The Ray Hunt Penalty?

[couch 'em]

http://www.dmagazine.com/publications/d-magazine/1998/january/special-report-smus-350-million-gamble

This article details the close relationship between Ray Hunt and Kenneth Pye, and the deep involvement of Hunt and buddies in selecting Turner.

In effect, Pye lovers selected Turner, and soon Turner lovers, whom are an extension of Pye lovers, will select Turner's replacent.

Are we eating more leftover pye than we realize?

[couch 'em]

Even the recruiter used to find Turner was a total Pye cronie:

Hunt did suggest the services of education headhunter Bill Funk. Pye had considered Funk not only the best academic recruiter in the nation but also a friend, The two had developed their relationship over the years as Pye had contacted Funk for assistance on searches at SMU. and Funk contacted Pye for advice on searches done elsewhere. Funk remembers fondly 15-minute consultations turning into two-hour conversations.

[couch 'em]

Notice how the Pye inner circle shut out everyone to keep full control of the process:

The next step in a typical search is to bring three or four of the candidates individually to visit the campus and to interview with the full board. SMU brought only one candidate: Gerald Turner.Turner’s fast track raised (he hopes of the board but the eyebrows of the faculty. First of all. the faculty felt that their interests were not properly represented. Six of them had served on the search committee for Pye. On the search for Turner, there was only one

[gostangs]

the more faculty on the committee - the more likely you are to have a guy like Pye. You should be happy there was only one for Turner.

[couch 'em]

You totally missed the point

[Grant Carter]

the more faculty on the committee - the more likely you are to have a guy like Pye. You should be happy there was only one for Turner.

Yeah, I thought one of the big problems was that he was too focused on the academic side.

[BigT3x]

Oldtimer conspiracy theories and constant screeching about PYYYEEEEEE bore me and the rest of the young fans.

Our admission standards are the same as anyone else. We're paying our coach 2 mil a year. Maybe he turned out to be a bad choice, but whatever hindsight is 20/20. What else do you want Turner to do, exactly?

Stop digging up the past and move on.

[Stallion]

This is beginning to turn into FLASHBACK to 2005 Day. Except its not 2005 and June Jones' excuses are crap. There is no longer a significant athletic admission issue and SMU has not had significantly unusual problems keeping athletes in school. SMU has invested as much or more into its athletic program as just about any other non-BCS program in the last 13 years. All this type of discussion does is deflect from the real failures by June Jones in the performance of his duties as Head Football Coach. keep your eye on the Ball

[Pony81]

Ray Hunt and his fellow big money supporters are critical if SMU wants to move into the first tier.

The reason our football team has plateaued is on JJ. He has all the resources and academic support to have a quality program. He doesn't because he is at heart an NFL guy who scouts players but doesn't recruit them. He is as scout, coach and developer of talent. Not a a recruiter of talent.

We have to have Ray Hunt, Ford, Sewell ect if we have any choice of attracting a quality president when Turner retires and to keep the university moving forward.

[MustangStealth]

Congrats couch 'em, you are officially an "oldtimer".

[smustatesman]

The parallel in my mind is that when I came to SMU Willis Tate was the head.....we've gone downhill, until now we have Gerald Turner.

In football we progressed in coaching to Ron Meyer...then we accepted Bobby Collins as a replacement.

Each has led us or is leading us further into problems, as both are Mississippi Red Neck style of hoosiers (back woods uneducated white boys).

[orguy]

Ray Hunt and his fellow big money supporters are critical if SMU wants to move into the first tier.

The reason our football team has plateaued is on JJ. He has all the resources and academic support to have a quality program. He doesn't because he is at heart an NFL guy who scouts players but doesn't recruit them. He is as scout, coach and developer of talent. Not a a recruiter of talent.

We have to have Ray Hunt, Ford, Sewell ect if we have any choice of attracting a quality president when Turner retires and to keep the university moving forward.

Ray Hunt and Sewell? the same guys who brought SMU Pig PYE?

Yes, wonderful board (NOT).

[couch 'em]

Congrats couch 'em, you are officially an "oldtimer".

Doesn't change much. I already burned my young alumni card. Having kids made me feel 10 years older.

[SMU1523]

I believe in what President Turner has done for this university and have the upmost respect for him.

Quoting President George W. Bush while receiving the Medal of Freedom Award at SMU, "I like Gerald, I like how he runs the place."

I graduated in 2012 and throughout my time at SMU, I saw visual changes due to the Centennial Campaign. From the time I arrived at SMU and now, the campus feels like it has doubled in size.

I am not crazy about extending June's contract, and would have liked to see us hire a name like Chad Morris, but I will not criticize the board or the administration on how much better SMU will be in the years to come as an educational institution.

[gostangs]

I also think the title of this thread is disrespectful to perhaps the one person who has done more for SMU - both publicly and also anonymously, than any other single living person. Ray Hunt is the hero of every SMU alumnae - it is flat out unbelievable how much time and treasure he pours into our alma mater.

Had you been at the helm during the death penalty you would have probably been attracted to a guy like Pye also - and Pye made some horrible calls for sure - particularly related to athletics, but the fact that we gravitated to a guy like that after suffering the single most embarrassing event (until Penn state) in the history of higher education is not all that surprising.

The single worst decision made at that time was everything and everybody going out the window, guilty or not guilty, and then SMU self administered an additional year of death penalty - (you may not know or recall we got one year from the NCAA and added the other one ourselves). Had we just taken the one year, and also not self mutilated ourselves with insane recruiting restrictions and we would have kept the majority of the team together and had a shot to keep going at close to the same level we were at (without the payola) we would have maintained the program and probably would be in the Big 12 today.