SMU Football Blog

Coach's Luncheon

2011-12-12T20:19:00.004-06:00

I live-tweeted (is that a word?) portions of the SMU Coach's luncheon. You can read that at http://twitter.com/@SMUFootballBlog

I think people heard what they wanted to hear.

If you think June Jones hung the Moon, you were thrilled and thought June Jones said all that needs to be said.

If you want to be upset with June Jones , then you didn't hear enough.

I guess I had low expectations and am not that upset he didn't get down on his knees and beg my forgiveness. I will get into it in a bit, but I do think he owes me (and those like me) an apology. I don't really think I got it today and don't expect to get it.

I think a lot of people have read a lot of things into my tweets (still hate the word) and the other summaries that just don't exist. I don't feel patronized; I don't feel like June talked to people like they were idiots (which, btw, people forget Phil Bennett was famous for).

Couple of items:

June said he was never offered and never accepted the ASU job. That may be sort of true. I have read a coach's contract offer/letter of intent before and they are the most ambiguous writings I have ever read as a lawyer. I showed it to a couple of other attorneys and the consensus was it was borderline unenforceable. It had language that said it wasn't offered until it was accepted or somesuch. Regardless, it gave both school and coach plausible deniability that an offer was never made in the event things fell through. Maybe that is disingenuous. But that's where we live today sports.

I do fault Super Agent Leigh Steinberg (TM) for a lot of this and you get the sense June does too. I can also understand June saying he won't cut ties with a guy that he has worked with for 20 years that has helped him earn millions of dollars. Still, a lot of what upsets me can be traced back to a tweet and blog post accredited to Super Agent Leigh Steinberg (TM) and for which, despite what June might suggest otherwise, Super Agent Leigh Steinberg (TM) is solely responsible for.

Where this goes, at the end of the day, I presume is an extension. I could be wrong, but I expect that announcement to be made fairly soon. Nothing was mentioned at the luncheon, but it is the logical next step in the cleanup of this mess.

June Jones on with Dale Hanson Tonight (updated)

2011-12-11T11:02:00.001-06:00

WFAA Channel 8. Should be interesting. Dale usually isn't afraid to ask the tough yet uninformed question.

Will June wear Red and/or Blue? Will there be an SMU logo anywhere? If I were SMU SID Brad Sutton, I would stop by the SMU bookstore just in case.

Set the DVR...

Update: turns out June won't be on despite fact that they promoted it on Channel 8 this AM.

So WFAA promotes it, but it isn't happening? Sounds odd. Suggests June didn't have the time, but channel 8 did. II am sure June has a good reason for not doing it, if so. Too bad he pissed all his goodwill away or else, I'd believe it.

I am on Twitter

2011-12-08T12:28:00.001-06:00

Why? Because we all are.

@smufootballblog

Quick Hit: Rice Game Attendance

2011-12-08T12:27:00.001-06:00

Much has been made of the lack of attendance at the Rice-SMU game. Personally, I thought attendance was better than previous post-Thanksgiving games. I recall sparse crowds for even TCU-SMU on those dates (at either place).

This is not a problem unique to SMU. There is a reason Texas-Texas A&M was that week every year. There was a reason those schools weren't scheduling Rice that week.

Should it be better? Yes. However, I think it is unfair to judge SMU on what I suspect is historically the worst attended weekend attendance-wise in college football.

Did That Just Happen?

2011-12-07T22:41:00.002-06:00

So here I am sitting at my computer listening to the Black Keys’ “El Camino” (which I highly recommend, BTW) and I am just flabbergasted. I thought I was going to write about a coaching search. Seriously. Just a giant case of WTF?-itis. Did this just happen? Did this just unhappen?

Last Thursday, I was listening to the Troy Aikman show on the KTCK. They talked for a minute about the UCLA coaching search. Troy said he was excited because he had some information on who they were looking at, but he wouldn’t share. For some reason, that made me nervous; I had a suspicion he was talking about June. Aikman and June Jones have the same agent-Leigh Steinberg.

I thought on Monday June Jones was leaving and going to Arizona State. I assumed on Tuesday, June Jones was staying. I was sure Wednesday AM he was leaving for Arizona State. Then, on Thursday afternoon, it breaks that Arizona State has withdrawn its offer.

For those that need a refresher, here is a timeline:

November 28th- ASU fires Dennis Erickson. ASU hires Dallas search firm Eastman & Beaudine to assist with the search. Eastman & Beaudine assisted with the SMU searches that led to the selections of Steve Orsini, Matt Doherty and June Jones. Bob Beaudine is a graduate of SMU.

December 2nd-SMU begins the biggest recruiting weekend in the last 20+ years.

December 3rd-At some point during the day, ASU officials meet with June Jones for several hours.

Late December 4th-June Jones is announced as the only finalist for the ASU coaching position. Outrage on the message boards, twitter, myspace, tumbler and, hell, probably e-harmony as well, breaks out suggesting that June Jones is not acceptable. Apparently, in the mind of the ASU fan, June Jones is “Dennis Erickson-lite,” which I guess means a decent name, player coach, old and mediocre.

December 5th-Outrage on the web has reached such a fever-pitch that ASU backs off and is determined to slow things down, interview the Sumlin and Fedora’s of the world at the coaching convention in NY taking place as I write this. This is all well and good, but it quickly appearing that Fedora is going to UNC; Sumlin is likely going to A&M; Art Briles is uninterested in leaving Baylor.

December 6th- By the end of the day, June Jones is the only candidate again.

SMU LB recruit Thomas Brown commits to ASU. This is interesting. ASU doesn’t have a coach. Thomas Brown has never visited there. Thomas Brown has said he was deciding between Nebraska and SMU. Now he is committed to ASU.

Khalil Pettway, SMU commit, the highest rated recruit in SMU’s class, decommits. He was visiting this past weekend while June Jones talked with ASU.

At some point, June calls his staff together for a meeting in Dallas on the 7th. This is interesting because, (i) his staff is on the road recruiting; and (ii) he is supposed to be in NY. There is an alumni event in NY on the 7th and both Steve Orsini and June Jones are supposed to be in attendance.

Outrage is beginning to percolate on the ASU boards again.

December 7th-AM: June Jones has agreed to coach ASU. There is a deal in principle. June meets with his staff and says he is leaving. June apparently tells some players he is leaving, although there is no team meeting.

ASU outrage is boiling.

December 7th-PM: June is clearly out at ASU. He will not coach at ASU. Money quote from Leigh Steinberg: "Just had one of the most bizarre endings to a set of productive discussions to bring a client to a new situation. Everything was set, few tweaks left, and the principal decision maker yanks the deal with no real explanation."

Can’t find the quote, but Turner says that June Jones will lead SMU to the Big East or something to that effect.

Orsini still attends the NY alumni event (obviously, June who was/is in Dallas, was not in attendance). Austin Kilgore was there and tweeted about it. His twitter feed is here: https://twitter.com/aus10fromhous10

Orsini suggests June will continue to be the coach. Gerald Ford suggests the same. I am not going to say “follow” the guy, but his tweets from this event are interesting. Go read them. Or follow the guy. He does something with real estate and mortgages. I am sure it is riveting.

Anyway…

You can go to ponyfans or rivals or scout and read the same speculation, but it is just that: speculation. Bottom line right now is June Jones either leaves stays or he is leaving voluntarily or involuntarily. If I had to place a bet, I wouldn’t. If you gave me money and told me I had to place a bet, I suppose right now I bet June Jones is coaching SMU next week, next month and next year.

I can see June Jones “retiring” from college coaching, with a plan to coach again when this blows over. He would not be at SMU and SMU wouldn’t pay him. I guess June could get a job as a QB coach in the NFL, though I doubt anyone would hire him as a coordinator or head coach. If he “retired,” however, if I were SMU, I hold the contract over him until it expires in 2015, keeping him out as a head coach at the college level.

I can see SMU sacking June Jones over this, though that appears unlikely. The “Circle of Champions” would have to make the call and pony up the money to buy out Jones and then pay for a new coach. I don’t think people realize the money involved there. More likely, SMU and June Jones reaching a mutual agreement to part ways. The parties would have to negotiate some dollar amount less than the $6,000,000 he is owed on his contract. Contrary to the views of the amateur lawyers on the message boards, I don’t see “cause” to fire Jones over this, meaning SMU would have to buy him out of the approximately $6,000,000 he is owed on his contract. That being said, if June and his staff used SMU resources to recruit kids to another university….

I can’t see June Jones coaching anywhere but SMU in 2012. He is toxic to programs at this point. Rivals notes the $2,000,000 buyout. Yes, that is something. However, the first thing that will be brought up is the ASU matter.

June has some work to do. I am not forgiving this. This was nonsense. June Jones needs to sit down with Orsini and figure out how he will fix this mess. Reassure recruits for this year and next. Reassure the assistants for this year and next. Oh, and reassure the fanbase, too... if he can.

On the road again...

2011-12-07T12:19:00.001-06:00

Sigh.

I haven't blogged in three years. Be gentle.

Bo Levi Mitchell may lap Justin Willis’ Freshman records

2008-10-21T21:19:00.003-05:00

Perhaps no topic garners more discussion than this one. Mitchell versus Willis; Willis versus Mitchell.

Lost in the scuttlebutt of leading the Houston game for all but the last few seconds was an interesting statistic. Bo Levi Mitchell set the SMU freshman record for passing yards with 2,047 (with four games to play). He will almost certainly break the SMU freshman total offense record of 2,401 this week. Further, Mitchell has 21 passing touchdowns (22 total touchdowns) and has four games to play; Willis had 26 passing touchdowns (29 total touchdowns) his freshman year (lest we forget he sat a game).

Not so long ago, SMU ran this ad for a kid that scored 29 touchdowns.

Reminder: Bo Levi Mitchell is a TRUE freshman.

Barring injury (knock on wood), Mitchell will likely beat all of Willis’ freshman records. That includes interceptions, of course. Assuming Mitchell starts 12 games in 2009, he will obliterate all of Willis' career records as well.

Here is an interesting thought: the offense appears to be coming around somewhat; the last four games, SMU has averaged 28 points per game. Assume that SMU adds a field goal to that average over the next four weeks. SMU would then average as many points per game as it did in 2006.

The difference between 2006 and 2008, of course, is wins. The difference, of course, is a lousy start and a lousy defense. In 2006, SMU probably had the best defense it has had in 20 years and it still gave up points in bunches. Make no mistake-in the future, SMU will only go as far as its defense takes it.

So what does it mean? This is not an attempt to say that June Jones was right to start Bo Levi Mitchell. I think that decision was wrong. Nothing I have written above changes that. Mitchell played too early; he struggled; they tried to compensate by dumbing the offense down and made matters worse. Now, it appears he is starting to get it. But it does give you hope for the future. Next season, there will be an offense in place that will likely be better than any offense we have seen in 20 years. I think you have to be optimistic about that.

Now if we can just get a defense that only gives up 300 yards a game....

My review

2008-10-17T22:08:00.003-05:00

Dammit. Some people noticed I have blogged twice in the last month. Maybe that will get me to do it again. Or not. Or something.

Anyway, Tulsa was at Ford Stadium last week. Here is my review:

The first song was Leonard Cohen's "I'm your man." Then he went straight into Sinatra's "I've Got the World on a String." Wait. YOU wanted a review of the game? Sorry, dude. Wife dragged me to Michael Buble' for her Birthday. Going to see Michael Buble is not gay; going to Michael Buble for the second time in 9 months is gay.

A good friend provided constant updates via text message and for a moment, I was afraid I would have to avoid all future SMU games, because I thought my absence was going to lead to an SMU victory. Unfortunately, it wasn't meant to be. By all accounts, however, there was improvement and a complete game was played on both sides of the ball.

Let's just keep it up Saturday against Houston.

My favorite comment from the stream of text messages was my own-"Hey, I am at the Michael Buble concert, is Houston in town?, because all the Cougars are here!"

Keith Hernandez

2008-10-05T13:45:00.002-05:00

Listening to the SMU-UCF game, I realized what this season was about. June Jones decided to pull a "Keith Hernandez."

When a person seems to do something completely off the wall and/or completely outrageous for no other reason than he or she is famous and feels he can get away with it or not face repercussions from it, Simmons will say he is having an "I'm Keith Hernandez Moment". The reference comes from the famous Seinfeld episode where Keith Hernandez, on a date with Elaine, tries to convince himself to kiss Elaine by reciting (in his head), "Wait a second - I'm Keith Hernandez!" The most commonly used example of an athlete in an "I'm Keith Hernandez" Moment is Reggie Bush's ill-advised lateral against Texas in the 2006 Rose Bowl.

You see, June Jones walked onto the Hilltop and looked at the QB situation and decided he didn't like what he saw. He had a pretty good QB in Justin Willis whose strengths were not suited to June Jones' offense. Sure, he could make do with what he had and implement his offense over time, but, hey, he's June Jones. So he defied all logic and decided that a true freshman could come in, not participate in the Spring, learn a new system and start for SMU. Of course it is going to work. He's June Jones.

Well, of course it isn't working. Bo Levi Mitchell is a true freshman. He didn't participate in Spring Practice. He is learning a new system. The odds of this working were 1 in a 1,000.

Well, it isn't Mitchell's fault. He should not have been put in this position. June Jones should have known better. June Jones probably did know better.

One of the things SMU fans have craved is accountability. They want someone to take responsibility for the 20 years of losing. They want someone to admit the last 20 years have been a series of mistakes. That carries itself to every decision that is ever made about SMU football, from those made on the field to those made in the AD's office. SMU fans never get that satisfaction.

And here is another instance where that admission is not going to be made. Nor should it. There is nothing that can be said or done that is going to change the way the season is going. Sure, Willis or Turner or somebody else could be named the starter tomorrow, but what will that accomplish? We will be int he same spot next season. Let Mitchell play; let him figure it out. If he does, then all the better. If he doesn't, it is an open competition in the Spring. Fine. And let's be honest, we all recognize this team wasn't going to be very good no matter who was the QB: the defense is terrible and the best player at his position is the kicker. If the offense worked perfectly, maybe, just maybe, the team could win enough shootouts to eek into bowl eligibility. But that, I think we can see, was not and is not going to happen.

Somebody on ponyfans wondered why other schools can bring in a new coach and turn things around immediately and SMU can't seem to do it. I will give you three reasons. First, and most importantly, past academic restrictions really hurt the overall talent level of the team. Hopefully those issues have been resolved. The hiring of June Jones suggests it has as he wouldn't come if he had to deal with the BS his predecessors have. Second, SMU has kept coaches around too long. Five years is enough and in some cases, too long. After Bennett's winless season, recruiting took a nosedive and enthusiasm dropped off dramatically. Any objective observer would have told you the football team was going to struggle (especially the defense) after Bennett's 6-6 season and the graduation of probably the three best defensive linemen SMU has had in 20 years. Third, Cavan and Bennett were idiots.

Yeah

2008-09-21T12:48:00.004-05:00

Yeah, I quit writing this thing. I have too much going on right now to blog full-time or even semi-full time. However, I can't let yesterday's TCU-SMU game go by without comment. I went to that game and saw a sorry excuse for a football team get out hustled, outworked, out game planned, out coached and outclassed.

I have been generally supportive of Bo Levi Mitchell over Justin Willis or anybody else. I questioned fro Day 1 whether Willis could fit in as QB in Jones's system. Last night was a deal breaker for me. The interception of a shuffle pass by a defensive tackle was too much to take. You can't tell me Justin Willis can't do everything Coach Jones wanted BLM to do in the TCU game.

Note to Coach Jones: If you don't trust BLM to throw the ball 10 yards down the field, then you don't trust him to run your system. If you don't trust BLM to run your system, then get somebody who can or get somebody who can run whatever watered down system you are throwing out there now. Two picks thrown to defensive linemen is too much to bear. That was freakin' nonsense.

Another message to Coach Jones: I don't know if you knew this, but you were hired for the express purpose of preventing crap like last night from happening. I wasn't expecting a miracle season this year. I was expecting a team that was well prepared, well coached, with the right mindset, high energy, played hard, with a good game plan and confidence that at the right time during the game, the right decision would be made. I saw none of that, and the fact that it happened against TCU only makes it worse. That really was an embarrassment all the way around.

By now you all have heard the news… Coach Watch Day 72.

