Open Letter to Rick Hart

[LA_Mustang]

Great letter. It's no secret the issue is recruiting. This staff has simply failed to recruit at a BCS level. If we are being completely honest, the recruiting over the past 2-3 years has been terrible. Mostly 2 stars, and many of those with SMU as their only offer. We get dominated by TCU and the other Big XII schools for players in our backyard. And I don't get any sense of urgency from this staff to change. We needed football's versions of Ulric and KT out recruiting their butts off. We had one in Klemm but for whatever reason JJ wasn't too interested in keeping him around or replacing him with another young talented recruiter. It's very disappointing.

[redpony]

And when JJ replaces coaches he doesn't get young, agressive 'Texas connected' people but inexperienced junior assistants. Good example- how did our special teams look this past week? IIRC we have a new coach there.

[Stallion]

I think the "retirements" of June's "3 Amigos" was likely a response to administration/Deep Pocket alumni pressure, but then June hires Mumme (I have no real problem with that) and 2 guys named Moe and Larry who don't have the recruiting contacts we need. They did have a lot of experience in the European Football League and the Lone Star Conference. That's not the Larry Brown Model. Larry Brown would have brought in some coaches like Desoto's Claude Mathis or a young stud with skins on the wall. June hirers only coaches that he has had years of relationships with. Brown hirers the best recruiters he can find find and afford. This has been the problem with June Jones from Day 1. He doesn't understand Texas recruiting and how you get top recruits. This should not be a recent discovery by SMU fandom. Unless this is a budget issue-and I have not heard any indication that it is-then the problem lies at the feet of the Head Coach. If it is a budget issue then SMU needs to find some Deep Pockets to fund some big Coaching salaries for top recruiters. We need about 4 with reputations as strong recruiters in Houston and Dallas. Yet another missed opportunity with all the "retirements" to finally establish a winning strategy in recruiting. Go take a look at the resumes of the other regional schools who successfully recruit Texas

[SMU2007]

Like a few others, I am constantly surprised that people expect anything else than what we've seen on the field given our complete lack of recruiting. I don't care how big of a sunshiner you want to be, SIGNING ONLY RECRUITS WITH NO BCS OFFERS IS NOT A PLAN FOR SUCCESS. Yes, we've had certain players succeed and there are several in the nfl right now, but this is a game requiring an overall talent level for the entire team, not a few standout players.

[redpony]

Although JJ has brought us out of the depths I truly believe it is time for a change. There are coaches out there that could take us to the next level. Some recent misses we should have considered are the coaches at Vandy and WKU. They bring enthusiasm and a winning attitude in addition to realizing that to win you must recruit and get those players that other top level schools want as well.
Following are a couple of NFL coaches’ backgrounds. Yes, they are in the NFL now but look at their history. They didn’t start at major schools but had success at lower level schools first and continued the climb.
IMO SMU could find a coach like this with a little work.

Jim Harbaugh, San FranciscoRecord: 24-7-1 Playoffs: 3-2 Age: 49 Harbaugh went 22-2 in his last two seasons at San Diego University, winning back-to-back Pioneer League Championships in 2005-06. He built a perennial loser into a BCS bowl winner in just four seasons at Stanford. And the former NFL quarterback is 24-7-1 in his first two seasons with the 49ers, leading them to their first two playoff appearances since 2002

Chip Kelly, PhiladelphiaRecord: 0-0 Playoffs: 0-0 Age: 49 In just seven years Kelly has gone from offensive coordinator at New Hampshire to OC at Oregon to head coach at Oregon to head coach of the Eagles. His innovative and unapologetic style is why he went 46-7 in four seasons as the head coach in Eugene.

[Grant Carter]

Although JJ has brought us out of the depths I truly believe it is time for a change. There are coaches out there that could take us to the next level. Some recent misses we should have considered are the coaches at Vandy and WKU. They bring enthusiasm and a winning attitude in addition to realizing that to win you must recruit and get those players that other top level schools want as well.
Following are a couple of NFL coaches’ backgrounds. Yes, they are in the NFL now but look at their history. They didn’t start at major schools but had success at lower level schools first and continued the climb.
IMO SMU could find a coach like this with a little work.

Jim Harbaugh, San FranciscoRecord: 24-7-1 Playoffs: 3-2 Age: 49 Harbaugh went 22-2 in his last two seasons at San Diego University, winning back-to-back Pioneer League Championships in 2005-06. He built a perennial loser into a BCS bowl winner in just four seasons at Stanford. And the former NFL quarterback is 24-7-1 in his first two seasons with the 49ers, leading them to their first two playoff appearances since 2002

Chip Kelly, PhiladelphiaRecord: 0-0 Playoffs: 0-0 Age: 49 In just seven years Kelly has gone from offensive coordinator at New Hampshire to OC at Oregon to head coach at Oregon to head coach of the Eagles. His innovative and unapologetic style is why he went 46-7 in four seasons as the head coach in Eugene.

I am sure we can find a better coach, but do you really believe it is just a matter of a little work to find a coach as good as chip Kelly or Jim harbaugh? If it was that easy, everyone would have a coach like that.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk - now Free

[redpony]

Grant- ok- bad expression. Yes, it would take some work. However, with all of the stats etc available today and using some good computer searches you could probably find a pretty good starting list without a great deal of work. Then it would take a lot of 'leg work' and digging into details to narrow that list. OK- better?

