible for motivating the team? Who is responsible for preparing the team? Who is responsible for using the tools he has at hand to the best advantage? If you are going to tell me it's the AD, I say you are full of it.

[PK]

I really don't understand why it is so damn hard for some of you to see the situation here. We talk about Bennett having three recruiting classes...that first class was mostly Cavan recruits, which means they were recruited under a more restrictive policy. So basically what we have here is two recruiting classes. Those recruits are now sophmores, redshirt freshman and true freshman. We have only 11 seniors and only 5 of those are starters. We have only 16 juniors and I admit I have no idea how many of them are starters. Our starting O-line is 1 junior and 4 sophmores. The back ups are sophmores, redshirt freshmen and true freshmen. Just what the hell do you expect out of all of this. Get a grip folks!!!!! Unfortunately our ability to recruit JUCO's is still limited, so filling in the holes with older more experienced players is not possible. Now our more experienced defensive players are beat up. So we are fielding a junior varsity against everyone elses varsity. This is going to be an ugly year, but until we can fill out the two deep with seniors and juniors, it's going to be damn tough. The bright side, if you can call it that, is that when we reach that point of SR's and JR's filling the two deep, those guys are going to have a lot of experience under their belts.

You want to help? Bend the Admin's ear to provide some courses that will allow more JUCO's to be able to transfer hours here. Jeez, even a hundred JUCO's out of a 10,000 student enrollment isn't going to send our academic ratings into a cellar. (I know that is a condecending out look on JUCO's, but that seems to be how the faculty looks at it.)

[SMUstang]

Yeah yeah, we've been a young team filled with freshmen and sophmores for 16 years. When are we ever going to get any upper classmen?

[Hilltopper]

Actually, PK is exactly right. The year Cavan had a winning season, the starting lineup on both sides of the ball was almost entirely juniors and seniors. And they were guys who had played a ton as freshmen and sophomores, and lost a lot of games in the process. This group of freshmen and sophomores has far more athletic ability than that group. When this group acquires the same level of experience and maturity, they too will win. Stay the course, Coach Bennett. There are going to be some serious bumps in the road any time you're starting from scratch. Not that Coach Bennett didn't inherit a handful of good players, but it was nowhere near enough.

[BRStang]

Question for you Hilltopper and PK: Do you think Bennett should be allowed to continue as HC if we only win 1 or 2 games? How about if he goes 0-11?

Just curious to see how much line you're willing to give him.

[Pony4Life]

I'd keep him with even one or two wins. Next year, he has to win more, when his players are reaching physical maturity and have experience in the system.

[PK]

I'm willing to give him enough line to get his recruits into their senior year and see the results (not that I or anyone else on this board has any say in his employment status)...that's only fair. He is a pretty good recruiter and the recruiting policy is the best it has been since the Pye era, so given the time to bring these guys along should start showing up pretty soon...maybe even toward the middle of this season. I've waited this long for a reversal in our fortunes...another year isn't going to matter much now.

If you want a million dollar coach who can walk on water and perform miracles, you better be ready to plunk down the cash because this university isn't going to.

[SMUstang]

I don't think that TCU, Tulsa, Northwestern or K-State had million dollar coaches when they turned their programs around. Nor did it take 4 or 5 years to do it. SMU is just not lucky enough to hire a coach like that.

Yes my frustration is showing. I sure didn't expect it to take 16+ years to regain a good football program. I'm tired of all the same old excuses. Football is my passion. SMU is where my heart is. I would like to see a few more significant wins before I die.

[PK]

As for TCU, evidently Sullivan had some very good players, but for what ever reason couldn't coach them. Fran came in and was able to use those guys very well. By the time he left there, TCU was willing to pay a million a year to keep him...hence the million dollar coach. I don't know much about the Tulsa situation, but I suspect their situation may have been similar. That was not the same situation here when Bennett came aboard. In time, when all is said and done, he may prove to not be a good head coach, but we won't know that for sure until he has had his chance to build up the talent level of the team. If down the line someone decides to can him, there will at least be some very good players on board as a result of his recruiting for the next coach to use.

[SMUstang]

I know what you are saying. But it has always been "just wait till next year" since 1989. When will next year finally arrive is my question?

We thought Rossely could do it. Then Cavan was going to be our savior. Now Bennett. I hope he is, but I've seen some things that have been rather disturbing. I know he is playing young players.

It would be nice to have a new coach come in and make good use of the talent his predecessor left him, (ala Fran) and win some games. I haven't seen that at SMU. Cavan didn't do it and I'm afraid that Bennett didn't either. What happened to Cavan's 1999 class? I thought that was supposed to be a good recruiting year.

[PK]

Actually Cavan did make good use of the players his predecessor left him (sort of if you ignor his treatment of Flanigan and his holding out one of our best RB's against TCU...thus losing that game). Unfortunately he wasn't able to build on that leagacy like Fran did with his group. I think most of the top talent in his '99 class flunked out or transfered for various reasons.

Hey i'm ready for some wins too. Last year was miserable.

[SMUstang]

Actually Cavan did make good use of the players his predecessor left him (sort of if you ignor his treatment of Flanigan and his holding out one of our best RB's against TCU...thus losing that game). Unfortunately he wasn't able to build on that leagacy like Fran did with his group. I think most of the top talent in his '99 class flunked out or transfered for various reasons.

Hey i'm ready for some wins too. Last year was miserable.

I was thinking about Flanagan, Womack, and Chris Sanders when referring to the type of offense Cavan brought. Those guys were made for a passing offense like Rossely ran. That is why Sanders left and did so well in Tennessee. Perhaps it would have been well for Cavan to wait a year until he had some of his recruits in the lineup before he changed to a T-Formation offense.