2008-01-07T21:39:00.000-06:00

That is right. It is true. General Joe’s Chopstix on Mockingbird is shutting down for good. General Joe’s chicken was a staple of mine on Sundays throughout the early 1990’s. In its place will be the finest coloring book collection this nation has ever seen.

Oh, and SMU hired a football coach!!!

The story broke in the weirdest of ways. The Honolulu Advertiser had an article that said Jones stopped taking calls late last night, which was linked to on the ponyfans message board. Then, all of a sudden, at around 10AM, the article changed to “Jones takes coaching job at SMU.” I called Brad Sutton, SID at SMU and he didn’t know what I was talking about. He looked at the website himself and said he would go find out. Turns out Jones’ assistants that were asked to come to SMU spilled the beans. And the rest is history.

One must say that in the last twenty years of SMU football, this day is pretty high on the list.

Press conference video

Press conference summary

Press conference quotes

Ticket interview summary

The press conference was packed with SMU fans. Easily ten time the people that were at the Matt Doherty press conference. They even had an overflow room. And they needed it. There was a lot of excitement in the room. It was nice to feel optimism among the SMU crowd. I can’t think of the last time I felt that kind of optimism. Certainly not in the last twelve months. Turner and Orsini were positively giddy. OK. That isn’t fair. We all were.

Anyway, this is my first impression of Jones. Jones has complete confidence in his abilities, his system, his assistants. Far more so that Bennett ever showed in his first press conference. You get the sense that June Jones is here to turn this thing around and there is absolutely zero possibility that he will fail.

I still maintain that at some point over the last 72 days, the search was not going well. It would be interesting to know exactly who was spoken to about this job. Somehow, I doubt we ever know. I said all along that just because the search may not be going well, it doesn’t mean that SMU won’t get a great coach. In the end, I should have stuck to my first comments about the search. At the end of the day, with everyone wondering who will take this awful, awful job, just like the athletic director search and the basketball coaching search, the answer will be someone better than any one of us have a right to expect.

Weirdest person in attendance: Channel 8 film critic Gary Cogill. Cogill apparently grew up with June Jones. Who knew?

One does feel for Hawaii under the circumstances. They don’t want our pity; they want somebody’s head on a stick. And it appears that Hawaii athletics director Herman Frazier will soon have his head lopped off.And with good reason. Jones is at SMU because this guy apparently doesn’t know how run an athletic department and Steve Orsini does. Think about that. One of the most inept programs over the last twenty years stole the master of one of the greatest turnarounds in college football history from his alma mater.

University of Hawaii President went so far as to apologize:

Finally, I also want to apologize to our fans and all of Hawaii for matters getting to this stage in the first place. Exceptional performance deserves exceptional recognition, and your University was slow to step up.

Dude. Obviously, this was important to Hawaii. The Governor got involved. I kind of feel bad. Maybe SMU should offer Herman Frazier a job or something. We owe him a lot.

Questions we all have:

1) Staff. Jones extended invitations to all of his staff to join him at SMU. It is unclear how many will take those offers. At least three have already accepted: DC Greg McMackin, QB Coach Dan Morrison and running backs coach Wes Suan. There is some talk that linebackers coach Cal Lee will be named as head coach of Hawaii (he was one of five coaches suggested to Hawaii by Jones). At some level, one would want Texas people to have some of the jobs and Jones said as much.

Ramon Flanigan was at the press conference. He has been an offensive coordinator before. He was a running QB in a run and shoot offense. I wonder if there is a place for him on this staff. Certainly could do worse.

2) Recruiting. It appears that Defensive Coordinator Greg McMackin is in town and will stay for the time being. Greg McMackin was former Big XII recruiter of the year of Texas Tech before going to the 49'ers and then to Hawaii. There was a report that a Hawaii radio station spoke with one Hawaii recruit who stated that he intended to go where June Jones went. At least four of Jones current Hawaii commitments are from Texas. Presumably, the first priority is to shore up current SMU commitments and then Hawaii commitments, then former SMU commitments, and finally non-committed players.

2A) Recruiting standards. I handed off my question to Kate; we will see if she asks Coach Jones about his 2003 comments on the SMU job. In the Dallas Morning News on November 13, 2003; June Jones said the following regarding Phil Bennett:

"I think Phil is on an island sometimes," Jones said. "He's going through some unfair requirements over there. He's not on the same playing field as the rest of us."

At the press conference Jones, Turner and Orsini said standards were nationally competitive. I have said for a while, I think standards are being used in part as an excuse. We will see. Let's start with the kid that already wants to switch his commitment.

3)Money. I don't know who is in the "Circle of Champions," but I bet they have good seats. Widely reported that it is 20 boosters that have committed $100,000.00 per year over the next five years. That is a big commitment and seems to be the focus of most of the media to this point-SMU got Jones because it threw a lot of money at him. Some SMU fans are taking umbrage at that. Why? SMU is a small school with a rocky past. You use your resources in the best way possible. That was done here. Never apologize.

4)Spring Game. Dude. Give it a rest. The Spring Game will probably be near the end of March and you should plan on attending. It should preview what I have to assume will be a record-setting year for SMU passing statistics. Barring injury, doesn't Willis have to set the single-season SMU passing record?

You, too, will be asked to "pony up." Walking out, I was handed a flier on season tickets for next year. You will get a discount with a Mustang Club contribution. (Typical SMU mind of mine immediately started thinking of the tax consequences of that benefit.) Probably a smart way of getting the rolls up and then they will hit us all up for larger contributions in later years. I am trying to find fault with this plan, but it seems pretty savvy at first look.

Finally, I don't know if Steve Orsini thinks I owe him an apology or not. Actually, I should not flatter myself to think he cares. I don't personally think I owe him one for anything I have said in this blog. But I do owe Steve Orsini an apology for losing faith somewhere between Day 1 and Day 72. Steve Orsini got SMU a great coach. This is Steve-O's day. So here is to you, Steve. Soak it up. I am sure we will find something to complain about soon.

Someone else can make it official, but I think it is a done deal.

2008-01-06T20:39:00.000-06:00

Be very wary of AP news stories like this one. AP doesn't have its own reporters. This one is written by a Hawaii reporter. Just as likely that the Dallas Morning News story could get picked up next. Pay attention to the Dallas Morning News. Pay some attention to the Hawaii papers.

Jones was in Dallas meeting with SMU officials and the search committee that has been working since late October to hire a replacement to Phil Bennett. Meanwhile, the folks on the island were doing all they could to get him to say no and continue leading a program he has guided to national prominence.

I will say this, if the above linked article is accurate and Jones met with the search committee, it is all but over. SMU wins; Hawaii loses. Orsini would not have let Jones meet with the search committee unless it was a done deal.

I was told Friday, by one guy that June Jones was a 99% done deal.

I was told by another guy Friday that it looked promising.

I never posted anything, because I was waiting to hear from a specific person, who has still not contacted me yet.

On Saturday, I spoke with someone not associated with SMU but works in college athletics and knows quite a bit about coaches and coaching searches. He said, "You get June Jones on a plane and he is yours. The challenge should be getting him on the plane. I would have somebody escort him if I were you."

So today is Sunday and I know no more than you. I can say with 99% certainty that the first official word will be here.The other one percent: here. I have no desire to screw this up and be wrong and doubt I am going to hear anything before you.

Just my thoughts.

June Jones says Thank You to the Warrior Nation...

2008-01-03T22:51:00.000-06:00

Thank you for supporting our outstanding student-athletes during our 12-0 regular season, Western Athletic Conference Championship, and our first-ever appearance in a Bowl Championship Series game, the 2008 Allstate Sugar Bowl. These young men worked tirelessly during the course of the 2007 campaign in order to represent the entire state of Hawai`i in first-class fashion and I certainly could not be more proud of them.

It was my great honor to be associated with such a quality group of coaches and players. They demonstrated teamwork, sacrifice, grit, determination, unselfishness, humility, and an unrelenting commitment to success. Meanwhile, they were superior individuals off the field and represented Hawai`i with class, dignity, and honor.

I want to extend a special mahalo to the fans of Hawai`i. You were there for us during the course of the season and traveled with us in great numbers to New Orleans, making incredible personal sacrifices. That really touched our hearts in ways that can never be accurately communicated. The level of energy, excitement, and passion you demonstrated truly helped make this a wonderful experience for everyone involved.

Mahalo,

June Jones
Head Coach

Notice what is missing? Any reference at all to next year. Also notice every reference to Hawaii football is in the past tense.

Just saying.

The Chancellor of the University of Hawaii says an offer is on the way.

But will it come in time?

This is from a release from UH today. The speaker is Manoa chancellor Virginia Hinshaw.

“I know that there is a great deal of interest in ensuring that June Jones remains here as our football coach – and that is definitely our goal as well. We truly appreciate his outstanding efforts in leading us to the Sugar Bowl and producing successful student-athletes. It has always been our intent to make Coach Jones a firm offer that will keep him here, and I want to assure everyone that Athletics Director Herman Frazier is moving expeditiously to do just that,” said Hinshaw.

Reading the Hawaii message board, one gets a sense that Hawaii fans really hate this AD Herman Frazier. I am just dumbfounded that Hawaii doesn't seem to have anything in place yet.

Coach Watch Day 67: First and last.

2008-01-03T08:33:00.000-06:00

After winning the Fiesta Bowl, Bill Stewart will be named head coach of West Virginia. That means that SMU, the first school to announce it was making a change will be the last school to actually hire a coach.

Unbelievable.

Read this to see how tense things are getting over at mustangmaniacs.com: http://smu.rivals.com/showmsg.asp?fid=2350&tid=109269702&mid=109269702&sid=1174&style=2

I still maintain that the SMU coaching search is going badly. I also still maintain that SMU can still get a great coach. However, I will neither blindly proclaim the next head coach to be a great coach nor whitewash the process if SMU does get a quality coach. But until told otherwise, like everyone else, I will keep my eyes on the Sandwich Islands and the head coach of the University of Hawaii June Jones.

When I read things like yesterday’s New York Times [http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/03/sports/ncaafootball/03colleges.html?_r=1&ref=sports&oref=slogin] and the inability for June Jones and Hawaii to get basic football needs filled, I start to wonder if Hawaii even has the ability to keep him.

The major lingering issue for Jones’s future at Hawaii is not his salary, which is $800,000 a year and could be expected to increase. It is whether Hawaii, now that it has begun to benefit from playing big-time football, will commit to investing heavily in the program. The program’s football budget — $2.2 million — is more than $1 million less than that of its chief Western Athletic Conference rival, Boise State.

The Hawaii football facilities were described as “condemned” by quarterback Colt Brennan, who had to campaign through the news media to get soap in the locker room earlier this season. The Hawaii team videotaped practice for four years from a hand-held camera that Jones won at a golf tournament.

It isn’t that Hawaii isn’t capable of matching or coming close to matching any SMU offer (they may not be able to, but they may not have to). It is that aside from the salary, it is the refusal to run Hawaii football like a top 25 program, whereas Steve Orsini wants SMU to be “top 25 in everything [it] does.” Hawaii is capable of providing video equipment for the locker room, soap for the shower, a recruiting budget over $50,000.00, but they have achieved their success without it and the administration may not believe they have to. To give June Jones the salary he deserves and the budget his program deserves, may be more than Hawaii thinks it has to do to be successful and Hawaii may ultimately balk at the price tag. They may need to lose June Jones and lose a lot of football games before they think otherwise.

Another excellent article can be found in the Honolulu Advertiser [http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080103/NEWS01/801030366/1001/NEWS01].

It confirms that today, June Jones is in Hawaii. It also provides this money quote:

"In my opinion, and this is speaking out of turn, but June, to me, has to do what's best for June," UH offensive line coach Dennis McKnight said. "He has given so much. He basically saved a program that was floundering in the water, that was on life support in the life raft. He brought it to the summit of national prominence. It's a name. It's a logo. It's a school that people recognize.

"I know the way he's thinking and feeling and agonizing over this decision right now, that this is where his heart is. But at the same time, from a business standpoint, when you're talking money and a challenge, sometimes a competitor loves a challenge. I know it's going to be a tough deal, and a tough decision."

Listening to the radio this morning, it was the first thing discussed on the Ticket at 6AM. They seem relatively astounded that SMU could land June Jones. Stewart Mandell at CNNSI.com understands what SMU sees in Jones but not what Jones would see in SMU. The same can be said of basically every national college football sports writer in the country. The people on the message board or around Dallas that would not be thrilled with a June Jones hire should be beaten with a stick.

Maybe June Jones is serious about SMU, but maybe he is just using SMU to get all of the Sugar Bowl payout money devoted to football. I don’t know. Today I will be positive. I ran this morning with my iPod on “shuffle.” “Peruna” was the first song it played. It is a sign. As I was coming home, “Pony Battle Cry.” It is a sign. Good things are going to happen today.

Coach Watch Day 66- Post-New Year?s Day Edition

2008-01-02T09:31:00.000-06:00

Well, now that June Jones doesn’t have a job to do, we can start watching planes again. If it isn’t Jones, I assume it has to be a hodgepodge of readily available coaches, former coaches and assistants. I still have a hard time believing June Jones is leaving Hawaii, but I will put that aside for a moment.

Hawaii got rolled in the Sugar Bowl. Would it have been cool if Hawaii won and June Jones became the SMU head coach? Sure. Does the loss mean anything? No. The Hawaii 31 point loss to Georgia wasn’t the biggest blowout of this year’s bowl season and wasn’t even the biggest point disparity of New Year’s Day. I would have liked to have seen Hawaii be more competitive, but so what? June Jones did what only Urban Meyer and Chris Petersen have done: taken a non-BCS team to a BCS bowl game. Heck. The list of coaches that haven’t taken a team to a BCS bowl game is pretty long and a lot of those coaches have been routed in bowl games, too.

June Jones now appears to be contemplating his future:

http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080102/NEWS01/801020394

From the above article, there are a few things you should take away.

First, June Jones’ contract has now expired, which is significant for a couple of reasons. Coaches in the last year of their contracts is virtually unheard of in college athletics; the mere fact that it has gotten to this point between June Jones and Hawaii should raise questions about the true extent of the relationship between June Jones and his alma matter. Also, because June Jones is no longer under contract, there is no buyout; June Jones can walk away from Hawaii for nothing.

Second, related to above, Jones and Hawaii haven’t even discussed a contract. As much as Jones has complained about facilities, commitment, carpet in his office, pay for his assistants, can June Jones effectively negotiate a contract with a state school for both a raise and resolve these other issues?

Third, “Jones has said he will "disappear" for a week to contemplate his future. The team returns to Honolulu this afternoon, and Jones said he will spend time in Kona.” This is both good and bad. Bad in that Jones has, apparently, returned to Hawaii. Logic dictates that June Jones isn’t going to take the SMU job without seeing the facilities. While it is true Hawaii has played SMU in Ford Stadium while Jones was coach, that was in 2001. It is good in the sense that he will spend some time away from the team to get this resolved. The fact that this could also take another week to resolve itself is depressing.

Nearing the end if only because of the inevitability of it all-Coach Watch Day 64

2007-12-31T11:14:00.000-06:00

Sorry for the lack of posting this last week. I kind of missed most of the Junes Jones development or lack thereof. Well, I am not really sorry. I am just about sick of waiting. I can either post vitriolic rant or play with my kids. I choose kids.

SMU will have a coach soon. SMU will not be coachless as it enters the next contact period with recruits just as it will not be coachless as it enters Spring practice or next season. That means SMU will have a new coach at the end of this week or perhaps next week.

The next full contact period begins January 13^th. I refuse to entertain for a moment the idea that a coach won’t be hired by that date. You could also note that recruits can visits the weekends of January 4^th and January 13^th, but the idea that a coach can get be hired one day and turn around and host recruits the next day borders on the absurd. Again, I will point out that aside from there not being a head coach, there is NO COACHING STAFF. If SMU goes in any direction other than a coach that is currently a head coach, putting together a staff will take time. That time and energy will also take away from the time and energy that needs to be devoted to recruiting.

Of course, the whole notion that it is OK that SMU doesn’t have a head coach because recruiting is in a “dead period” is ridiculous. While it is true that during a dead period, no one associated with SMU may contact or evaluate prospects on or off campus, coaches may still write or call prospects.

If SMU essentially has no recruiting class in 2008, it will affect SMU for years. Those players will, in effect, never exist and never be replaced on the roster. SMU has historically come close to offering the limit of 25 scholarships every year through graduation and attrition anyway. If there is an “empty” class, even though only half of those athletes might pan out, those athletes won’t redshirt, they won’t play, they won’t make the two-deep roster. It will harm depth. It will require more athletes to burn redshirts in the future.