[PlanoStang]

I sent this to Hart this morning, and suggest that all of you who have constructive criticism voice it as well. Fair warning, it is long, so you might want to stop reading now, but I will also post whatever response I get out here as he is usually pretty good at responding:

Mr. Hart,

I've spent the past day or so reflecting on the beginning of our football season and tried to look at it through the lens of the future of the program. I tried to filter out the raw emotions of another frustrating, embarrassing loss on national television and focus on what that loss says about the current state of things and where we might be headed. Unfortunately, doing so has left me at a loss for positives. I see a program that claims to want to be in the upper echelon of college athletics. To that end, I see the efforts of coach Brown to build his basketball program to compete at that level. Then I am struck by coach Jones' either unwillingness or inability to do the same. With all due respect to coach Jones and sincerest appreciation for his efforts to bring the worst program in America to a level of respectability deemed unfathomable before his arrival, the fact remains that 6 years into his tenure we are stuck in neutral with no sign of a path ahead.

There are two undeniable facts, both of which you are well aware: the first is that the college athletic landscape continues to shift with an ever expanding separation between those who want to compete at the highest levels and those who either can't or don't. The second is that this separation, and the revenue and reputation that comes with it, is driven first and foremost by football. The window to stay at the top is closing, and for SMU to make the argument that it belongs at that level becomes increasingly hard to substantiate when year after year we play upper echelon conference teams and look completely unprepared. This speaks to recruiting, to game preparation, and ultimately execution. All of these things fall on the head coach on game day, and for all the effort and talk about engaging the fan base and improving the game day experience, the simple fact is that it is unreasonable to expect the casual fan to adopt a sub-par team as their own in a market filled with multiple ways to spend their entertainment dollars.

It also comes down to the true commitment of the university from President Turner, to the Board of Trustees, to the AD's office to ensure that all of our coaches have the resources they need to consistently compete at the highest levels. I know significant efforts have been made to address what in the past were glaring issues in the recruitment and retention of student athletes, but I would be curious if I were to ask coach Jones "what do you need to make that next leap?" what his answer might be and whether or not SMU has risen to the challenge. The optimist in me chooses to believe that the answer overall is yes, but Friday night's result lead me to question at exactly what level (or levels) have failures occurred and what is being done to rectify them. You have taken on a job that will be a unique opportunity to excel but one with a history of unnecessary challenges being thrown in your way. In many ways, you and coach Jones have that in common. I am not sure he has it in him at this point to overcome those challenges; I am hopeful that you will find the strength to take on those things that are holding the Mustangs back from taking their next big leap. Mediocrity is not a goal, and those who accept it as such are destined to destroy a legacy of excellence at SMU both on and off the field.

RyanSMU98 is a Chatty Cathie string jerker

Gets his rocks off on your replies.

Dang, we must be doing something right to get on ESPN national TV in the first place, and be in the game after 3.5 quarters was a great plus for future SMU recruiting

[redpony]

PStang- does the admin pay you to get these threads nuked? Or are you baby JJ?

Has anybody noticed that JJ's kid didn't come to SMU - even when it was free? Yes, his grades were good enough- PCHS has pretty good standards.

[PlanoStang]

Nope, I have run a marathon with coaching help from a friend who I had to leave behind to
finish. I know it takes a lot of time to do anything great

My JH football coach who is like JJ, we won the district championship under him, and he later
became SFA's AD

Was coach of rec league volleyball teams who came close to winning champions in our division.

Same rec league, we won the softball league championship for our division.

Tired of all the Chatty Cathie button pushers on here who have probably never played on any
teams

[LHS81]

Nope, I have run a marathon with coaching help from a friend who I had to leave behind to
finish. I know it takes a lot of time to do anything great

My JH football coach who is like JJ, we won the district championship under him, and he later
became SFA's AD

Was coach of rec league volleyball teams who came close to winning champions in our division.

Same rec league, we won the softball league championship for our division.

Tired of all the Chatty Cathie button pushers on here who have probably never played on any
teams

Suppose you also scored 4 td's for Polk High in the city championship game, married a lady named Peggy, and had 2 children named Bud & Kelly?

[I'm4Peruna]

[Big Hoss]

I didn't recall anyone asking for your résumé. I'm pretty sure none of that matters when it comes to coaching college football. To paraphrase something Ross Perot once said, that's like owning a corner grocery store and claiming you can run the Wal-Mart Corporation.

The point is, it looks like we've come about as far as we can with Jones at the helm. While I am much happier to be here than where we were under Bennett, we seem to have stalled. That proof is in the results when we play tough teams, and we just do not seem to have what it takes to get a marquee win.

If this were 10 or more years ago, we probably could wait around for June to prove is wrong. Unfortunately, given the very fast changing landscape of college football today, we will soon be left out of any big moves made to consolidate the upper tier of football teams.

[PlanoStang]

RASS ROLLS EVERYWHERE

[redpony]

PStang- impressive resume. However, you failed to mention how many BCS fball schollys you were offered and how many years of college coaching you had. BTW- FYI I have no college coaching experience but did have 4 scholly offers- agree not very impressive but ok.