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Insane_Pony_Posse wrote:Any coach that is hailed as the 2nd coming upon arrival, and then eventually leaves SMU for a better conference and a big pay raise is utterly greedy and a terrible human being!

No - just two of them.

Hayden Fry, Ron Meyer, and Ray Morrison (who took his entire staff to Vandy after an 8-2 year) all left and took a paycheck and are SMU royalty to this day.

Unfortunately, SMU has had so few HC over the last 40 years who anyone would actually want to pilfer.

Hayden Fry was fired after going 7-4 in '72. Then we got stuck with crazyman Dave Smith.

And Smith got us in NCAA hot water. Players being paid by tackle.

EastStang wrote:And Smith got us in NCAA hot water. Players being paid by tackle.

Tough to be fired after a 7-4 season and second place finish in SWC. (Including road wins over Florida and Arkansas).

Was it true that part of reason Fry was let go was because he did not want to be involved in the alumni payments to players?

No

As I recall, the powers that be thought Fry could never win the ΓÇ£BigΓÇ¥ and was let go. But Mrydel was there and knows better than anyone about Fry.

Fry left after my JR year at SMU. A long losing streak to Texas didn't help his case including 2 lopsided losses in a row to end his tenure at SMU

Fry committed the unpardonable sin of losing to Virginia Tech. Back then, they were one step above a 1-AA school and their arch rival was VMI. How times changed.

Hayden was not fired for going 7- 4 - it was not football related

dalpony wrote:Hayden was not fired for going 7- 4 - it was not football related

IΓÇÖm sure Mrydel knows the reason he was let go as I believe he was there on the team.

dalpony wrote:Hayden was not fired for going 7- 4 - it was not football related

I have heard for decades it was absolutely football (record)-related. What do you know differently, and what are your sources.

Hayden was let go simply because those in power did not feel he could go any farther than he had. They wanted more wins. And no it was not because of not wanting to pay players because some players were being paid. But beyond that, Hayden was near to a total mental breakdown due to the pressure being put on him to succeed beyond what he had done. If he had continued I am certain he would not have lasted much longer from a physical and mental standpoint. And that can be seen by his immediate successes at both NTSU and then Iowa. He was totally reborn by being released from the pressure he was under and was able to be the excellent coach he was. This was all witnessed first hand by the late ΓÇ£DirtyΓÇ¥ Al Everest who went with Hayden to NTSU as a grad assistant. Al and Hayden were not on a friendly basis at SMU but Al got the job since his father was on the NTSU staff. Al corresponded with me that the change in Hayden was a miracle transformation and Al was able to see the true genius that had left Hayden in his last few years at SMU.

I played ball with Hayden's sons and remember them talking about "unrealistic expectations" he felt at SMU which was all about beating the Whorns. I think he beat them in the Levias SWC Championship year but Texas pretty much owned us during his tenure at SMU. I do remember his sons Randy & Zach playing for him at NTSU and that was fun for him but Hayden was still serving as both the head football coach and A.D. there. NTSU had some really good years under Fry but there was no post season reward as they were playing as an Independent in Division I and even after beating ranked teams they got little respect. I know he tried to get NTSU into the SWC but SMU and others were blocking that move. I think he got frustrated by NTSU's "2nd class citizen" label and that had a lot to do with his taking the Iowa job where his career really took off...and he didn't have to work 2 jobs there.

I was not on the football team, but had a bunch of players on my floor in Boaz when was fired. The scuttlebut was that Texas was succeeding with the wishbone, and we were running Fry's pro set offense. We had two excellent running backs that year Wayne Morris and Alvin Maxson. A wishbone would have allowed both to be in the same backfield. They wanted Smith who was allegedly a wishbone guru. Fry long term proved that he was a great coach. Smith was a one trick pony.

Dave Smith was the OL coach while I was there. After I was medicaled, I worked with him as a student coach. He was one of the finest people I have ever met. Really cared about his players, a very moral man, and good family man. I was very happy when he got the head coaching job, but apparently it changed a lot of his philosophies. The head coach Smith was not the same man as the assistant coach Smith, and that saddened me both on behalf of the Mustangs and as a personal friend.