A few thoughts on June Jones and Jon Tenuta, since their names came up in the last week.

June Jones is the head coach of Hawaii and an offensive genius. I would hire June Jones any day of the week and twice on Sundays. I would wait until January 3^rd to hire June Jones; he is worth the wait. I would not wait until January 3^rd to talk to June Jones. All signs say June Jones isn’t coming to SMU and most pundits say that if he did, he would be nuts. Most likely, SMU is the only school dumb enough to chase June Jones and he intends to use Orsini to get himself a raise and new carpet for his office.

In the Dallas Morning News on November 13, 2003; June Jones said the following regarding Phil Bennett:

"I think Phil is on an island sometimes," Jones said. "He's going through some unfair requirements over there. He's not on the same playing field as the rest of us."

Now, does that lead you to believe that Jones would even consider coming to SMU four years later, when little more than the name on the AD's door has changed? That being said, if June Jones did take the job, it would go a long way towards restoring some credibility to SMU because he obviously would not come unless he thought he could win.

As for Jon Tenuta, his name has unfairly become a punchline for me. The cruelest thing you can say about Tenuta is “Jon Tenuta is Phil Bennett without the personality.” That isn’t really fair, because Tenuta is a heck of a defensive coordinator and has a better resume than Phil ever did as defensive coordinator. However, Tenuta has wanted a head coaching job for years, rarely even gotten an interview. Many think he lacks the personality to be a head coach.

There is a widespread rumor that he had a special deal at Georgia Tech where he did not have to recruit. Seriously. Even if it isn’t true, the mere fact that it is out there gives me pause. He is a college football coach. College football coaches recruit. It is part of the job. I can’t imagine any self-respecting coach allowing such a rumor to even get out there.

Tenuta will not sell tickets. Tenuta will not sell SMU. Not to alumni. Not to Dallas. Not to recruits. End of story.

My new fear is that SMU will hire someone like Tenuta and use his current role as interim head coach as an excuse for the ridiculous delay. "Hey, he was the interim head coach, we couldn't hire him a month ago." Or, "He was coaching the quarterbacks for the [insert NFL team here], we couldn't hire him." If they tried that, it would be a lie. A lie. An untruth. A falsehood. Coaches have left their current teams; coaches have been announced as leaving and stayed to coach the bowl game or the rest of the NFL season.

Coach Watch Day 54: Fran and stuff

2007-12-20T09:08:00.000-06:00

Yesterday was Franchione day, which followed Coker day. It appears that there is no new news today.

I was surprised by the Franchione story. Like many, I am not entirely sure how this and the Coker story came to light. The Dallas Morning News never actually says Franchione interviewed or when the contact/discussion takes place. I said a long time ago that Fran was trying to contact SMU. The Dallas Morning News only says that ESPN says Coker interviewed and has no other information, including when such an interview took place. I think logic would tell you that the Coker interview took place recently.

Despite being a former frog and former aggie, I don’t have near the animosity towards Fran that I do Coker, though I vaguely recall cursing his name on a cold rainy night at Ford Stadium in November 2000. Coker’s Miami team was worse when he left it, though I realize it couldn’t have gotten any better. They trended downward every year and there is no evidence he was capable of disciplining his players. He led a team that ended up being an embarrassment on and off the field. Fran, on the other hand, put together great staffs at New Mexico and TCU. He built up New Mexico and TCU; people forget he won 10 games at Alabama and I am not that turned off by his coaching performance at A&M. The next paragraph will annoy some aggies (Sorry, aggie pals).

A&M is a school with high expectations, but people forget that A&M has been trending downwards since 1998, which coincides with the arrival of Mack Brown. R.C. Slocum’s last season was a disappointing no bowl 6-6 season in 2002. A&M was solidly behind OU and Texas in the Big XII South; lost to Tech two years in a row, the last years of RC in conference were 7-1, 5-3, 5-3, 4-4, 3-5. While Fran had two sub .500 years at A&M, where is A&M today? Arguably a little better, but A&M is not worse off today than it was under Slocum. .500 in conference, two consecutive victories over Texas and still can’t beat Texas Tech (but that is a problem they have had for over 10 years). I know that is faint praise: “Fran didn’t make them worse,” but I think it is accurate.

The VIP newsletter doesn’t concern me. It is the kind of thing nobody cares about when you are 8-4, but when you are not living up to expectations, it is a real issue.

I still think Fran can recruit and put together a staff. Fran, of all the mentioned candidates, in my opinion, is in the best position, to do good things at SMU.

A couple of follow up notes on my most recent posts. Apparently, Coker only had three players die while he was head coach: two car accidents and a shooting death, though at least one of the car accidents was alcohol related, there was another accidental shooting of a player by another player and an indicted felon was signed to a letter of intent (albeit the trumped up charges related to an incident at another school’s recruiting trip). The “bludgeoning” took place while Butch Davis was head coach and Coker was offensive coordinator.

Also, I forgot to mention something else about recruiting. It takes more than a head coach to recruit. It takes an entire staff. You can’t reasonably hire a coach, especially a coach like Coker who has been out of football, and expect him to have an entire staff immediately and ready to recruit. That is one thing that the other two available jobs have over SMU in this process-both are bowl teams with staffs in place where some assistant coaches hope/expect to be retained. At SMU, the entire staff was fired; they are gone.

I am working on a "What I would do if I were Orsini" post. I am sure everyone is waiting with baited breath. I halfway expect SMU to hire a coach before I am finished.

Coach Watch Day 53

2007-12-18T21:22:00.000-06:00

As far as I am concerned, there are only two opinions one can have on the SMU coaching search. The first is that the SMU coaching search is going badly. The second is that the SMU coaching search is not going badly. I don’t think you can rationally argue the search is actually going well as it reaches day 50. This post is to officially inform you that I have changed my position from the latter to the former. The coaching search is not going well and the evidence is all around us.

When I started blogging again, it was with the assumption that the coaching search would take around a month. And I also thought I would be blogging about, you know, news. So now we are in week eight and there is no coach in sight and there has been very little news.

I have been thinking about this for a week now. I have reread every article on the SMU coaching search. I then saw something in Kevin Sherrington's column that I had missed earlier and that crystallized things in my mind.

Orsini says he hasn't offered the job to anyone, not even Navy's Paul Johnson, who opted for Georgia Tech. Orsini says coordinators could be candidates, though he prefers head coaching experience.

We are considering coordinators now? I went and reviewed the Orsini press conference after Bennett was let go. When asked what he was looking for in a head coach, the first words out of his mouth were "head coaching experience." Orsini does hedge his comments later, but it was clear head coaching experience was key.

Unlike many at SMU, hiring an assistant suits me just fine. Hiring a lower division head coach suits me fine as well. But it seems to me that if Orsini is widening the net, it must be because he isn’t catching any fish.

I used to believe that if the SMU search was going badly, we would know it. There would be a lot more reports like the one that said Paul Johnson was going to Navy, Steve Kragthorpe had no interest in the job or Air Force’s Calhoun publicly declining to interview. I also used to believe that SMU and Orsini’s silence was a mistake. I have changed my mind on both counts. If not for Orsini’s lockdown on all information related to the search, SMU fans would know just how badly the search is going.

On November 30th, President Turner said he hoped a coach would be hired within a week. That was over two weeks ago. Turner, Orsini and everyone involved know the search has gone on too long.

When Orsini was on with Norm Hitzges last week, Orsini made a point to mention that a dead period for recruiting began today which extends through January 3rd. A full contact period does not begin until January 13th. This is true. However, it is also true that national signing day is February 6th. There are now just 21 full contact days between now and February 6th.

While it is easy to say SMU doesn’t need a coach for recruiting when a coach cannot meet with recruits personally, that ignores the bulk of the recruiting process. Coaches can write or telephone prospective student-athletes during the dead period. More importantly, coaches can assess needs, evaluate film, target players. It is important to note that none of this has been happening in any real or meaningful way since October 29th (and really, long before that). You simply cannot hire a coach in January and expect him to hit the recruiting trail running.

Furthermore, signing day for midyear junior college transfers is December 19th, which, for those of you keeping score at home, is Wednesday. You are blind if you don’t think SMU needs help on both sides of the ball immediately.

If you don’t think the search is going poorly, you have to have blind faith in Orsini, because Lord knows you can’t have faith in SMU. Some people assured everyone that SMU had a deal with a coach and it would be announced after SMU’s season was over out of respect for Bennett. When that time passed, some said SMU clearly had a deal with a coach and it would be announced after the coach had finished his season because he had another game to coach. When that time passed and Paul Johnson went to Georgia Tech and silence has since followed, some people now say SMU has a deal with a coach and it will be announced after the coach has coached his bowl game or maybe it is an NFL coach or assistant that has to finish his season.

At other schools, current NFL assistants (and even an NFL head coach) have been hired. Schools with bowl games to play have lost their coaches and assistants in the shuffle as recently as last week. It is possible that a particular coach that interests SMU has said they preferred to wait out the season, but that certainly isn’t likely. Any coach knows the value of recruiting and knows that they needed to be out on the recruiting trail for their new school if they were taking another job.

There are no deals in place and if there are deals, they are worth no more than any deal SMU ever had with Paul Johnson who is currently house shopping in Atlanta. While Orsini claims he never offered the job to Paul Johnson, that statement is only true in the technical sense. You can find Paul Johnson’s Georgia Tech contract here. Reading the document, it is clear the contract is not technically “offered” until all the terms are agreed to. I am sure Johnson’s agent has a similar “memorandum of understanding” from SMU in a file in his office (or perhaps a trashcan).

Here is a list of the coaching changes last year. The longest search was Alabama’s, which you will recall lasted seemingly forever. It actually lasted 38 days. SMU is on day 50 with no indication that it will end soon. There has never been a search like this one that I recall. Never.

And then we found out that SMU interviewed Larry Coker. I have already said I think Coker would be a bad choice. For now, that is beside the point. Coker is exactly the kind of guy I thought SMU was not considering. Even more troubling, SMU could have hired Coker 51 days ago. If SMU had any real interest in Coker, it could have set up an interview with Coker for right after Thanksgiving and the SMU season ended.

It doesn't make any sense if things are fine. None of this makes any sense unless you take a step back and look at it for what it is. This is what a coaching search that is not going well looks like. The complete silence from the administration and boosters, who otherwise would be excited; the lack of public speculation; the length of time. Someone pointed out to me that Ohio State hired Jim Tressel in Mid-February; yes, but Ohio State didn't fire John Cooper until January 2, 2000, either. Coaching searches that are going well don't last this long. Did you know the longest coaching search in NHL history is 27 days? I believe the modern day NFL record is 39 days. Maybe it will end well, and I hope it does, but it isn't going well.

If SMU had hired somebody quickly, I woud have just shrugged my shoulders and said, "Hey, Orsini got his guy. What can you say? Let Orsini be judged by what the guy accomplishes." Now, things are different. Now, I have to judge Orsini's choice against the myriad of other coaches SMU could have/should have/would have/did consider. We are also going to have to examine Orsini's process and what went wrong.

I don't fault Orsini for aiming high and trying to get a coach that ESPN gave Georgia Tech an "A" for hiring. Personally, I still don't think Paul Johnson is what Georgia Tech needed and was surprised they pursued him. I do question why there was apparently no backup plan in motion as soon as Paul Johnson left for a second interview with Georgia Tech.

I have been languishing over posting this for a week (I am sure it doesn't show, but hey, any idiot can blog). I shared it with a couple of people before I posted it. Both agree. One was surprised it took me this long. The other just said it depressed him to see me write it because I have previously been positive.

Just because the search isn't going well, however, doesn't mean SMU can't still get a great coach. Maybe I am an ungrateful dolt and don't appreciate that Orsini is busting his tail every minute of the day to find SMU the perfect fit. Ultimately, it may come to pass that SMU hires a great coach. And if that happens, I will be wrong and rightfully and gladly so. God, I hope so.

Oh, well. Back to Guitar Hero III.

Coach Watch Day 52: Coker shows up

2007-12-18T09:28:00.000-06:00

So some show on ESPN2 says former Miami head man Larry Coker interviewed for the vacant SMU head coaching job. If you read the message boards, you found out about it early yesterday; if you don’t, you can read about it in today’s paper.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/colleges/topstories/stories/121807dnsposmucoker.2fe9925.html

At his press conference IN OCTOBER, Orsini listed four criteria that he would use to evaluate candidates: (i) past success; (ii) academics; (iii) conduct of his players on and off the field; and (iv) ability to sell SMU.

During Larry Coker’s tenure, there was a well-publicized melee during a game between Miami players and the players of Florida International. As someone reminded me, the fight started when a Miami player took a bow in front of the fans after scoring a touchdown. After the fight, Coker remarked:

"I think that it will affect the image of our program greatly, but in a positive way," he said. "I think that when they see the video and they see how it was handled they will be impressed with our players." Additionally, he was quoted in the Miami Herald as saying "I think you've got a lot of players from their team frustrated because they're not here, and maybe were not recruited."

To paraphrase Ron Burgundy, “You stay classy, Larry Coker.”

At this time I would also like to point out that during Larry Coker’s time as head coach of Miami, four players died and none were by natural causes. Tow died in car accidents. One was shot and killed. A fourth was “bludgeoned” to death. That is right. I said, “bludgeoned.”

In his first season after Butch Davis left for the Cleveland Browns, Larry Coker’s team went undefeated and won a national championship. His next season, Miami lost in the national title game. The next season, Miami lost two games. The next year, Miami lost three games and again three the next. The next and final season, Coker’s Miami team lost six games. That is called a trend in my book. Take the number 1 team in the country when you take over and get it knocked out of the top 25. And make no mistake, that was the number one team in the country before Coker got there: One of my clearest memories in 2000

Oh, and the word on the street is Coker loathes recruiting. One of the things that people say did Coker in at Miami was his inability to effectively recruit South Florida …in Miami! He lost too many players to Florida, Florida State and USF. Miami's recruiting class were consistently ranked lower and lower each year.

Did I mention the guy is 60?

In case you can’t tell, I have no interest in this guy. I said it a long time ago: too old; too many issues. More importantly, I am angered that this guy got an interview and others apparently have not. I view this guy as every bit as untouchable, if not more so, than Gary Barnett, Dennis Franchione, Rick Neuheisel and Terry Bowden.

Coaches SMU is apparrently not considering 3

2007-12-16T10:49:00.001-06:00

Chris Hatcher is a genius and will be a head coach in Division I-A sooner rather than later. Again, he is young and not quite a man according to OSU coach Mike Gundy. He was the head coach of Division II Voldosta State and is now the head coach of Division I-AA Georgia Southern.

In seven years at Voldosta State, he posted an .864 winning percentage;registered a 68-7 mark in the regular season, was 56-6 in conference play, had 60 All-conference selections, coached 16 Division II all-american selections and won a Division II national championship.

In his first year at Georgia Southern, he coached a player to the Walter Payton Award (I-AA Heisman). He was a finalist for I-AA coach of the year. He turned a 3-8 team into a 7-4 team.

He interviewed at Georgia Tech this year. Again, we aren't looking at lower division head coaches. And yes, I know Mike Cavan coached at Voldosta State; is that really a reason not to consider a coach? I said this before but I believe that sometimes it is better to find a good coach yourself than overpay to hire a coach away from somewhere else.

Bowdenheisel!

Coach Watch Day 44

2007-12-11T20:30:00.000-06:00

Orsini speaks!!!!!!!!!!! Out of deference to the ponyfans website, I am linking to a summary rather than reposting here. That way they get the ad revenue. I don't get ad revenue so I don't care.

Orsini also made a blog entry.

I know some of you may be frustrated with the lack of news and information out there, but a coaching search is unlike anything else we do. It has always been my experience that these searches are best conducted quietly. Again, I know that may frustrate the message boards, bloggers and even the DMN, but right now I can only focus on getting the best available coach to the Hilltop.

If that was directed at me, then I will take it. I still think Orsini can be more open than he is being. That won't change until a coach is hired. Note that I have never said, "Orsini needs to hire a coach now!" Orsini knows the stakes. I have only said Orsini needs to be aware of the mindset of the SMU fan today as the longest coaching search in the nation and school history drags on. He also needs to realize he controls the news only at one end and most news that he doesn't control, if it gets out, is bad (Johnson going to GT, for example).

