Rick's Tweet

[SMU_Alumni11]

we are small school. please try to understand that. we wont ever fill our own stadium unless we start beating relevant teams.

Beat #15 TCU in 2011 and still couldn't come close to filling Ford for a rematch of the conference championship from the previous year two weekends later. That day was the day the momentum turned in an unfortunate direction for SMU. JJ stopped giving a [deleted]

Thats because beating one team that was over ranked (as I believe they never went into the rankings that year) doesn't produce tons of fans. Its winning consistently each year (10-2+ seasons) that make people get behind a program. I believe the best we got was an 8-4 season... whoopie

[gostangs]

but that foh was UCF - nobody knows anything about them then or now. JJ can get made after we beat relevant teams and don't start rallying. it would help if we did that early in the year also.

[whitwiki]

we are small school. please try to understand that. we wont ever fill our own stadium unless we start beating relevant teams.

Beat #15 TCU in 2011 and still couldn't come close to filling Ford for a rematch of the conference championship from the previous year two weekends later. That day was the day the momentum turned in an unfortunate direction for SMU. JJ stopped giving a [deleted]

Thats because beating one team that was over ranked (as I believe they never went into the rankings that year) doesn't produce tons of fans. Its winning consistently each year (10-2+ seasons) that make people get behind a program. I believe the best we got was an 8-4 season... whoopie

It was also raining a [deleted]

[SMU2007]

we are small school. please try to understand that. we wont ever fill our own stadium unless we start beating relevant teams.

Beat #15 TCU in 2011 and still couldn't come close to filling Ford for a rematch of the conference championship from the previous year two weekends later. That day was the day the momentum turned in an unfortunate direction for SMU. JJ stopped giving a [deleted]

I agree that was the turning point with JJ, but that is also idiotic to think that all the casual college football fans in dallas are suddenly going to start caring about an SMU matchup with UCF because we beat TCU the previous week. Gonna take a little more than that buddy.

[CA Mustang]

I agree that was the turning point with JJ, but that is also idiotic to think that all the casual college football fans in dallas are suddenly going to start caring about an SMU matchup with UCF because we beat TCU the previous week.

Casual fans? What about the ones that are supposed to really care? The alums and students. If SMU's alums and students can only be counted on for about 16K a game (we need a combination of casual and visiting fans to fill a 33K stadium), then our problems are bigger than feared.

[SMU_Alumni11]

2007 couldn't agree more and CA, how does one win actually change the who.e culture of the school. If we were beating them every year along with other BCS teams and we had that fan turnout then yeah I would have a give up attitude but the fact is one win doesn't change everything overnight and obviously the half of that season along with this season ruined everything

[SMU2007]

I agree that was the turning point with JJ, but that is also idiotic to think that all the casual college football fans in dallas are suddenly going to start caring about an SMU matchup with UCF because we beat TCU the previous week.

Casual fans? What about the ones that are supposed to really care? The alums and students. If SMU's alums and students can only be counted on for about 16K a game (we need a combination of casual and visiting fans to fill a 33K stadium), then our problems are bigger than feared.

Not every alum gives a crap about SMU football. The overwhelming majority of alumni from the past 20 years are most definitely "casual fans". And have you forgotten that our undergrad enrollment is about 7,000? Yes those 7,000 should care, but the majority probably don't, and the percentage of those who are die hard/more dedicated fans are not going to put a dent in the attendance numbers.

It's a numbers game, and SMU's fan base is too small to think that we can pack a stadium for a conference game against UCF. There just aren't enough people who care about that after 20 years of irrelevance.

[mustangxc]

Not every alum gives a crap about SMU football. The overwhelming majority of alumni from the past 20 years are most definitely "casual fans". And have you forgotten that our undergrad enrollment is about 7,000? Yes those 7,000 should care, but the majority probably don't, and the percentage of those who are die hard/more dedicated fans are not going to put a dent in the attendance numbers.

It's a numbers game, and SMU's fan base is too small to think that we can pack a stadium for a conference game against UCF. There just aren't enough people who care about that after 20 years of irrelevance.

If that is your attitude then you are conceding that our coaches hands are tied in recruiting as most top athletes want to play in front of a packed house. I am not defending June Jones, but our fans definitely need a reality check and to be more realistic. Yes, we should be beating Rice and Tulane, but even if we were 8-4 our fans would not be satisfied. At the end of the day, with wins over Rice and Tulane we would probably be in the Hawaii bowl anyways. I am not really interested in playing against a Sun Belt team in the Liberty bowl. Prefer Boise State/Fresno State in Hawaii even though I can't go.

[SMU2007]

Of course most top athletes want to play in front of a packed house. The goal should be to sell the other things that SMU hopefully has to offer to snag a few highly regarded guys that you wouldn't have otherwise gotten and build the talent base of the program.

Look, TCU was in a similar (although not as bad) predicament before they got their act together. Wins come before fans - not the other way around. The notion that the fans are responsible for the team not succeeding blows my mind. To get wins, you have to convince better athletes to come here, that aren't only focused on crowd size.

And no, those losses against Rice and Tulane were very significant. We would have been playing UCF for the conference championship. To say that you'd rather play in the Hawaii bowl instead of the bowl the conference champion goes to is just plain ridiculous. It's year 5 of June Jones. It's time to start separating ourselves from the rest of the goons in CUSA.

[mustangxc]

You want to play against a team from the Sun Belt conference??? Look, most years I would love to go to the Liberty bowl, no questions asked, but if our reward would be to face a team from the Sun Belt, no thanks! I would much rather face a team from the Mountain West, even if it is in Hawaii.

[SMU2007]

If nothing else, the payout from the liberty bowl is 1.4 million vs. 600k.

[SMU2007]

Not to mention, I'd rather be conference champions. I couldn't care less if we play Sun Belt vs. fresno state.

[redpony]

We can debate this issue as much as we want. However Rick and RGT decide what is to be done and like honeybear they don't give a sh!!t. mediocrity is their motto and they are happy with what we have.

[mustangxc]

If nothing else, the payout from the liberty bowl is 1.4 million vs. 600k.

Payouts are divided equally among all conference members and expenses are paid by the conference so that argument is null and void, but keep reaching.

[East Coast Mustang]

If we were beating them every year along with other BCS teams and we had that fan turnout then yeah I would have a give up attitude but the fact is one win doesn't change everything overnight and obviously the half of that season along with this season ruined everything

The run-on sentence of the century.