How can our boosters be so clueless?

[couch 'em]

Men so rich, so successful, yet blind that June has lost all momentum, all credibility. Is it that they are too buddy-buddy with the coach? Or is it the Jerry Jones effect? Maybe their hubris?

[Stallion]

buddy can you spare about 4.4 million and while you're at it about 15 Million for the next Saviour Coach

[Pony!Poni!Pone'!]

buddy can you spare about 4.4 million and while you're at it about 15 Million for the next Saviour Coach

Western effing Kentucky got Petrino for 850k per.

[couch 'em]

There are plenty to whom four million is nothing.

[ponyscott]

They can reach a settlement with June and make it a positive 'retirement' and the guys at the top have plenty of jack to make it happen with a new coach who WILL recruit and positively posture for SMU football into the next big phase. Its essentially critical NOW for SMU to make a major statement that SMU football is worth more than 6-6 every year with a 4-26 record vs teams with a winning record.

[78pony]

Men so rich, so successful, yet blind that June has lost all momentum, all credibility. Is it that they are too buddy-buddy with the coach? Or is it the Jerry Jones effect? Maybe their hubris?

Our guys do not see athletics as being significant enough to society overall to justify getting their hands (or reputations) dirty with the unsavory aspects of something as trivial as athletics - especially when the historical mission of colleges & universities is education. Plus, it is not what one of pedigree would boast of when being considered for a board position or a flattering article in the society page or business journal.

[mustangxc]

I don't think we should go after any high priced coaches whenever we make a change. As Stallion says, go after young and aggressive and then pay him well after he shows promise in order to retain him. That way if he underperforms it is easy to swallow and cut ties with him immediately.

[MiracleOnMockingbird]

Or maybe the opinions shared by one ultra-vocal group on these boards are not the opinions of everyone.

[couch 'em]

I don't think the June experience shod sour us on hiring what we think is a proven commodity. Nobody could have predicted the June recruiting model because his statements at Hawaii made it seem like he wanted to do more but was hindered by budget and location.

[Stallion]

The young and agressive coaching staff can fit under either an established or emerging heead coaching prospect

[JasonB]

First, I would propose that the boosters got rich because they are not clueless, not because they are. Therefore, I see no reason to believe they would be clueless right now.

Second, I would propose that we were all freaking out about who our next coach would be after Bennett was let go. And all of the potential head coaches were flying off the table during and before bowl season, and we were all freaking out because it seemed like SMU was doing nothing. then we ended up getting June, who was (at the time) the biggest name in the country that particular year. So, we heard nothing, and things were taken care of.

Third, we wanted into a BCS conference and everyone was freaking out. then all of a sudden we get in the Big East, which was a big move at the time.

Fourth, in the basketball coaching search, we freaked out when we couldn't hire any of the coaches out there. Some people in the national media were making fun of us for it. Then we end up with Larry freaking Brown, and an amazing staff, and all put together it was the best group of hires ever in the history of ever.

Every single major action taken by the athletic department and boosters over the last 5 years has been very positive towards improving our athletic program.

I don't think there is any reason to think that is suddenly going to stop and we are gong to go back to the days of Pye.

And, based on the past actions that were taken, I am guessing that things are going on behind the scenes that we don't know about from a conference standpoint.

And, if we changed coaches right now, it would be a panic action. None of us are "happy" with .500 records. But you have to give people a chance to fail. Look at basketball. We gave Doh a chance to fail, and a good coach came in and rebuilt the program in 1 freaking year. Even if next year is a disaster, and we have to bring someone in, based on past actions I would be willing to bet we will bring in a name who will rebuild things very quickly.

If the school/boosters thought that upgrading at coach would make us more attractive to other conferences, we would do it. My guess would be that Jones is pretty well connected - he has been talking about the 4x16 for the last 4 years - and that is part of the reason he is still here. Hiring someone's assistant coach is not going to raise that profile.

We have already changed AD and basketball in this time of extreme turmoil. A little bit of stability might actually be a good thing so that we make sure we fully address all of our options that are on the table.

[Stallion]

This a pretty fair analysis of why the Gerald Turner Pitchforks and Torches Crowd are not being reasonable. You can complain that he waited a decade to engineer the changes-I did relentlessly-but I don't think its fair to say that he hasn't strongly supported the athletic program since. OK where's the Indoor Practice facility-but its not like SMU athletic facilities are being ignored. They have been systematically upgrading facilities for a decade. Turner and Board hire the Coaches. The major problems remaining in the program lie at the feet of June Jones-the Elderly Coaching Staff from Timbuktu that doesn't understand the importance of recruiting not just analyzing recruits other schools haven't found yet. I could detail complaints at UT, A&M, TCU, Baylor and Tech too complaining about lack of administration support or some perceived minor admissions issues

[leopold]

THANK YOU.

And that comes from Stallion, who half of the posters on this board think is a TCU troll.



If you want to blame June, then go ahead and BLAME HIM. But e-mail him, go to a dinner and ask him fair and tough questions, write him, call Norm and call June out on the air - do whatever. He's paid to be bitched at, and he's not fulfilling his and our potential.

But our overall commitment, perception, and yes, on the field results our LIGHT YEARS ahead of where we were a decade ago. I had to explain to my Memphis friends why SMU passed UM on the Big East list a few months ago, and it was an easy sell.

And Turner and his crowd have an actual UNIVERSITY to run, at a time when other schools are slashing there budgets left and right.

I'm just saying - you want results, complain to the right people.

[Charleston Pony]

the word I got was that they want to build the indoor practice facility for football where Wescott currently sits. Need to find a home for soccer and also the natatorium/equestrian center. I'm told they are looking on east side of I-75 so there is still plenty of fund raising to be done to "get it right"

[mrydel]

It is about time for Petrino to be itching to move. Just sayin'.