Listening to the radio on my way to lunch, a friend said we learned nothing from that interview with Norm Hitzges. I corrected him. Yes, we did. We learned SMU isn't going to hire anybody this week.

Coaches SMU is apparently not considering 2

2007-12-11T20:19:00.001-06:00

Will Muschamp

Will Muschamp is the youngest and hottest coaching prospect without a head coaching job in America. While young, he has the rare resume that includes coordinator stops in both the SEC (twice) and NFL. He is only 35. He was an assistant at LSU and Saban took him to coach the Dolphins. He left the Dolphins ahead of Saban and went to Auburn.

He has been interviewed at Georgia Tech and Arkansas. He turned down the opportunity to interview at Louisiana Tech last year.

If Will Muschamp were hired, I will be thrilled. And not only because I will print 500 "Boom! Motherf**ker!" T-shirts. I genuinely think the guy can coach. Muschamp is the Defensive Coordinator for a team with an offensive-minded head coach.

Again, we aren't looking at first-time head coaches. Personally, I believe that sometimes it is better to find a good coach yourself than overpay to hire a coach away from somewhere else.

Bowdenheisel!

New Feature: Coaches SMU apparently isn't considering

2007-12-10T21:28:00.000-06:00

I have decided to annoy you. Congratulations. Rather than scream "Bowdenheisel!"© 500 times, I am going to suggest other coaches SMU is apparently not going to consider. Unlike Bowdenheisel (tm), I am going to suggest coaches that other schools that haven't been looking for coaches as long as SMU are considering.

Today:

Larry Fedora (OC Okie State)

http://www.okstate.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=1419&SPID=143&DB_OEM_ID=200&ATCLID=106409&Q_SEASON=2007

Larry Fedora is a man and he is 40 (actually 45, I think). He is also a very well respected offensive coordinator and recruiter. Some will tell you he is a genius and if they don't, he will tell you he is a genius. Before becoming the OC at OSU, he was Zook's OC at Florida and Zook offered him the same job at Illinois but Fedora took the offer at OSU. He is a Texas native and went to Austin College. He also coached briefly in the HS ranks in Garland, Texas. Plus, I think he has a cool name.

He is expected to be named the HC at Southern Mississippi any day now. They are arguing over his budget for assistant coaches. SMU could have him if they acted assertively.

But, alas, we aren't looking at first-time head coaches. Personally, I believe that sometimes it is better to find a good coach yourself than overpay to hire a coach away from somewhere else.

Bowdenheisel!

What makes a good job opening? Money, tradition to start

2007-12-10T20:45:00.000-06:00

For the next post, please read this:

What makes a good job opening? Money, tradition to start.

ESPN's Bruce Feldman lists the 10 biggest factors on what makes a great coaching job. Let us examine SMU and how it measures up on all 10.

1. Financial commitment: Depends. Seems like there is a financial commitment to bring in a head coach. But what about assistants? What about a recruiting budget? I think the money is there to accomplish anything; the nut just needs to be cracked open. To crack that nut, all a coach has to do is win!

2. Tradition: A Negative. You have to break the tradition into pre- and post-death penalty. pre-death penalty, the tradition is solid. Post-death penalty, tradition is effectively nonexistent. You could argue that the pre-death penalty success is a detriment to future success.

3. Conference appeal: A negative. Not BCS and that is all that matters. Conference USA is terrible. It was gutted in the most recent conference realignment. On the other hand, if not for that realignment, SMU wouldn't be in it. Also, SMU has the most bowl tie-ins of the non-BCS conferences and as good a TV deal as any.

4. Recruiting base: A positive. Sure, SMU could take better advantage, but the recruiting base in Texas and the metroplex is there.

5. Stability of the administration: A positive. Though the slow plodding leadership of Turner can drive you nuts and the coaching search could be going better, you cannot accuse SMU leadership of being rash or unstable.

6. Facilities: Depends. No practice facility and no room for one, but the on campus stadium is a gem.

7. Admissions Flexibility: A negative. That is all I am going to say.

8. Campus feel: A positive.

9. Fan sanity: A positive. The current search aside, this is a positive. SMU is desperate for a winner. The next coach that gets SMU to a bowl is going to get a statue built in his honor.

10. Climate: A positive. Short or Southern California and Florida, I am not sure where you are going to find a better climate. My cousin realized this one year when we played golf on Christmas Eve.

Coach Watch Day 43

2007-12-10T20:27:00.000-06:00

I believe I said that if the coaching search drifted much beyond the end of the season, I was going to panic. Or somesuch.

The fearless beatwriter chimed in and said that Southern Miss's Jeff Bower and Terry Bowden have still not been contacted.

Update: I figured there would be an article in the DMN on Tuesday, focusing on the recruiting angle. If there are any nuggets it is that Glenn Mason, the former Minnesota coach, hasn't been contacted either.

Orsini said Monday that he remained pleased with the search.

...

Orsini said the search is his highest priority.

"I'm doing what I need to do," he said.

I wonder what the SMU fan would have thought of Bower had he not been fired. Would the prospect of a coach from a perrenial bowl contender in-conference be appealing? Alas, he was a coach under Collins at SMU pre-death penalty; doesn't that automatically disqualify him (albeit probably unfairly)?

I am now going to perform a braindump on the Big Four of Former Coaches.

Bowden is Bowden and Neuheisel is Neuheisel and Barnett is Barnett. Oh, and Coker is Coker. I personally have little interest in all four. I concede Bowden probably is unfairly mixed in with the other three and Coker probably shouldn't be mixed in with Barnett and Neuheisel. They are coaches with baggage. Some's baggage is nicer than other.

Bowden's is nine years out of coaching, which seems like no big deal to some people but is a huge deal to me. While I recognize there are coaches that have been successful after a layoff; I still don't trust it and don't trust the motives. I admit I could be wrong. At least Bowden is still relatively young and only had one year sub .500 as a head coach.

Trouble has followed Neuheisel wherever he has gone and people should not deny it. The trouble that Barnett, age 62, got in was partially Neuheisel's doing. I believe both can coach, but they are pariahs. Barnett may have the most impressive turnaround resume, but his Colorado firing had as much to do with performance as anything. At one time, I was somewhat fond of Neuhiesel because some people hate Neuheisel, which I think is cool. Be nice to be hated; at least they would be talking about SMU.

I have no interest in Larry Coker, age 60. Miami went downhill in his tenure and he lost control. Maybe he can coach an offense, but I don't let the man run my team.

Tomorrow: 12/8/2007 (Coach Watch Day 41)

2007-12-07T20:55:00.000-06:00

SMU will not have a coach tomorrow. This, I know. Tomorrow, in the Dallas Morning News, there will be something. Or nothing. One of the two. And by "something," I don't mean a paragraph saying Pal Johnson signed a contract with Georgia Tech.

If there is nothing, it means SMU isn’t listening to me. I am telling them to be more open about this process. Orsini doesn’t have to say, “Les Miles is on Ray Hunt’s plane right now; we plan to offer $17 Million a year.” But Orsini has to say something. I don’t want names and dates. I want to know if other have interviewed and when. I want to know when they expect to bring people in. I want to know what kind of person they are looking at now.

SMU keeps its current silence at its peril.

SMU may think the message board is nothing but a bunch of vitriolic ranting, but the truth is the posts reflect the opinions of people that give a [expletive] about SMU and those people represent a number of people who don’t post on message boards. In the world of consumer complaints, studies show 1 in 20 people with complaints actually complain to the manufacturer, yet each person with a complaint tells an average of 8 to 10 people. When I worked in politics, we used to say one yard sign on a block represented seven votes (now you know why there are so many yard signs).

If there is any merit to any of that, the SMU has a real confidence problem. I suggest it begin doing something about that.

I have one other comment and it is directed towards the loyal readers of this blog. SMU missed out on one guy that was being pursued by no fewer than four schools and ultimately got paid more than $2,000,000.00 per year by a perennial bowl team in a BCS conference. You don’t go from that straight to hiring Hudson Houck, a juco coach(!), a failed HC, now loathed assistant like Greg Davis or an “untouchable” coach “with baggage” like Barnett.

If Les Miles is a 10, then Paul Johnson is an 8 or a 9. You don’t go straight from chasing a 9 to settling for a 2. There are levels in between. In other words, just because the hottest chick in the bar turned you down, doesn’t mean you try to take home her ugly cousin with the lazy eye and a large adams apple. There are other women in the bar and there are other bars.

Paul Johnson is going to Georgia Tech.

2007-12-07T12:22:00.000-06:00

This blog isn’t about Paul Johnson; this is about SMU. I will give you just one link:

http://www.hometownannapolis.com/cgi-bin/read/2007/12_07-07/OUD

This isn’t about Air Force’s Troy Calhoun; this is about SMU. Here is another link:

http://www.gazette.com/sports/calhoun_30593___article.html/coach_colorado.html

Should we credit SMU for aiming high? Perhaps.

Are they still aiming high? Perhaps. I don’t know.

The one thing I do know is that SMU now has a giant frackin’ public relations problem on its hands. SMU, for whatever reason, has chosen to operate its coaching search in silence. That is a terrible, terrible mistake. And it is a mistake for one reason: Everyone was always going to find out anyway.

Does anybody really think no one was going to find out SMU was pursuing Johnson? Ridiculous. This isn’t about Ford’s plane. Nobody ever saw Georgia Tech’s plane or Duke’s plane, but everyone knew they were interested.

Does anybody think Duke and Georgia Tech only contacted Navy after they found out SMU called them? That is ridiculous.

Does anybody think Duke and Georgia Tech were not going to find out how much money SMU was willing to spend or that those figures would not get out in the media? Again, that is ridiculous.

Does anybody think that SMU would contact a number of coaches and none of them would let that information leak? I hate to use the word “ridiculous” a fourth time, but I have to. That suggestion is ridiculous.

The truth is SMU has not officially said one GD word about the coaching search. That might be fine if the coaching search lasted a day or two, or even a week. However, we are in the middle of week six. I will now detail everything we know for sure:

SMU most recent target was Paul Johnson (we actually don't know he was the first choice);
Paul Johnson turned us down;
No matter who SMU hires, he was not SMU's first choice;
At least one other coach has said, "Thanks, but no thanks." (we actually don’t know how many.)

I would tell you more but I don’t know anything else for sure and nothing else has been leaked or reported in the paper.

What is Plan B? The question is and of itself is indicative of the problem. No one-not coaches, not fans-should ever definitively know there is a plan B. It should be muddled and conceivable that no matter if the guy was actually 5^th on the list, Orsini can claim he got his guy.

Granted, Orsini isn’t the only one to screw that up this year. But then again, SMU isn’t Michigan or Arkansas. There is a culture of losing here and a tendency to panic at the slightest sign of adversity. Even Copeland spoke of it. That will be one of the things the next coach has to change. And if he has to single-handedly slap every season ticketholder across the cheek to make that happen, I am all for it. And again, that is why the decision to conduct a coaching search inside a cone of silence was an incredibly poor decision.

I don’t know definitively who the next target is but I still believe, as I always have, the goal is to hire a coach that is currently a head coach in Division I bowl-subdivision (IA). Who that is now, I have no idea. My advice is to find a list of salaries start at around $1.5 million and look for coaches you think might jump. I think you can hypothesize that SMU has the ability to pay $2,000,000 per year for a coach. Any agent worth his salt is going to ask for it all.

What is SMU’s timeframe? Again, I have no earthly idea. I hope it is soon. As I mentioned yesterday, nearly six weeks have passed and jobs have been filled, recruits have been lost, junior college signing day may very well come and go. Does anyone think SMU does not need an infusion of talent?

In retrospect, perhaps it would have been better to wait until the end of the season to fire Phil Bennett. Then, SMU fans could have focused their ire at him for the final four weeks of the season and the team's performance rather than keeping their ears to the ground hoping to hear something (anything) about who would be the next head coach. If that were the case, then SMU would only be in week two of the coaching search instead of week six. Orsini could have still gone about his business of raising money and hiring a search consultant behind the scenes (one thing we actually have learned is Orsini can keep his secrets). Maybe A&M's athletic director got that one right.

My advice to SMU at this point is obvious: Move fast and decisively. And do so more openly. Orsini still has a certain amount of good will with SMU fans built up, but not that much.

The Waiting is the Hardest Part.

2007-12-06T21:20:00.000-06:00

Oh baby don’t it feel like heaven right now
Don’t it feel like somethin’ from a dream
Yeah I’ve never known nothing quite like this
Don’t it feel like tonight might never be again
We know better than to try and pretend
Baby no one could have ever told me bout this

The waiting is the hardest part
Every day you see one more card
You take it on faith, you take it to the heart
The waiting is the hardest part

Well yeah I might have chased a couple of women around
All it ever got me was down
Then there were those that made me feel good
But never as good as I feel right now
Baby you’re the only one that’s ever known how
To make me wanna live like I wanna live now

The waiting is the hardest part
Every day you see one more ca rd
You take it on faith, you take it to the heart
The waiting is the hardest part

Don’t let it kill you baby, don’t let it get to you
Don’t let em kill you baby, don’t let ‘em get to you
Ill be your breathin’ heart, Ill be your cryin’ fool
Don’t let this go to far, don’t let it get to you

Look, I could go on and on about what we know and don’t know, but the bottom line is we don’t really know much more than we did yesterday, though it appears Duke is back in it. Personally, I am tired. Earlier in the day, I tried to be optimistic. Upon reflection, Johnson is likely milking the situation for the best BCS offer he can get. I said earlier that I thought there was a chance Orsini was going to get someone a raise before he got his coach and that may very well be the case. Maybe Paul Johnson will choose SMU and maybe he won't, but if this all goes down the way I now expect it to, I am going to have some choice words for SMU, Turner and Orsini and the way they arrogantly kept the rank and file season ticketholders in the dark. All the while, nearly six weeks have passed and jobs were filled, recruits were lost, junior college signing day may very well come and go. For now, I am just too tired to do it.

If you are looking for reading material, check these places out:

A good Navy blog.

Atlanta Journal-Constitution Blog.

Navy Football Board.

Georgia Tech Board.

Coach Watch Day 720

2007-12-05T22:01:00.000-06:00

Hi, folks! What did we learn today? Not a whole heck of a lot. Things we know today that we did not know before:

1) Paul Johnson had a meeting with Georgia Tech.

That really is about it. Take solace in the fact that the Georgia Tech and Navy fans know just as much as you.

How much money is on the table? Nothing concrete as far as offers go or offers being on the table. There is some speculation that SMU is capable and willing to outbid the field for Paul Johnson's services. Some rumors out there that SMU is already north of 2 million per year for Johnson, which is approximately 1/2 million more than Georgia Tech. If the money is close, most think Johnson goes to Georgia Tech, but that is mostly conjecture (but pretty good conjecture IMO). I am not sure where Duke is in this picture. My final thought on money is this: When Orsini had his press conference he said the money to hire a coach would be decided first and then he would go raise it from donors; this, to me, says Orsini and Turner can add money to whatever they have raised if they so choose.

So where is Paul Johnson now? I have no idea. He could be in Dallas, Annapolis, Durham, NC, Atlanta or anyplace in between. He wasn't at the TCU-SMU basketball game and neither was Orsini; Turner, however, was. The infamous plane belonging to Gerald Ford is allegedly in Miami. I say "allegedly" because we now know it is possible for a plane's owner to have it removed from flightaware.com and that it could be done in a day, meaning that the plane could technically be anywhere. However, my friend and SMU grad that is a pilot has looked at other similar services and believes the plane is, in fact, in Miami. He is not 100% certain about this but would be willing to put money on the plane being there. Why is it there? Well, it is Gerald Ford's plane and he can do what he wants, though I will note the plane hasn't been to Miami in the past six months.

Paul Johnson might be out celebrating his nomination for Coach of the Year.But, then again, maybe he isn't. He already won it once.

One thing I don't really understand is Georgia Tech's interest. I believe Paul Johnson can coach, but he doesn't strike me as the kind of coach an established program that has gone to nine bowls in eleven years would want. And that is part of the reason I think Georgia Tech may eventually go in another direction.

I have been told that the SMU powers that be really believe Paul Johnson can win at SMU immediately. That is one of the reasons they want him so bad.

Well, I am done for the night. Maybe I can get some work done tomorrow. Or maybe it will be more of the same (watching this thing unfold).

