A ten-year plan for SMU Football competitiveness

[ponyboy]

I guess if we can get to sweet 16s elite 8s and final fours, I'm okay w the Duke thing and some bowls now and then.

My one stipulation: we play basketball games Saturday afternoons and are allowed to Blvd

Football drives the ship in realignment. Duke is already in a BCS conference and we are not. We can't be okay with some bowls every now and then. That is not get us to a power 5 conference. In fact, that will get us left behind.

I don't think anyone is ok with even bowls for four years in a row any more. Next step is top 25

[Stallion]

See Basketball plan
No. 1 substantially increase assistant coach salaries to attract the best assistants-well spent money
I'd like to know if the SMU Coaching staff has access to the SMU Air Force like Larry Brown apparently has? That would be nice to help these guys on the recruiting trail

[SMU 86]

See Basketball plan
No. 1 substantially increase assistant coach salaries to attract the best assistants-well spent money
I'd like to know if the SMU Coaching staff has access to the SMU Air Force like Larry Brown apparently has? That would be nice to help these guys on the recruiting trail

Saban and Sumlin (and others) use helicopters to get from one game to the next.

[SoCal_Pony]

Don't know if SMU AirForce can fly non-stop to Hawaii without refueling but I digress.

If Rutgers can get admitted into the Big10 within the past year, it is not too late for SMU.

No reason for the recent Ford upgrades if it is too late for SMU.

I posted some time ago that the value for SMU being in the power conferences vs. being excluded from them was $100M. I way underestimated that....I suspect it is closer to $300M.

Which leads us to the question, does SMU have the money to fund football the 'right way'. Until the Power conference alignment is settled, I would argue they have no other choice.

[RyanSMU98]

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Send it on up. It's a solid outline that needs more eyes on it. Great job! Now hopefully some of the $$ folks could get behind it.

[GiddyUp]

Didnt TCU have a 10 yr plan and what did that entail exactly? Anyone see it or the outline?

[P0NY UP]

Not sure if we can wait that long...

http://espn.go.com/college-sports/story ... oming-ncaa

[SoCal_Pony]

I guess if we can get to sweet 16s elite 8s and final fours, I'm okay w the Duke thing and some bowls now and then.

My one stipulation: we play basketball games Saturday afternoons and are allowed to Blvd

I hear this being tossed out a lot these days. Problem for me RGV, is that I don't know how realistic it is.

Hard for Houston and SMU to compete even in-state vs the Big Boys if we earn $10M annually from AAC affiliation while Baylor/Tech/TCU/A&M and UT earn over $250M per year from Power5.

You really think these schools are going to sit back and allow SMU the spotlight because it is only BB? I don't.

[SoCal_Pony]

Not sure if we can wait that long...

http://espn.go.com/college-sports/story ... oming-ncaa

we can't, which makes the JJ reign all the more frustrating.

[RGV Pony]

I guess if we can get to sweet 16s elite 8s and final fours, I'm okay w the Duke thing and some bowls now and then.

My one stipulation: we play basketball games Saturday afternoons and are allowed to Blvd

I hear this being tossed out a lot these days. Problem for me RGV, is that I don't know how realistic it is.

Hard for Houston and SMU to compete even in-state vs the Big Boys if we earn $10M annually from AAC affiliation while Baylor/Tech/TCU/A&M and UT earn over $250M per year from Power5.

You really think these schools are going to sit back and allow SMU the spotlight because it is only BB? I don't.

Worked for Butler vs Indiana, Purdue and Notre Dame.. We will see I guess.

[SoCal_Pony]

In the past, yes, it worked for Butler, but how do you think Indiana, Purdue and ND felt about that? Now they are going to be flush with a lot more $$$. The prospects for Butler in the future are not as bright.

Just play this out for a moment with SMU. Assume we make the Elite 8 next season. You really think UT is going to sit back and say..."Congrats SMU, well done for a small private school!!!" No way. If they perceive our strength to be Maligi or Turner, they will buy them. If it's Moody, they will build a new arena themselves (they should anyway). Whatever our strength (outside of LB, which is a once in a lifetime thing), they will match it because they have the funds and know in the end they can outbid us. More importantly, it kills 2 birds with 1 stone.

In no way am I trying to bust on you RGV, you are one of the few posters on here I respect, but saying 'We will see I guess' is not a strategy our university should embrace. Not in this environment.

To repeat, every year our competitors will have $50M+ more to spend than we do. Over time, watch the economics of this play out. It did with JJ btw. He was paid $2M per year 6 years ago. At the time, it seemed an amazing amount. Today, not so much.

[JoeKidd]

This is a solid plan and well written. I have always had my doubts about RGT really supporting the football program fully. I don't have any inside info, just my gut feel when I have been around him/listened to him at events.

I also know Hart is only 1 year into this job, but he seems a little light to get us where we want to be.

[RGV Pony]

Didnt TCU have a 10 yr plan and what did that entail exactly? Anyone see it or the outline?

I will look around.

In the meantime, their plan almost involved Phil Bennett :

http://m.espn.go.com/general/blogs/blog ... rc=desktop

[SMU 86]

Didnt TCU have a 10 yr plan and what did that entail exactly? Anyone see it or the outline?

I will look around.

In the meantime, their plan almost involved Phil Bennett :

http://m.espn.go.com/general/blogs/blog ... rc=desktop

Good article.

[ponyinNC]

Great post. It is called one thing, and I see it at places like UNC, Clemson and other schools:

BUY IN

We will never succeed without true commitment from the Trustees to the President to the AD to the Coaches to the Faculty to the Students and down to the Alumni.

TCU had it - that was the essence of their 10 yr plan. It came from the top. It was really a mandate that they would do everything possible to excel in football and move up to the Big East and eventually the B12. And guess what????? They did it!

I lay this at the feet of RGT and the Trustees. My one question to them - do you want to be TCU, USC or Northwestern? Or do you want to be Emory, W&L or U Chicago?

It is as simple as that. We have a $1B endowment. We are in the process of upping the second century campaign from $750M to another $1B!

We need a similar campaign for athletics. They are truly the FRONT PORCH of your university. Our front porch needs serious repairs!