We've taken the first steps to success...

[ender3]

Face it, we started a program from scratch. I'm not talking about post-DP, I'm talking about from a few years ago. This was a disaster. No hope. No way. No light at the end of the tunnel.

The first step to success is to set up the program so that coaches have the opportunity to succeed. Stallion's hot button. For one reason or another, SMU's administration did this starting 4 years ago. The rules of the game were reset, and the person in charge of football had a chance to win games.

Once the first step is in place, you become a stepping stone program. This is not all bad. For you to be a stepping stone, each coach has to leave the program in better shape than they found it. Otherwise, it's not a very effective platform for your coach to get a better job. Coach comes in, demonstrates an ability to improve the program, then leaves for (what they see as) a better opportunity. Always better to have a coach leave for a better opportunity because someone wants them, rather than firing them because they were incompetent.

During this time, you are cycling coaches every 4-5 years... but they key is, your program is consistently improving. Makes it easier to get in a better conference, which makes it easier to play higher quality opponents, which makes it easier to attract fans and recruits.

Sooner or later, you get a coach who takes the program to a level where they suddenly realize... "You know? These guys that are offering me jobs? They aren't really offering a better situation than I have now." And he stays. And he wins. Often. Repeatedly.

It's a journey. We've taken positive steps. This is part of the process. Time to get our next ex-coach. Make him a good one. So we can take more steps, and get even a better NEXT coach.

The timing with recruiting sucks. But recruiting (it if drops off from a GREAT class to a merely GOOD one) is a one year problem. We get another chance to do it next year. And next year? We're doing it as a member of a BCS AQ conference. Another step.

It sucks, but losing a coach is a step to getting better. It's unavoidable. It beats the hell out of running some idiot out of town on a rail, because you couldn't stand the product on the field anymore.

[NY Pony]

Plus we can play real football now, not the run n suck