Coach Watch Day 44, maybe 45 or 46, I dunno anymore

2007-12-03T23:27:00.000-06:00

Most SMU fans in the know/dark spent much of the day watching a green line cross the country and back again. Gerald Ford's Gulfstream flew to Baltimore and back today, allegedly to retrieve Paul Johnson from Navy.

Things we know (culled mostly from the message boards):

1) The LEC which offices next to the athletic department and Ford Stadium were "closed" today for testing of an electrical system.

The The Loyd Center building will be closed for maintenance today (Monday, Dec. 3) beginning 5:30 p.m. This means the Altshuler Learning Enhancement Center will relocate.

From 5 to 10 p.m. today, ALEC tutoring will take place in Dedman Center for Lifetime Sports. There will be ALEC night managers at the main Dedman Center entrance to help students find the tutors they need. The Monday tutoring schedule will remain in effect.

...

ALEC expects to return to the Loyd Center and resume normal operations on Tuesday.

2) All the lights were on in Ford Stadium. Field lights, offices, club level, suites.

3) Following email was sent:

To: Athletic Department Staff
From: Steve Orsini
Subject: “The Rumor Mill”
In our football coaching search, we have reached a point at which rumors are circulating and fans and friends may be asking you about various possibilities. As you would guess, we want to coordinate any information that comes out of the department. For this reason, I will be serving as the only spokesperson for our department during the selection process. Because of the sensitive nature of the process, I ask that you not engage in conjecture or speculation on our search timeline or potential candidates with those outside the department.

4) late tonight, Dennis Dodd reported that Paul Johnson had an offer from Georgia Tech.

5) Duke's athletic director allegedly spoke with Paul Johnson. It is unclear from the report whether that took place on Sunday or Monday.

But what does it all mean? Put it all together and Paul Johnson is/was in town and Orsini et al. put on a show.

Is he still here? Will he stay? Will there be a press conference tomorrow? Does the Dallas Morning News even have an SMU beat writer any more?

The answer to all of these and many more questions may be answered tomorrow.

Coach Watch Day . . . uh . . .42(?)

2007-12-03T08:43:00.000-06:00

I spent most of the weekend putting up Christmas lights and moving furniture. The weekend was very quiet as far as SMU news and rumors go. No meeting of the search committee and as far as I know, noone on the search committee was even contacted.

To sumarize this weekend's news:

From the Coaching Carousel:

SMU fans are biting their nails hoping Paul Johnson doesn't say please and thank you. I dont think Paul gets this job.

...

Nothing new on your end other than Duke and Georgia Tech talking to PJ. I think you are safe and Paul will be your man sooner than later. If not its gotta be Chan Gailey or Rick N. I just don;t think Fran is what you want or need. Marty Schottenheimer was talked to by Duke, maybe that is the ace up Orsini's sleeve? I still think its PJ

http://coachingcarousel.blogspot.com/

From the Football Rumor Mill:

JOHNSON DEAL WITH SMU ON SHAKY GROUND

Sources tell Football Rumor Mill that Paul Johnson’s once solid deal with SMU is in real trouble. Georgia Tech wants to talk with Johnson soon after today’s Army-Navy game. While Johnson has had an arrangement in place with the Mustangs for several days now, nothing has been signed, which has opened the door for Tech.

01 December 2007

http://www.footballrumormill.com/scoop.php?start=2007-12-01

My best guess is that Paul Johnson's name is officially leaked/announced late this afternoon and there is a meeting with the search committee followed by a press conference tomorrow. At this point, however, that is just a somewhat educated guess. The likely coach is going to come from one of three: Paul Johnson, Chan Gailey or Dennis Franchione. Now, it could absolutely end up being someone other than these three; in fact, I would put "field" ahead of Dennis Franchione at this point.

Finally, a random Jim Copeland (and Robert Lineburg, as well) sighting at Radford University:

Tuesday was a special day for our athletic staff and me. We were honored to have Jim Copeland spend the day with us. Jim has been the Athletics Director at William & Mary, Utah, University of Virginia, and Southern Methodist University. I had the pleasure of spending 11 years at SMU working under Jim’s leadership. He is a dear friend of mine and I have never made a career decision without speaking with Jim. Jim shared so many great ideas and thoughts about how we can get better as an athletic department at Radford University.
...

Posted by Robert Lineburg at 3:05 PM

http://ruhighlanders.blogspot.com/2007/12/great-week.html

Coach of the Day: Paul Johnson

2007-11-29T21:20:00.000-06:00

At the end of the day, yesterday, footballrumormill.com ran with a blurb that SMU was interested in Paul Johnson. Somehow, that blew up today.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/stories/113007dnsposmulede.218a196.html

http://www.sportsline.com/collegefootball/story/10502593

In the past, I have been rather noncommittal on Paul Johnson.

I like this blog entry:

Dennis Dodd is reporting that SMU is close to hiring Navy HC Paul Johnson to be the Mustangs next head coach.

The announcement of his hiring could come as soon as early next week. Officials at both schools are thought to want to wait until after Saturday's Army-Navy game.
What? Huh?

Johnson's name has been tied to nearly every vacant head coaching job in the country over the past three years. He is one of the hot names in coaching circles. If you have a BCS job opening, Paul Johnson is somewhere on your list... period. Hot! Hot! Hot!

In other words, he is everything that SMU is not.

The Ponies have produced nothing but an awful string of losses since the NCAA shut down the Mustangs program. Since 1991, SMU has had just two seasons at or above .500 and have never won more than six games in any season. The Mustangs have had four different coaches in those 17 seasons, but the only constant has been the losses.

So... Paul Johnson... and SMU? You could have given me eleventy billion guesses and I never would have come up with SMU. But -- if this goes through -- it may turn out to be the single greatest hiring in the history of college football.

Hyperbole, much?

I have said before, I fear the coach with a gimmicky system. Not that I don't think it will work, just that I think it only works so well. Sooner or later the team tops out and the fan base will start blaming the system for not getting the school "over the hump." Now, if the "hump" is seven or eight wins, I think that will be a nice problem to have.

I don't think anyone can say the guy can't coach. He won two national championships at the IAA level and Navy won one game in the two years before he went there-since that time there have been five consecutive bowls.

I don't think Navy has such a natural advantage because it has a prep school and every walkon has a scholarship, unlike some people, but I do see the benefit of a Prep School, just like I see a benefit to having one high school in a school district where all the junior high schools run the same system (Southlake). Bottom line, you don't go to the Naval Academy unless you are prepared to commit the first five years of your life after college to your Country. That nixes 90% of the high school football players right there, and 99.9% of those that think they have a shot at the NFL, which is about 99.999% percent of them. Do the math.

An interesting question is whether Paul Johnson can recruit. I think it is ludicrous to suggest he can't. He still had to recruit to the Naval Academy and it isn't like you don't recruit to I-AA schools. He was doing something. Further, he was the offensive coordinator at Hawaii; he was recruiting there. And I happen to think a coach with five consecutive bowl games and a former national coach of the year has a certain amount of credibility in recruit's living room. Furthermore, that is what assistants are for.

If there is any concern about Paul Johnson's recruiting, it is his system. Any coach is going to have a hard time recruiting quality offensive players at the QB and receiver positions in flex option/triple option system. This is a real issue and it needs to be recognized going in.

We will know something next week. Be careful what you believe. Just because you read it on the internet or the Dallas Morning News or CBS Sportsline doesn't mean its true. Further, don't necessarily believe the guy you know that knows somebody on the search committee. Two people know what is really happening: Mike Vaught and Steve Orsini. Orsini isn't Copeland. Orsini does things his own way and largely on his own. Members of the basketball coach search committee didn't know SMU had a coach until 4 hours before the press conference.

Anyway, we will know more next week. Though I will admit, I might watch the Army-Navy game with some interest on Saturday.

A break in the unsettling silence

2007-11-28T20:32:00.000-06:00

Well, we finely got Kate Papadapoulous to write something on the coaching search. From the colleges blog:

Don't expect SMU to announce its new coach in the next couple of days.

Yes, the search is on Week 5. SMU was the first to move when it fired Phil Bennett on Oct. 28. Baylor and Texas A&M already have their new coaches. New positions are opening rapidly.

But SMU athletic director Steve Orsini on Wednesday insisted that SMU is right where it wants to and planned to be. And that's still trying to get the right man.

"As we've said, we're aiming high," Orsini said. "We're looking for an established coach with a proven track record. With that, you kind of give up your schedule sometimes to make yourself attractive and work with the top candidates."

Orsini said while he's pleased with how things are going, "Until we get our guy, there's no celebration here."

She promised more in tomorrow's paper, but these are likely the money quotes. We also got this little nugget: former Washington and Colorado coach Rick Neuheisel is interested. Neuheisel s the current offensive coordinator of the Baltimore Ravens.

We haven't quite reached the level where Kevin Bacon is trying to keep people calm during a riot, but we are getting close. The silence from SMU these past FIVE WEEKS has been very unsettling, to say the least.

REMAIN CALM!!! ALL IS WELL!!!

Scott Farrell at Mustangmaniacs sums it up pretty well:

The wait has changed the general perception of the search from "Who will be the next coach?" to "What's going wrong with the search?"

I agree with the statement completely. I find the silence maddening. Especially now that A&M, Ole Miss and Baylor have announced coaches. The one thing I would counter that with is that I really believe that if the search were going that badly, we would know. I don't think we have heard from credible sources that SMU has contacted a lot of coaches. We have had blog reports, which aren't the same thing. Any idiot can blog (take that statement with as much irony as you choose). Neither of the three biggest blogs reporting rumors these days have been in existence even six months. They don't have any credibility. And when they throw out the OC from Missouri the day after Bennett is let go, you know something is amiss because it directly contradicts what Orsini said the day before.

If SMU offered a current head coach, I think we would know. I think most coaches would use interest to raise their profile and get a raise. Maybe Kragthorpe was doing that and things got out of hand.

So, I am not as worried as some are, but I am getting ... anxious.

Oh, and footballrumormill.com says SMU is close to a deal with Navy's Paul Johnson, but they were the guys that started the Kragthorpe imbroglio.

For the record I think Paul Johnson can coach. However, I am not particularly enamoured with "gimmick system" coaches, like Johnson who runs the triple option. My feeling is that as soon as the program gets to a level of respectability and seven wins a year, fans start blaming the system for not getting the team "over the hump." Of course, that would be a nice problem for SMU to have.

Good times.

Franchione is indeed interested

2007-11-28T20:11:00.000-06:00

I had an interesting conversation today at lunch while browsing my local Home Depot. I have been told that on his own initiative, Franchione and his agent have contact SMU through various channels. Various channels that I think we can absolutely trust. Franchione is interested in coaching next year and is interested in coaching SMU. Whether that interest is mutual, I have no idea. What that also means, however, is that apparently SMU has not reached out to Franchione before.

Then, later today,a regular ponyfans not prone to making stuff up and prone to posting some accurate information about the football program posted that he was told the next coach was Franchione.

Aside from these two comments, I haven't been able to track down anything else on this. I wish I had more to add. I will let you know when I do. I will add that Brian Davis in his A&M chat added the following:

Brian Davis: I don't think Fran will get a big-time job anytime soon. It's hard to see a major school paying a coach upward of $2 million when he just got fired from his previous position. Oops, I mean "resigned" from his previous position.
Franchione would be a great fit at a place like SMU or one of those other
lower-level schools. But he's not going to Michigan, if that's what you're asking.

SMU Coach Search Day 31

2007-11-27T22:18:00.000-06:00

The most important SMU story of the day is that SMU men's basketball got a win.

Now onto football. Earlier today, I got a credible report second hand that says that former Dallas Cowboys and Georgia Tech head coach Chan Gailey will be named the next head coach of SMU. I will be happy to identify the source if he or she deems it appropriate; until then, credit the same person that caused a thread to be started at Mustangmaniacs.com on the subject. I am not sure I believe it and frankly hope it doesn’t happen. The person that told me this agrees.

I think Chan Gailey would be a terrible hire at SMU for two reasons and neither has anything to do with how well the guy knows the game.

First, Chan Gailey is uninspiring and a boring personality. He doesn’t inspire anybody and he doesn’t try to. Shouldn’t SMU try to hire somebody that will at least try to inspire the fan base a little bit? Chan, not only can’t, he won’t even try. I suggest you read this Atlanta Journal and Constitution blog entry from January.

Gailey is, as has been noted, an odd case. He’s respected enough as a football man to be viewed as a viable head-coaching candidate by not one but two of the NFL’s proudest franchises, and yet he has worked here five years — never having a losing season, never failing to grace a bowl — without having won over his constituency. And if, having just completed the best of the five seasons, he hasn’t done it by now, there’s little chance he will.

Second, ask any Cowboys fan and they will tell you that think Chan Gailey is a joke. Maybe that reputation is not deserved, but it is a fact. In case you haven’t noticed, there is a tad bit of an overlap between the two fan bases and the media markets. Recruits' dads think Chan is a joke. Recruits' coaches think Chan is a joke. The media think Chan is a joke.

Maybe Chan should be a head coach, but I don’t think it should be here and I don’t think it should be now.

Coach Watch Day 30

2007-11-26T20:47:00.000-06:00

We may be limited to evening updates for the time being. Unfortunately, I may not be bringing you the most up to the minute news.

I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving. In my house, there are two full Thanksgivings: one on Thursday and one on Saturday. So, I am done with Turkey for a while, thank you.

With the final triple overtime defeat at the hands of Memphis, we now begin a coaching search in earnest. Before we go there, a few thoughts on the Memphis game. I spent a lot of time in the past defending arguably questionable decisions by Bennett, but I won’t do so here.

I hate coaches calling time out right before the kick. I think the rule is stupid. I don’t think its execution is particularly clever. I know it is in vogue these days, but I especially don’t like it at the end of the Memphis game. To put it mildly, the Memphis kicker was shaky all day. There was a very good chance he was going to miss a game-tying kick. I wouldn’t, in that situation, give a kicker what amounts to a practice kick in game conditions. I might have used that timeout earlier to let the kicker think about his kick a little longer. I might have saved the timeout because I was getting the ball back with a few seconds left; there was a remote chance SMU could have gotten into position for a winning fieldgoal.

I also don’t like the decision to go for it on fourth down in triple overtime when SMU had the ball first. Regardless of what happens, Memphis was getting the ball-SMU’s defense was getting on the field. Memphis was going to try and score a touchdown, regardless. Now, if Memphis had scored a fieldgoal first, I can start to understand the decision. The SMU defense was depleted and had a difficult time getting stops. I just don’t get the gamble in that situation.

It is still very quiet on the head coaching front. It has been 11 days since Orsini’s last “blog entry.” We still have not heard anything solid about any candidate being contacted or interviewed. I suppose a well-run search has few leaks, but this is bordering on the absurd.

With technically one week left in the season, the following jobs are now open:
Arkansas
Baylor
Colorado State
Duke
Georgia Tech
Michigan
Nebraska
Northern Illinois
Ole Miss
SMU
Southern Mississippi
Texas A&M
Washington State

This may seem like a lot, but it is still below average for a given year and more than 10 than last year.

Should the SMU fans be getting nervous now that the first opening has already been filled (Texas A&M) while the first job to open (SMU) has yet to publicly interview anybody? The Texas A&M search lasted around 48 hours, while the SMU search is on Day 30. Add to that, another job that opened this weekend (Nebraska), will interview its second candidate this week.

As for Mike Sherman, I could be wrong, but it sure sounds like a Bill Callahan kind of hire to me. “We need a pro-style offense.” Hire a former NFL head coach who has some college experience a decade ago as an assistant. Thoroughly unimpressed. But I was just rolling my eyes at the names of other identified “candidates,” so whatcha gonna do?

I suppose I ought to discuss Fran one more time. I am no more or less interested in Dennis Franchionne today than I was before A&M beat Texas and he promptly quit/resigned/was fired. That is to say I am pretty interested, though I am not completely sold. I still think Fran can coach. The SMU job probably fits what he would be looking for more so than other jobs like Ole Miss (just my opinion).

Fran actually becomes less desirable to me the longer he sits on the shelf. If I was thinking of hiring him, I would do it this week, while he still has his foot in the door with recruits, before other coaches, now that their season is over, can turn their attention to them. In other words, SMU shouldn’t wait another three weeks and decide Fran may be a good fit.

