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Thank God we won't have to hear him say that again. Even the Kate article ended with that tiring quote. Steve O. will certainly land on his feet. RGT and Steve O.= Oil and Water.

That may just be it.

Awful slogan when you dont back it up - im talking about the simple things, not just winning.

CoxBizGrad wrote:RGT and Steve O.= Oil and Water.

1995-2006, SMU athletics suck w/ RGT and w/o SO

2006-2012, SMU athletics improves dramatically w/ RGT & SO

If this really was a personality issue between the two, who's really the problem here? Certainly not the guy who actually got stuff done.

Uh... RGT has done some great things for SMU during his tenure. Last time I looked he has the title of President. Steve O. loses in that battle of conflicting personalities. Pick a fight and aggressively push against your boss and you are history--not him/her.

aus10fromhous10 wrote:

CoxBizGrad wrote:RGT and Steve O.= Oil and Water.

1995-2006, SMU athletics suck w/ RGT and w/o SO

2006-2012, SMU athletics improves dramatically w/ RGT & SO

If this really was a personality issue between the two, who's really the problem here? Certainly not the guy who actually got stuff done.

A lot more changed around 2006 than just Orsini. I have always wondered why.

Ultra influential alum Lamar Hunt died in 2006. Was he afraid of another death penalty and holding us back?

The next six year will tell the story. Do we continue on this upward path or do we go back behind a rock?

couch 'em wrote:

aus10fromhous10 wrote:

CoxBizGrad wrote:RGT and Steve O.= Oil and Water.

1995-2006, SMU athletics suck w/ RGT and w/o SO

2006-2012, SMU athletics improves dramatically w/ RGT & SO

If this really was a personality issue between the two, who's really the problem here? Certainly not the guy who actually got stuff done.

A lot more changed around 2006 than just Orsini. I have always wondered why.

Ultra influential alum Lamar Hunt died in 2006. Was he afraid of another death penalty and holding us back?

Interesting theory.

really happened between 2006-2008-there is definite, concrete evidence of a significant increase in academically marginal football recruits starting in 2008-there were some real surprising admissions before that in Basketball too

Stallion wrote:really happened between 2006-2008-there is definite, concrete evidence of a significant increase in academically marginal football recruits starting in 2008-there were some real surprising admissions before that in Basketball too

Yes but why. Turner suddenly had a change of heart? I don't buy it.

Good strategic move to help his job security.

One thing for sure, an idea of a return to the admission standards that SMU had before 2008 reminds me of the days of post DP. Where SMU had our FB/BB athletic programs pretending to try to be competitive in D1, but the fact is our coaches could not get enough good athletes in school to meet SMU's admission standards and procedures. Thus, in football the results were one winning season 6-5 in 1997 over a 20 year period and a lot more Zero, one, or two win seasons during that 20 year period.....Remember all the post DP SMU jokes of the last twenty years ? The jokes were not just about the DP, but SMU had assured itself it would remain a looser with its self imposed admission standards and procedures. You don't hear any of those jokes anymore....Certainly, I have concerns over some issues that have happened over the last few years, but generally I am proud of the job SMU has been doing trying to rebuild our athletic programs...Though some people don't realize what great athletic programs in FB/BB, that don't cheat, can do for the image of this University. All you have to do is ask our friends in Ft. Worth. Ask them how much money they will make in the Big 12 next year ? TCU has learned their lesson from being kicked out of the SWC/Big 12 merger years ago, along with SMU, and all the millions and millions of dollars in revenue and exposure both TCU/SMU lost from that time. I just wish more SMU people would finally get behind our athletic programs and realize that the cheating problems of the past are not an issue at SMU anymore.

I remember talking to some of the professors about , eh, 7 or 8 years ago when I was finishing up my classes at SMU about the athletic program and Dr. Turners stance on it. Specifically, I remember talking to Marshall Terry and Richard Cogley, both of whow said that Turner had stuck his neck out on a number of occasions, including getting Ford built on increasing overall funding for the AD. They both said a there was a large group of faculty upset with the way the school was starting to treat athletics - and this was almost a decade ago.
So I have a hard time believing that Turner is anti-athletics or that we will all of a sudden start sliding back into complete obscurity. I think he has set the program up for success in the past and believe it's going to continue.

After all that was said and done, Steve Orsini definitely left SMU athletics in a better place than he found it. Now whether it was all Steve Orsini or it was the influential boosters waking up and saying enough is enough or if it was Turner, I don't know.

All I know is I am glad it happened and I look forward to the future. It is refreshing to see football projections for 8-5 records instead of 3-9 or 2-10. And it will be awesome to see the same thing in basketball.

Go Mustangs!

Agreed. Can't wait to see who the replacement.