Two cents

[huntnfish]

jt stang- SMU Wins and people will show

people always gripe about lack of support, but winning cures all, it's that simple

[jtstang]

I think that's equally true in basketball. I do not advocate getting rid of football, just changing the emphasis to basketball, where we have a snowball's chance of success. I cannot tell what the vast majority prefers, because they are nowhere to be found, at neither Moody nor Ford.

[Stallion]

HuntNFish you keep saying that Rossley was 5-6 against better competition which is a blatent misrepresentation. It is wrong. Rossley finished 1-10 in his last year in the SWC. His 5-6 year was in the WAC.

[huntnfish]

Stallion- read my Copeland post I just put up, it substantiates what I said

[ThadFilms]

HuntNFish you keep saying that Rossley was 5-6 against better competition which is a blatent misrepresentation. It is wrong. Rossley finished 1-10 in his last year in the SWC. His 5-6 year was in the WAC.

Thanks Stallion, I couldn't figure out just what about HunNFish's argument was bothering me...

[huntnfish]

jt stang- how long have you lived in Texas? you know what the vast majority prefer

[Stallion]

in the final 29 games that Rossley coached when SMU was in the SWC Rossley and SMU were 3-24-2. Of coiurse, when you are a SWC team recruiting SWC plaqyers you should compete better in a weaker conference-but make no mistake that Rossley would NEVER have turned things around because he was a simply awful recruiter.

[huntnfish]

The hiring of Copeland was the downfall of SMU athletics- Rossley was turning the ship in 1996 with a 5-6 record against tougher competition, tougher recruiting restrictions and horrible facilities than Cavan or Bennett has faced, Cavan won with Rossleys players in 1997 and it has been all downhill since then.

Compare Rossley's staff- 5 are in the NFL, 1 is WR coach @ Miami, 1 is the Def Cord. @Georgia Tech

I am sure Stallion will bring up Rossley's record and dog him, but Rossley coached all but one year in the SWC against tough competition without having the recruiting standards eased (not so much under Cavan) and without the great facilities that Cavan and Bennett had. I am not saying Rossley was the greatest coach of all time but we were headed in the right direction at least. In addition, the 5-6 and 6-5 seasons in 1996 and 1997 season were against much tougher competition, even in the WAC. And, we did go 5-6 in the SWC in 1992.

[jtstang]

You said SMU alums, not Texans in general, and by my observations at the games, including back in the '80s when we were really good, the vast majority of SMU alums don't care about sports one way or the other.

I expect you may be right about Texans in general.

[huntnfish]

Stallion-

Rossley's recruits were much more productive than Canvan or Bennett's

[Stallion]

Tom Rossley's recruits sucked-when are going to get that through your head. They were losers maybe not as people but most definitely on the football field. You talk about the academic restrictions Rossley faced but then gloss over 0-6 against Rice. That is a firing offense right there. Most of Rossley's victories came against the dregs of college football. You be hard pressed to find a significant victory against anything other than mediocre football teams as LAMustang or SoCalPony has often proven with his stats.

[SMU Football Blog]

What exactly were Cavan's significant wins?

[The PonyGrad]

Harping on the past and what ifs is pointless.

[huntnfish]

Rossley's recruits better at all positions:

QB- Flanigan, Romo
RB- Phillips, Womack (questionable)
OL- Kidd, Chiles, Bandy, Adami
WR- Thornal, Wolf, Rossley

DL- Byron Bonds, Patton, Luke Johnson, Voyles
LB- Bordano, Swann, Viloria, Simonton
DB- Donald Mitchell, Jacoby Rhinehart, Brabham, Marcello Simmons (all played in the NFL)

are they better than the teams of the 1980's no, but they beat what we have ran out there the last 7 or 8 years and the coaches on staff were much better

I would feel much better about taking these guys up against TCU

[EastStang]

First Rossley was recruiting players with the promise of playing Texas, A&M, TT, every week in the SWC. Cavan and Bennett started out telling players about the joys of playing in Boise and Fresno. Cavan had one significant victory that I remember, Kansas. He also darn near had a victory at UNC (who needed the win to go bowling). That said, Cavan's record was as putrid as Rossley's and he needed to go. Bennett is on very thin ice. He's got to git er dun this year by showing some significant improvement on the field. Game 1 was more of the same and that is what I think inflames a lot of posters here. We have 10 more games this season, I hope we see some real improvement before November rolls around.