I will have more thoughts on Fran as soon as we get some indication that he might actually be a candidate.

One thing I am tired of is hearing every radio host ponder what is next for Fran and assume both that SMU would love to have him and he would have no interest. Then, reading the SMU message board that some people are dead set against Fran.

One name I have never discussed is Houston Nutt, who I have little interest in, primarily because I think he mishandled things so badly at Arkansas.

It may not matter. I still say there is some coach out there that has not been mentioned for the SMU job. I am not sure who it is, but as I have said before, I think it is a coach with a head coaching job that isn’t about to be shown the door.

I sure wish I could tell you who the next coach is going to be. I sure wish Orsini would tell us.

Coach Watch Day 23: The state of things

2007-11-19T22:02:00.000-06:00

Technical difficulties resulted in a lost blog entry so I will attempt to rehash what was said earlier.

First, I am not even sure why I showed up Saturday. The game was over (almost literally) the moment SMU kicked off. I am sure Bennett really hoped to get a win in these last four games to prove he could coach. I am sure Bennett would have loved for that win to come against Central Florida-the school where Steve Orsini first cut his teeth as an athletic director. Alas, it was not meant to be.

Second, walking up and down the Boulevard, it is clear that everyone has a similar story to tell. Orsini has his guy; he is just waiting until the season is over to make the announcement. It is Nutt. No, wait. It is Kragthorpe. No, it is Fran. No, it is the great mystery candidate that will blow everybody away. Everybody has there own version of the rumor. I suppose one aspect is consistent: Orsini has his guy. This may be true. I hope it is. I suppose we only have a week (or two if you count the MWC, WAC and PAC 10 schedules and the conference championships).

Footballrumormill.com, for what it is worth, is still going with its “Steve Kragthorpe will coach SMU next year” story.

Like many people, I have become convinced that Orsini has his guy; he may even have a deal in place. There is, however, only one thing that we really know. The next head coach will have head coaching experience at the Division I-A level (Bowl Subdivision).

After thinking about it, I have convinced myself of one more thing. Orsini’s first choice is currently a head coach. I will even go further, I believe (I admit I could be wrong) that Orsini’s number #1 target is not a coach that has one foot out the door at his current job. That means I don’t believe it is Fran and I don’t believe it is Houston Nutt. This means SMU will be hiring a coach away from someplace else; somewhere were that coach, if not for SMU, would be coaching next year.

This course of action is not without its pitfalls. If I am right, we are obviously talking about SMU “ponying up” some serious funds. I have commented more than once that Orsini may very well get a couple of coaches raises and extensions from their current schools before he gets one to come to SMU. Another concern is that this almost certainly means waiting until the season is over. Right now, I believe there are three openings, with many more to come in the next few weeks. SMU can compete with some of those schools, but not all.

I will leave you with this, which I have said many times. Over the past 24 months, there have been two major openings in the athletic department: First the athletic director and then the men’s basketball coach. During each search, many SMU fans repeatedly wondered who SMU could ever get to take such a terrible job? The answer, in each case, was better than most people imagined. First, Orsini left a conference rival for the same position at SMU, and then former NCAA coach of the year Matt Doherty was hired to take over the basketball program. I expect this search to end no differently.

More on Kragthorpe

2007-11-16T21:40:00.000-06:00

The Louisville Courier Journal comments on the Kragthorpe To SMU rumors:

For at least the last 48 hours, the Internet has been crackling with the rumors that Southern Methodist has targeted U of L football coach Steve Kragthorpe as its top choice to become its next football coach.

I repeat -- as far as I know it's Internet speculation at this point.

But as we all know, sometimes these stories grow legs real quick (Bobby Petrino to Auburn). Of course, they often also end up in the discard bin (Billy Donovan to UK, done deal, remember?).

So until the story either develops or dies, I've got three reasons to believe it is at least a possibility and three reasons that it's totally ridiculous.

RIDICULOUS

1. SMU is a bad job. A really bad job. SMU is 1-9 and has allowed at least 40 points in five games. Why would a guy give up a good job at a school in a Bowl Championship Series conference to go back to Conference USA at a job worse than the Tulsa job he left in that league last year?

2. Who quits after one season? Your days on the football fast track would be over. Done. How could he walk away from Tom Jurich, the U of L athletic director that quickly? Good luck, spinning that one.

3. He's already endured a good chunk of the tough times at U of L, establishing his policies and weeding out some players who have not been eager to accept him.

BELIEVABLE

1. A chunk of the U of L fan base turned on Kragthorpe quickly -- and they don't seem inclined to give him a second chance. I've been surprised at the vitriol Kragthorpe has endured all season.

2. As bad as this season has been, next season could be worse. Brian Brohm, Harry Douglas and several other seniors are gone -- and there is talk that a number of underclassmen are ready to follow them out the door.

3. Kragthorpe has ties to the state of Texas. He played at West Texas State and coached at North Texas as well as Texas A&M.

Look, it is highly unlikely this is true. Now, even more so. Now Kragthorpe is going to be asked about it either before or after Louisville's game against the University of South Florida, which he will almost certainly deny. Either way, this is coming to an end real soon.

Coach Search Day 19

2007-11-16T11:25:00.000-06:00

Steve Orsini gave us a "quick update:" http://smuad.blogspot.com/2007/11/quick-update.html

Just wanted to drop in with a short update on the search - While I can’t go into great detail, I just want to leave you with a couple of notes from the process so far.

We are working to get the best available coach in America and I’m not willing to limit my pool of prospects. As I said at the press conference two weeks ago, we’re looking at a number of different options. We’re going after the best and sometimes that takes time. There is a sense of urgency to this hire, but we’re going to get it right and won’t paint ourselves into a corner by establishing a hard timeline. I entered this process with a plan and am pleased with how it’s being executed and its effectiveness. I am perfectly comfortable with where we are in the process and am confident that we’re on the right track.

I was told almost exactly the same thing from a source within the athletic department two days ago. I was going to post something about this but I got caught up in Kragthorpe-mania and didn't get around to it.

Let me add one other thing I was told by the same source within the athletic department. There is lots of interest and lots of resumes and phone calls are coming in. My source hasn't seen all of the names that have expressed interest (those that go straight from the search firm to Orsini, for example), but has seen some of them. If you had seen the names and where they are coming from, you would be impressed. No specific were given to me.

Not much, I admit, but that is what I was told.

Coach Search Day 18: The rumor mill goes into overdrive

2007-11-15T07:48:00.000-06:00

Well, the www.footballrumormill.com opened the floodgates yesterday. The posted the following:

SMU Closing in on "Huge" Hire

UPDATED: Sources in Dallas tell us SMU is closing in on a hire to replace the deposed Phil Bennett. We are told to expect a “huge” splash. The hiring of either of the two names being mentioned would send shockwaves across C-USA.

Expect an announcement soon after the Mustangs’ final game of the season. If the choice is who we’re hearing it could be, SMU will have hit a home run.

Hint: The top candidate is a head coach at a BCS school with a disenchanted fan base – and it’s not an obvious choice. He also has ties to the state, having gone to college in Texas as well as a having a coaching stop or two in-state. This candidate also has prior NFL experience.

Athletic Director Steve Orsini has a history of making splash hires. This one figures to be no different. However, this candidate has much to lose by having the news leak out prematurely. Should that happen, all bets are off. Orsini and company are frantically trying to get a deal done and have other fall back candidates should the top choice not work out. Negotiations are ongoing.

Based on the “hint,” there are only two coaches that fit the criteria: Baylor’s Guy Morris and Louisville’s Steve Kragthorpe (formerly of Tulsa). I don’t think anyone really thinks Guy Morris will be hired.

Then, in a battle of football blogs, http://coachingcarousel.blogspot.com/ attempted to shoot down this rumor:

This is the best time of year, everyone's mom and uncle went to school with the AD or is neighbor with the friend of the coach. Quite Frankly that is who I think has given footballrumormill.com their scoop. Pony fans are convinced it is Steve Kragthorpe, see below why i think it is not Kragthorpe:

A. Not a "spash." A great hire and would do well, but is in now way a splash
B. Tom Jurich (Louisville AD) and Kragthorpe have been freinds for nearly 20 years. IF Kragthorpe turned on Jurich after 1 year after the deliberate pursut of Kragthorpe last year, then Krag isn't as cool as you think.
C. Orsini is after a bigger fish than that
D. Surely Krag wouldn't bail on Jurich???
E. Why would you leave Louisville after 1 year?
F. If you can't win at Louisville and you were just a few games over .500 at Tulsa why would Orsini hire you?

Looks to me like Footballrumormill is more interested in selling ads than reporting facts.

http://coachingcarousel.blogspot.com/2007/11/footballcoachrumomilpragacagho.html

So, there you go. Make of it what you will. Certainly this is a new name I hadn’t heard before. Since we have no other news to go on, we might as well ask the question: Would Steve Kragthorpe be a good hire for SMU?

Yes.

Anybody that attempts to argue otherwise is crazy. Here is Tulsa’s record the past 15 years.

1992: 4-7
1993: 4-6-1
1994: 3-8
1995: 4-7
1996: 4-7
1997: 2-9
1998: 4-7
1999: 2-9
2000: 5-7
2001: 1-10
2002: 1-11
2003: 8-5
2004: 4-8
2005: 9-4 (Conf. USA Champs)
2006: 8-5

What changed in 2003? The answer, of course, is Steve Kragthorpe became the head coach. I don’t understand how anyone can suggest Steve Kragthorpe is unacceptable.

There are really two arguments against Steve Kragthorpe. First, Louisville was a top 10 team last year and this year, they are not. Second, Todd Graham was allegedly the star of the coaching staff.

I am not particularly bothered that Louisville was a top 10 team last year and this year they are hovering around .500. If SMU were a top 10 team in the Big East, I suppose I would worry about it. You have to judge Kragthorpe’s coaching career as a career and not as a single season. The man turned around a program. Turning around a program is something SMU needs. I don’t want to diminish this concern; I just prefer to look at Kragthorpe’s career as a whole.

Todd Graham is a good coach and a good recruiter. That is undisputed. But he wasn’t the engine that drove Tulsa. Kragthorpe’s offense is what drove Tulsa. As an aside, it is still Tulsa’s offense that drives Tulsa-the defensive genius Todd Graham currently presides over the 103^rd ranked defense in the country. Kragthorpe brought in Graham. Graham’s career and Graham’s success at Tulsa is also a reflection of Kragthorpe’s ability to put together a quality staff, which is a quality which should not be undervalued.

Kragthorpe would be a “WOW!” hire, despite what some would say. Since the inception of the BCS, no coach has left a BCS conference for a non-BCS conference. Kragthorpe may not be a household name, but he is a head coach in a good situation. He is in a BCS conference. He isn’t about to get run out the door. If he doesn’t take the job, he is till going to be at his current job next year. He has a good track record.

Was TCU's hire of Fran a "Wow" hire? At first blush, no. He wasn't a household name, but TCU hired the ideal coach that recruited the area and stole a guy from a team in the same conference. The hire showed that TCU was serious about turning around its football program. If SMU hired Kragthorpe, it would show the same thing: SMU is serious about turning around its football program.

Bottom line, Kragthorpe would be leaving Louisville for SMU. Kragthorpe would be leaving a good situation for the SMU job. Kragthorpe won in this conference. Kragthorpe has coached against SMU. Kragthorpe has recruited against SMU. This gives the SMU validation that it has never had-Maybe SMU is not the pariah of a job some make it out to be. This hire would prove there are coaches that believe they can win at SMU. That is worth its weight in gold.

Football Scoop

2007-11-14T14:11:00.000-06:00

Okay, don't read Footballscoop.com. They are terrible. They are almost always wrong. So why do I mention it? They say:

SMU: Former Colorado and Northwestern football coach Gary Barnett said Saturday that he would be interested in the opening at SMU. Other names- Glen Mason and Dan McCarney, Bradley Peveto who is the Linebacker / Special Teams Coordinator at LSU

Glen mason, yada yada yada. Dan McCarney? eh.

But Bradley Peveto (LB Coach at LSU) is an interesting name, not as a head coach but as a defensive coordinator candidate, don't you think? He played for SMU pre-death penalty and his cousin is Caleb Peveto, a senior on this year's team. Dunno. Just found the name interesting.

And lord knows we need a special teams coordinator.

Wednesday Reading

2007-11-14T11:45:00.000-06:00

The article below on the use of search firms is worth reading (sorry, from where I am, I cannot edit html, so the link below will have to do).

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=1200&u_sid=10184300

You may also, if you haven't already, read the coaching carousel, which says:

SMU
Steve Orsini has secured $9 mil in outside money to finance the new hire. Depending on the buyout $9 mil can go along way at SMU, Even famous AR columnist Wally Hall is saying Nutt to SMU.

This is unconfirmed info that has been floating around. It wouldn't surprise me if this guy got his info from the message boards or someone who got it there. You just can't trust these bloggers. Anyway, here is the link:

http://coachingcarousel.blogspot.com/2007/11/lsu-illinois-beat-ohio-state-how-does.html

Blog answers his mail

2007-11-13T20:55:00.000-06:00
I get a lot of mail and I try to answer it all. Here is one I found particularly interesting.

Hi,

We just posted an article "India 's Soccer Dilemma: 1.3 billion people, yet 145th in World Ranking " ( http://www.breakingnewsonline.net/2007/11/indias-soccer-dillema-13-billion-people.html). I thought I'd bring it to your attention just in case you think your readers would find it interesting.

Either way, thanks for your time!

Niharika

Since SMU won't say anything, why the heck not?

HERE YOU GO!!!!

Coach Watch Day 16: The waiting is the hardest part.

2007-11-13T16:35:00.000-06:00

The waiting is the hardest part
Every day you see one more card
You take it on faith, you take it to the heart
The waiting is the hardest part

Don't let it kill you baby, don't let it get to you
Don't let 'em kill you baby, don't let 'em get to you

I am going to tell you what I have already told you and hope not to have to tell you again. I say this because I have asked and have been told this over and over again.

There is not going to be an announcement on the next coach of SMU Football anytime soon. At the absolute earliest, we are looking at the week after Thanksgiving. There is a very good chance there will be no announcement until December. Heaven forbid the search extends beyond the first week of December.

Whether the Orsini/Turner braintrust realizes this or not, the current search will become the longest search in the post-death penalty era. Cavan was announced as the replacement for Rossley after 25 days; Doherty and Bennett were announced after 18 days.

What is frustrating is the dearth of information coming from SMU. There is zero hard evidence that SMU has identified any candidates, contacted a single person about the vacancy, or interviewed anyone. While Barnett may have contacted SMU; SMU did not contact Barnett and SMU has apparently concluded he is not the man for the job.

While I recognize that the Orsini/Turner braintrust does not give a blank what I think, I want to make my opinion on the subject clear: Nature abhors a vacuum. While the Orsini/Turner braintrust maintains its silence, SMU fans are left to speculate what is happening. While there are those that remain positive, there are many more speculating that things are not going well; that there is not much interest; that there is no plan in place.
Now, maybe the big donors in the club level and the suites drinking chardonay have some sense of what is going on and are being reassured by the Orsini/Turner braintrust, that does nothing for the rank and file ticketholders who have to sneak their alcohol into Ford Stadium (allegedly).

By maintaining their silence, the Orsini/Turner braintrust is saying, "Trust us. We know what we are doing."

Excuse me. This is SMU Athletics. Trust went out the window some time between the spontanious combustion of Larry Johnson's scholarship offer and 0-12. If SMU wants us to be involved, they need to involve us. Period.

Of course there are very good reasons the Orsini/Turner braintrust might not be saying anything substantive. Maybe they already have a deal and the guy is under contract. Maybe the number one target is coaching right now. But their silence naturally leads to a heightened level of anticipation which can lead to unreasonable expectations.

(And don't think for a moment you can plan on hiring an NFL assistant and waiting until the NFL season is over.)

I am not suggesting the Orsini/Turner braintrust needs to rush to make a decision; by all means, take the time to get the decision right. Just let us know what is going on. Heaven forbid we wake up the first week of December, open the newspaper and read that SMU hired Jon friggin' Tenuta, Defensive Coordinator from Georgia Tech.

It has been over two weeks; update us, please.

Terry Bowden

2007-11-11T22:11:00.001-06:00
Since my manhood was challenged, I thought I would dispell one of the common rumors floating around. Someone has suggested Terry Bowden is not interested in the SMU job. I have been told multiple times the exact opposite is true. Contrary to what some suggest, Bowden isn't going to get the Auburn job or the Florida State job or whatever. That isn't going to happen, and he knows it. He wants to coach, it is going to be a job like SMU's. The question is not whether Bowden wants SMU, but whether SMU wants Bowden.

As mason and Barnett have spouted off in the media the past two weeks, why hasn't Bowden? Bowden is a media whore. Bowden's silence has more to do with his interest than a lack thereof.

And Glen Mason isn't going to get the UCLA job, either.

Not going to be Barnett

2007-11-11T17:02:00.000-06:00
This Thread over at ponyfans spills the beans that was going up and down the Boulevard yesterday. Former Northwestern and Colorado Coach Gary Barnett will not be the next coach of SMU. The news reached me in the Second Quarter. I doubt President Turner planned on sharing this information with the world, but he was asked the question and he gave the answer and the answer went up one side of the Boulevard and down the other and it eventually wound up on ponyfans.

Pres. Turner, welcome to the internet age. My suspicion is Turner won't answer such a question again.

Now some have gone further to say that it will not be a "Barnett-type." However,I am not sure you go that far, or can accurately define what "Barnett-type" means? I don't think that means other former-head coaches are out. I don't think that rules out Mason, for sure. Or even Fran. Barnett is unfortunately a special case. Maybe he will get another chance somewhere, but for now, it sounds like it won't be SMU.

Coach Hard 2: Coach Harder

2007-11-11T16:18:00.000-06:00
If you can't tell, about a year ago, I decided I was really tired of Phil Bennett and his "I have forgotten more about football than you will ever know" shtick. Whenever Bennett says something odd or stupid, I throw up just a little bit in my mouth. Keep in mind, this has nothing to do with any actual decision on the field!

And I just thought I would let it go now that Bennett will soon be the former head coach of SMU. But man, two things in the last two weeks just have climbing the walls.

The first is the following quote in the today's SMU Notebook:

I'm going to come in tomorrow and coach the [expletive] out of them.

This is an odd statement for two reasons. First, aside from being nonsensical, were we not "coach[ing] the [expletive] out of them," before? I just want to know because I would think you might want to have been doing that for the past six years. Because, you know, that was your job. Me and my friends in the stands jokingly say, "Coach harder!" It is a joke. What does it even mean? And now Bennett basically says just that. Memo to Phil Bennett: Coaching is not riding a bike; there are not ten speeds-just one. You are either coaching 100% or not.

The statement is odd for a second reason, because you have to ask, "What does it mean?" I guess he is going to yell at him more. Well, Phil. Yelling ain't coaching. There is a little more to it than that.

The second thing driving me nuts was in the Houston game. And to explain why it drives me nuts, I have to go back even further to the Patriots-Cowboys game. In the Cowboys game, I was surprised/perplexed to see Belichik in a defensive huddle on the sideline. You just don't see head coaches in the huddle on the sideline while a game is going on very often. Then, in the SMU-Houston game, I saw this:

To be clear, I have never seen Bennett do this in a game ever. And I have seen almost every home game and televised road game, thanks to Tivo. So why the heck is he doing it now? The answer is obvious: Bennett is going to prove what a good coach he is, gosh darn it!!!! AAARGGHH! He is a fiery coach! He coaches players on the sideline! He is a defensive genius!!!

(There is, of course, the little detail that the 2007 SMU defense leaks like a sieve.)

We all know what is going to happen. Bennett is going to be the Defensive Coordinator some place next year; I would be willing to bet it is in the big XII. He wants that job; he'll take that job and despite what he thinks, that is probably what he ought to be and probably what he is best at. I warned everybody a long time ago that Bennett would haunt SMU on the recruiting trail the moment he left. And so it will be. Arguably, Bennett is haunting SMU on the recruiting trail today, the way he is talking and the excuse making.

Now, did Saturday's loss and this BS make me want Bennett canned today? No. I just want this season over as soon as possible.

P.S. I can't imagine what it would be like today if the decision to remove Bennett hadn't already been made.

Orsini Chat and School of Education

2007-11-08T22:00:00.000-06:00
On Wednesday, Orsini had a chat on the DMN website. Go read it. It was rather vanilla. No real shocking revelations.

Speaking of revelations, SMU to receive $20M from Dallas philanthropists.

$20 Million for the School of Education, which did not exist a few years ago. Some will speculate that this allows some money for undergraduate degree programs that would be attractive to student athletes.

Pony Up! for Basketball!

2007-11-08T21:46:00.000-06:00
Thanks, guys. I needed this. Burgers and Cheer. Burgers and Cheer.

And because it is a classic...

Uninformed conjecture from an unnamed source- Coaching Search Day 11.

2007-11-08T15:33:00.000-06:00

A long time ago, NY Post Columnist Peter Vescey was the premier NBA columnist in the country. He was a featured guest on every NBA halftime show and prominently featured at the NBA Draft. He allegedly had such excellent contacts that he was able to dish out trade rumors while discussions were in their infancy and long before they actually happened. And then Mark Cuban bought the Mavericks. Cuban, not only denied the rumors, but from time to time, set out to prove Vescey simply made them up. Cuban once commented that Peter Vescey was the place he could read about things he didn’t know he did or said. After the feud hit its peak, Vescey stopped getting invites on national sports shows.

One of my favorite moments was when Vescey sourced a rumor to "Uninformed conjecture from an anonymous source." Think about that. Who and what doesn't qualify under that description? The guy in the office next to me could say I think Jimmy Johnson is going to leave Fox to take the SMU job and it qualifies.

So along those lines, let's recount the rumored names floating around:

Gary Barnett
Terry Bowden
Dennis Franchione
Glen Mason
Rick Neuheisel
Larry Coker
Paul Johnson
Mike Shula
Dirk Koetter

Those are the names you see most often to varying degrees around the message boards and on rumor sites. Those first four come up time and time again. There are other names, but most of those are assistants with no head coaching experience at a high level and if we know one thing, it is that Orsini wants experience.

Dennis Franchione

The rumor that comes up most often is the "Fran is a done deal" rumor. It goes like this: Fran (and his agent) know what is going to happen. Fran's agent has been talking to Steve Orsini. Fran's agent has been talking to A&M AD Bill Byrne. The buyout is all but done. The sticking point at A&M is what happens to the buyout money when Fran takes another job, which he really wants to do. Under Fran's current contract, the buyout is offset by any money Fran earns at another position during the life of the contract. Fran wants to work but Fran wants to keep all the A&M money. And that is what is holding up the buyout. Byrne knows this and is trying to leverage Fran's desire to work into a lower buyout figure. Once that is finally settled, Fran quits. Shortly thereafter, Fran is hired by SMU.

Now, this is a rumor. A couple of things support the rumor and a couple of things cause it to fall apart. Fran is done and we all know it. I think we can assume Fran wants to work again as a HC, which he has been doing for nigh thirty years. Fran's buyout clause in his contract does say any money Fran earns at another position during the life of the contract is subtracted from the buyout.

However, rumors are circulating that Fran has been seen at SMU. The problem with that rumor is that the most often mentioned date is Sunday, November 4th. Obviously, this is untrue because SMU had a game that day in Houston and Orsini was there; we know that because he interviewed.

Another reason to discount this rumor is that Bill Byrne has never terminated a coach before the end of the season, just as he has said repeatedly. He did not fire men's basketball coach Melvin Watkins or baseball coach Mark Johnson until the seasons were over. And in both of those cases, the seasons were decided long before they were concluded, which isn't even true in Fran's case.

Gary Barnett and Terry Bowden

Rumors are out there that both Gary Barnett and Terry Bowden have visited SMU. Barnett has expressed interest and admitted speaking with the search firm but denied any plan to visit Dallas and you really haven't heard a peep out of Bowden lately. The Barnett comments are clearly from a man anxious to get his name out there as a candidate for a head coaching position and the SMU job is the only one open to date. From that I know that Barnett wants to coach, I just don't know if Barnett and SMU want each other.

I am genuinely surprised that we have not heard a word out of Terry Bowden. To me, that is suspicious. Terry Bowden loves the media and loves the spotlight, but aside from game coverage, his yahoo sports column and an occasional public appearance. I can't believe it is that hard to get in touch with Terry Bowden. Unless, of course, he doesn't want to be found.

Glen Mason
Mason says he hasn't been contacted by anybody. ""I've made it known I'm a coach," said Mason, who was fired last season after his Gophers blew a 31-point third-quarter lead to Texas Tech in the Insight Bowl. "I hope to coach again."" How can that be? Isn't he obvious? The guy built Kent State, Kansas and Minnesota. Interestingly, all three schools sucked before and sucked after he left. Clearly, Mason's not afraid of a challenge. Why hasn't he been contacted.
Rick Neuheisel and Larry Coker.

These are two names that are mentioned, but never as a real "rumor." I have some interest in the former and zero interest in the latter. Neuheisel is the offensive coordinator for the Baltimore Ravens. The Ravens offense is pretty pour these days, though you could question whose fault that is. Coker is doing TV work somewhere. I look at Coker and I think, "Too old, too many issues, rode too many coattails."

Mike Shula and Dirk Koetter

Interesting names of two former BCS head coaches both on the staff of the Jacksonville Jaguars. Mike Shula is the QB coach and Dirk Koetter is the offensive coordinator. Both would be interesting but their names have simply been floated.

Paul Johnson

Paul Johnson nad Navy AD Chet Gladchuk had the quotes of the day. See http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/college/football/bal-navy1107,0,5530540.story

When the names Nebraska and SMU came up, Johnson laughed.

"That's old news," he said. "You need to get to work and come up with something new."
Navy athletic director Chet Gladchuk, who watched practice, said such rumors are begun by "people who are desperate for someone to do something" to help their favorite, struggling teams.

"Paul Johnson has the best job in the country," said Gladchuk. "What fans do is speculate on a position in a desperate program. But the fans are the last to know. Any athletic director who has his act together does not share with any one what he's thinking about his next hire."

True dat.

Coaching Search Day Nine

2007-11-06T20:52:00.000-06:00
Much of the discussion these days centers on a handful of candidates: Gary Barnett, Terry Bowden, Glen Mason, Rick Neuheisel and to an extent, Dennis Franchione. Obviously, these candidates have one thing in common: All are (or soon will be) unemployed. They are available now. They can be interviewed today and the media can openly discuss their interest today.

Now, if the guy that Orsini truly believes is the best man for the job is available now, you go get that guy now and not worry about who may be interested in the future.

However, the question has to be asked, “Why should SMU limit itself to candidates that are now on the market? Why not wait? Why not see who is interested at the end of the season?”

A better way to phrase that question is, “Why allow the timing of your decision to fire Phil Bennett with four games left limit your pool of candidates?” The answer is to do so would be ridiculous.

While I agree with Steve Orsini that there is some urgency in this hire, I believe, like Orsini, the urgency is to get it right this time. Making the wrong decision now is not an option.

I don’t believe that the job interest will wane or become stale. The job is the job. Just because it is the first open, doesn’t mean it must be the first to be filled. While there is some concern that the increased competition in the next few weeks will make the search more difficult, it is more important to hire the right guy. And again, I keep telling people, there won’t be as many openings as people think.

Further, I think we overestimate what a coach can accomplish between now and the end of the season. Obviously, he won’t be coaching. Recruiting? Sure. The coach can recruit, that has its own difficulty. The coach will have no staff. The coach will be spread too thin. Any coach is going to let most of the current staff go. It is absurd to suggest the coach will hire a staff completely filled with current unemployed coaches. That is not going to happen.

So, I am not concerned that SMU hasn’t hired anyone yet and doesn’t appear to be likely to this week. The level of my concern will increase after Thanksgiving, but even then, it won’t be time to panic.

The two big rumors of the day

2007-11-05T20:26:00.001-06:00
Oh, Houston and SMU played a football game. Pffft.

Moving on.

There are two rumors rampant around SMU these days.

Rumor One: Gary Barnett is interested/on his way to SMU.

Gary Barnett is the former head coach of Northwestern and Colorado. Here is a good article on the current plight of Gary Barnett.

Rumor Two: Dennis Francione is negotiating a buyout with A&M and once done, will promptly be named the head coach of SMU.

Dennis Dodd says it is a possibility.
So what's next for Franchione and A&M? Don't be surprised to see the Aggies coach land at SMU. He certainly isn't going to get a high major job like A&M any time soon. SMU? The school showed it wasn't beyond contacting a person with a scandalous past when former Colorado coach Gary Barnett admitted he had gotten a call.

Sporting News says Dennis Francione will be evaluated at the end of the year.
Possible reasons for this abound. First, A&M is technically capable of winning the Big XII south. No, really. Look it up. Second, and more likely, A&M is playing chicken with Dennis Francione and trying to make him settle for less/quit.

To me, the biggest thing holding up the Fran buyout is that Fran wants all the A&M money and wants to coach again at the same time without A&M having to pay less. In attorney speak, Fran doesn't want to have to mitigate his damages.

More as this develops.

Keith Whitmire

2007-10-31T21:31:00.000-05:00
Keith Whitmire is defending his alma mater.

I've been hearing a lot of pundits - both amateurs on local blogs and professional media - talk about SMU football as if every season is a 1-7 nightmare. They paint the picture that SMU has no hope of ever winning. It's simply not true.

SMU won six games last year. If they could have scored from first-and-goal at the Rice one yard line, they would have gone to a bowl game in 2006. As it was, 6-6 would have gotten SMU into a bowl if C-USA had one more bowl agreement last year.

A lot of this has to do with Ed Housewright's disparaging uniformed remarks on one of the pretentious DMN blogs.

Go get 'em, Keith.

Next Year's Schedule

2007-10-31T21:04:00.000-05:00
On the message boards at Mustang Maniacs, Scott Farrell let's us know that next year's nonconference schedule is set. Texas State; @ Texas Tech; TCU; and @ Navy. I know some people don't like scheduling I-AA, errr Championship Subdivision teams, but I think it is integral to getting SMU going and will indeed help SMU recruit a head coach. I have previously discussed scheduling here and here (I swear I have talked about it more than that but I can't find the posts, but whatever).

I know some people want SMU to play USC, Notre Dame, Texas and LSU, under the guise that SMU is in a weak conference and needs to play up. I disagree. SMU needs wins. I think last year was exciting in part because of the Sam Houston win. If that Sam Houston win was a hypothetical Florida State loss, the season would have had a quite different feel.

Unfair Park

2007-10-30T21:34:00.000-05:00
Unfair Park, the blog of the Dallas Observer mentioned this site, which is pretty cool, I guess.

At least Robert Wilonsky didn't think this site was terrrrrrible.

Five more questions you may be (and are) asking.

2007-10-30T21:16:00.000-05:00
Since the blog started back up, the emails are now coming in again and questions are being asked. Form a review of the message boards, it appears there are a number of questions about the press conference and what was said and what was not said. If you haven't seen the press conference in its entirety, especially the second-half with Steve Orsini, you need to see it.

Without further ado, let’s look at the issues.

Hey, I was listening to the Ticket before the press conference and they proceeded to kick SMU in the groin repeatedly. They made it sound like it was going to be impossible to find someone willing to take this job. Are we actually going to be stuck with some coach from Texas State or I-AA School?

First of all, with regards to the Ticket, nobody except Rich Phillips and George Dunham know a darn thing about college football beyond the top 25. Corby Davidson, who spoke most of the groin-kicking comments, can’t even speak articulately about his own alma mater (TCU), much less another school that isn’t Oklahoma. Make no mistake, SMU football is lucky to be on the Ticket and listen to the Ticket religiously, I just don’t recommend relying on the Ticket to be your SMU Information Station.

Anyway, where was I? Ah yes, the old “Who on earth are we ever going to get to take this awful job?” argument.

This argument, self-loathing and pitiful though it may be, is incredibly uninformed.

Never mind that this cry of woe was made when Jim Copeland retired/got fired. The answer, in that case, was someone better than anyone reasonably expected: Steve Orsini left the equivalent position at a successful university in the same conference.

Never mind that this same cry of woe was uttered again when Jimmy Tubbs was fired as the basketball coach. The answer, again, was someone better than anyone expected: Matt Doherty, former NCAA coach of the year, a coach that some suggested before Jimmy Tubbs was hired and was dismissed “because HE’d never come here” is now looking at paint samples for the walls of his new office in his new practice facility.

One would think people would stop asking this question.

With football, it is even easier; all you have to do is do the math. There are presently 120 Bowl Subdivision teams (that is Division I-A to you and me). Over the last seven years, there have been an average of 18 coaching changes in Division IA. There simply are not that many jobs out there. A lot of people point to Bob Stoops who turned down offer after offer waiting for a job like Oklahoma to come calling. Bob Stoops is not typical. Bob Stoops took the advice of a man who didn’t even follow it: Steve Spurrier.

On average, a little more than half of the eighteen job openings per year have gone to previous head coaches at the I-A or NFL level. A couple more each year will be internal hires. That leaves, on average, seven Division I-A jobs up for grabs each year among assistants at the NFL or Division I-A level or head coaches at a lower level. If you are not a hot name (Urban Meyer leaving Utah for Florida, for example), you are going to listen to almost any offer.

Sub-question: Yeah, but this is a crazy year, there are going to be like thirty job openings this year.

No. No, there won’t. The numbers suggest, despite the chatter, this will be a quiet year for coaching turnover. The numbers say that there is significant turnover every other year and last year was an above-average year. Yes, there is a lot of chatter out there, but there is a lot of chatter every year and the chatter gets worse every year. Sure, Franchione and Callahan look like they are on their way out and it sounds like Houston Nutt will finally be shown the door, but I doubt the veracity of half the claims that “so and so” is on the way out. My gut says that there will be right around the average 18 coaching changes this year, which in some ways is still atypically high.

So Bennett finally came clean pointed out all the ways that SMU is not competitive in recruiting, right?

Well . . . sorta.

Look, everybody likes Phil Bennett. Phil is a great guy. You have heard that a million times in the last 72 hours. And it is true. He comes across as is a very genuine guy and you are inclined to believe every word he says. And if you do that, you are asking for trouble. I am not saying Phil will lie to you, but I absolutely believe Phil will confuse you and allow you to walk away from a conversation with a false impression.

I quit going to Coach’s Breakfasts and Lunch’s because I got tired of the “Phil Bennett bit.” The Phil Bennett bit is as follows: Phil identifies two key decisions (in recruiting, in a game, in anything) that were questionable. The most questionable decision, Phil will defend completely and tell you how smart he is and how you just don’t know enough about football. The second decision, Phil will tell you he was wrong and then go into a laundry list of why he was right even though he just said he was wrong.

Phil is also great at saying he doesn’t make excuses, but then proceed to list a bunch of excuses.

So when Katie the Greek started asking questions about “recruiting restrictions,” Phil was all too eager to agree with the premise and start talking. And why shouldn’t he? It validates him. I am going to watch Phil’s half of the press conference again, but if you can actually decipher what he is specifically talking about, you are a mind reader. I gleaned something about transfers and something about an education major.

Add to that the fact that neither Orsini nor Turner are ever going to publicly talk about these things in specifics and Phil Bennett has free reign to say whatever the heck he wants.

Do not take away from this that I think SMU is on a perfectly level playing field. Bottom line, while I think there is something to it, I also think there is something to what Steve Orsini said about it being its own form of "negative recruiting."

Sooo…

When SMU dropped its Physical/Education major after Ken Pye arrived, that significantly hurt recruiting, right? Most of our opponents, even Rice and Tulane, have majors in which a majority of athletes focus on, such as Education or Physical Education, Sports Management or Kinesiology. That is one of the things Phil was talking about. This is really a big deal, right?

I know some people think so, but I am not one of them. In the interest of equal time, if someone wants to disagree with me on this or anything else I say here, feel to email me your rebuttal and I will be happy to post it.

While there is not a Physical Education, Sports Management or Kinesiology major, there are certain majors where athletes tend to "cluster," which is the faculty and administrative term for all the athletes taking the same cr@p. I was specifically told by one student (a really smart one BTW) that basic equivalent of "Rocks for Jocks" is Markets and Cultures, which is an interdisciplinary business and sociology major that has only been around for a couple of years. I mentioned the major to a faculty member I know (who hates the athletic department and just about every football and basketball player in his/her class) and he/she just rolled his/her eyes.

Further, how many kids really wanted to go to A&M and major in Agricultural Leadership and Development? The answer is “None of them.” Do you realize how easy it is to find football players at A&M majoring in Agricultural Leadership and Development? I randomly clicked on six football players on the A&M roster and two majored in Agricultural Leadership and Development.

Here is a picture of Danny Gorrer; he can be seen here interfering with a cow catching a football. Danny likes cows so much, he decided to major in “Agricultural Leadership and Development.”

If the issue is having majors that potential student-athletes are interested in, I think the answer is kids are interested in anything, but most of all, they are interested in winning and being successful and enjoying their time at a school, not unlike any other kid. If the issue is having classes and majors at SMU where kids can be “stashed” and keep their eligibility, then I have news for you, SMU is not that hard. Besides, read what I said about Markets and Cultures again.

But hey, if the SMU leadership wants to start an Education undergraduate degree or a Sports Management degree because students are interested in it and that happens to help recruiting, then more power to them. I just rank the lack of such majors on the level of excuses for not winning just above chick Peruna handlers and dressing the Mustang Band like Mr. Peppermint.

Bennett said something else about transfers. This is really a big deal, right?

The transfer issue is a really big deal. Or it was. Or it still is.

Make no mistake, Bennett made recruiting junior college players his bread and butter at K-State. And there were so many glaring holes on the SMU roster at times, the failure to recruit junior college players to fill those holes is obviously an issue. Add to that, the public inability to get Division I-A transfers that were previously recruited to either qualify or recruit them.

I point out the "orphan course" policy change at SMU [LINK], which was implemented less than a year ago, which made transferring credits substantially easier. As put into practice and how it applies to the athletic department so far, I can't say. I concede that there has not been an influx of student-athlete transfers in the past year. Maybe Bennett was so obsessed with winning games in October and November 2006, he didn’t focus on junior college recruiting as much as he should have; the numbers were down from even previous years during his tenure.

I will point out that SMU Defensive Tackle Serge Elizee went from JuCo to Minnesota to SMU in less than 9 months and is now playing on Saturdays for SMU, which I find encouraging.

That being said, …

IF THIS IS STILL A PROBLEM, IT NEEDS TO BE FIXED NOW.

What do you you take away from Orsini's criteria for a new coach?

I took one thing and only one thing away: head coaching experience. And that fits Orsini's previous hires at SMU and UCF. The guy is going to have to have head coaching experience.

Five Questions You May Be Asking

2007-10-28T21:22:00.000-05:00
Why now?

Well, obviously, there was nothing Phil Bennett was going to do between now and the end of the season to save his job. The best he was going to do was 5-7 and no bowl. Frankly, nobody sees a four game run in this team. I certainly don’t.

Waiting until the end of the season only did a disservice to SMU and to Phil Bennett. SMU can start the search process and get a head start on every other school in the country (until Baylor fires its coach next week). Bennett doesn’t have to answer questions about his job anymore. Bennett’s job status won’t be a distraction to the team.

Six years ago, Copeland made a terrible mistake and waited until after the next to last game to fire Mike Cavan. Why was it a mistake? Because Cavan won that game, that is why. Copeland fired Cavan after a win over Rice. Did Copeland see anything in that win to convince him that Cavan needed to be fired? Of course not. It just looked bad. But that was par for the course of Copeland in those days.

Why let Bennett coach until the end of the season and not appoint an interim coach?

Why? I ask, “Why not?” Is there any good reason not to let him coach the last four games? I thought of one reason and one reason only: Keep Bennett from pulling any more redshirts so true freshmen can play on special teams. I have to believe that will stop happening anyway. Rest assured, I will be prepared to jump on the field myself if I see another true freshman run out on the field.

The only other reason is out of spite, and that is just a bad reason. Bennett is not going to do any harm by coaching these last four games. It isn’t as if anyone on the current staff is legitimately going to be considered for the head coaching job.

What next?

Just like the Athletic Director search and the Basketball Coach search, we will see a search committee formed. That will probably be finalized by the end of the week.

A search firm will be hired. Most likely, that is Eastman & Beaudine. They were hired to help with the Athletic Director search and the Basketball Coach search. Their hire seems like a given.

The only alternative that I see is to hire Chuck Neinas. Google him and you’ll find a dozen articles all saying he is the best in the business. You may also find a couple of articles accusing him of being unethical. The ethical issues revolve around him being hired by universities to find AD’s and those AD’s end up hiring him to find coaches. That really is not that uncommon (see the preceding paragraph).

How long is this going to take?

Don’t hold your breath. There are only a handful of people worth considering who can be interviewed before the college football regular season is over. If SMU considers doing anything other than hiring someone currently out of coaching, we may not hear anything for a while.

I expect this search to take longer than the search that led to Bennett or Doherty, which were 16 days and 18 days respectively. Accordingly, the story that the search has to be open for 30 days to meet school or government rules doesn’t hold water.

Dude, I read the athletic department was going broke or something. Is that true?

No. While it is true that the athletic department loses money for SMU and Orsini would welcome your contribution towards the basketball practice facility, the athletic department is in no worse financial shape than it has been the past several years. Anecdotally, SMU athletics was in far worse shape in 1936, when if not for the money that went along with the invitation to the Rose Bowl, old Ownby Stadium might have been foreclosed upon.

I have some experience with the press. One thing I know is that reporters like a narrative. Regardless of the reality, reporters report facts that fit the story they want to tell. Katie the Greek, for whatever reason, wanted to tell a story of an athletic department in trouble, rather than just a football program. I don’t know why. Maybe it is because SMU made her work on a Sunday.

I guarantee you SMU will pay the next coach more than the last coach.

Bonus question: Don’t you have a list of candidates or something?

In due time.

Bennett is gone

2007-10-28T20:56:00.000-05:00

Dallas Morning News

Star-Telegram

Two images bookend my memories from Phil Bennett’s tenure at SMU.

The first is the first game of Bennett’s career. I wasn’t even there. I had a three week old son. Too young to take to the game and leaving my wife alone for a Saturday was not an option. So I sat there in a rocking chair, trying to rock my crying son to sleep while listening to the game begin. Holding my new son, listening to a football game with a brand new coach in his first game against a pathetic opponent that hadn’t won a game the year before. And then disaster struck. From the fire on the grass; to the pathetic defense, to the complete blowout; most of the time, I was rocking my son trying to figure out what the hell was happening.

The second memory is the Rice game in 2006. Winner goes bowling; loser would stay home. Coincidentally, I didn’t go to that game either. Through an odd twist of fate, both my wife’s parents were in the hospital. She had to be there and I had to watch the kids. My friends road down in an RV; they were having a great time. I watched the game on all-access while listening to the radio. Again, disaster would befall the Mustangs.

But my memory isn’t really from the game itself, it is from Jean-Jacques Taylor’s column the next day. He wrote, “After the game, several SMU players sat on the bench and watched Rice's jubilation. Another fell to the ground, tears streaming down his face. Another screamed obscenities to no one in particular.”

That image stuck with me.

“What about the 2007 season,” you ask? Honestly, there is not one damn thing I will remember about Phil Bennett in 2007. The season was entirely forgettable and almost entirely irrelevant. The only thing SMU accomplished is proving that SMU is patient to a fault.

I suppose I may remember the last SMU offensive series of consequence. SMU had first and goal to seal the victory. In an offense that relies on its best player more than any other offense in football, SMU chose not to put the ball in Justin Willis' hands. SMU failed to score, squandering the best defensive effort of the season. Had the defense played that well all season, I dare say, we would not be having this conversation this week.

I must say, the result is not unexpected. I expected to see SMU with a completely rebuilt defensive line fail to get any pressure on the quarterback, leaving the mediocre, at best, secondary exposed and forcing the offense to play catchup most of the game and the load would be too much for the reigning C-USA Freshman of the Year to bear. I just didn't expect the defense to flame out in such spectacular fashion and I didn't expect the season to end in Week Eight. I thought the offense would carry SMU to at least four, more likely five, wins; I thought SUM would be chasing the New Orleans Bowl all the way to the end of the season.

SMU is the first school to fire its head football coach in 2007. Now is the time for Steve Orsini to do what we all know he was hired to do in the first place.

Note to Steve: Don't screw it up.

We Are Back!!!

2007-10-28T20:30:00.000-05:00

Hiatus

2007-08-31T09:42:00.000-05:00

Here, on the eve of another football season, I am sad to report the blog is going on hiatus.

Fate has dealt me a cruel hand. I work for a company that has steadily put tighter and tighter control over its computer systems. In other words, they don’t want their employees looking at *pron* while they are at work. Fine by me; I am not a big connoisseur of *pron* anyway. Then, last year, all fantasy sports sites were blocked. And now, … all blogging sites have been blocked as well. Rivals is even blocked. Most message boards are blocked as well, but somehow ponyfans.com has escaped this fate thus far.

Now, I have three options. First, I can just post from home. Given the fact that I am spending more and more time at work and I foolishly accepted a municipal board appointment on the side (don't ask), the little time I have at home is monopolized by two kids and a wife and enough stuff that I ought to be doing at home instead of blogging. Also, I am having problems with my browser's interface with blogger.

Second, I can blog by email (which I am doing with this post). The problem with that is that I can’t even read what I post until I get home. It is nearly impossible to post images or files or any kind of formatted text via email. I also can’t read comments. It really is not a practical option.

Third, I can go into semi-retirement, which is what I have reluctantly decided to do. I say "reluctantly" because I believe there is a place for an irreverent and critical voice of the SMU athletic depart that you don't get from the usual sources. I am still a Mustang fan and somehow, despite not going to a bowl and keeping its coach, SMU has gotten more money out of me than ever before. The blog may come back at some point, but for now I will spend my free time on ponyfans.com and at the games cheering for SMU.

Anyone is free to contact me at smufootballblog@gmail.com.

For now, I leave you with this (again, because this is by email, I can't post it as a imbedded screen):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snM2RWfs2xI

Re: Test

2007-08-23T22:19:00.001-05:00

Test one more time.

Test

2007-08-23T22:17:00.001-05:00

Test.

Test.

Test.

Test.

iphone

2007-06-28T08:38:00.001-05:00
I want to go on record with the iphone. I like to think I do a pretty good job of identifying the next big thing in electronics.

The iphone is going to change everything. I have been intrigued by this thing since it was announced at MacWorld. BTW, I don't even own a Mac. It is going to be the no. 1 Christmas gift this year. You aren't going to be able to find them. If you think you are going to get one for someone as a Christmas gift, I recommend buying the first one you see.

Like the ipod, it just makes sense. It is intuitive. It just works. You can find an MP3 player cheaper than an ipod or that does certain things better, but the ipod is just a vastly superior product.

Maybe it won't replace your blackberry, but it will replace your ipod and phone. That is enough for me.

We live in a time when two of the most significant consumer products in the next 10 years have come out within 12 months of eachother. The wii and iphone. Both had industry experts scoffing at them. Both will prove those experts completely wrong.

That being said, I am not rushing to the store to buy one today. But I know I am getting one. I already have Cingular so that isn't an issue. And the rate plans are surprisingly reasonable to me.

Last night, I watched this and this.

Here are some reviews:

Newsweek

NY Times

Endgadget Review Roundup.

SMU Notes, Travel Notes and more.

2007-06-28T07:33:00.000-05:00
Hat tip to perunapower for linking to this website. The site lists the preseason conference rankings of all the college football magazines. The consensus is SMU finishes 3rd in the West, which likely makes SMU either 5th or 6th in Conference USA overall (though 3rd in the East last year finished 7th overall). Phil Steele is the outlier here, placing SMU in 4th. I need to go back and look at last year's magazine, but I think Phil Steele was as close, if not closer, to picking the right order than anybody else.

Rivals/Mustang Maniacs is reporting that Logan Turner is going to be the no. 2 quarterback after the defection of Corey Slater. Let's recap the career of Corey Slater, shall we? . . . OK, now that that is over, let's examine the wisdom of handing the backup quarterback position to a true freshman. I think it is nuts to do it; I think it is nuts to announce it. However, it is small potatoes; this team rests on Willis' shoulders and no one elses. If SMU has to rely on our backup for more than 2 games, the season is over anyway.

While this further shows the perpetual mismanagement of the quarterback position at SMU, this problem isn't unique to SMU. The difference is SMU doesn't have the margin for error that, say, Texas had last year with no experienced quarterbacks. One thing is for sure, no one should let this be an excuse for Bennett and company.

Personal travel note:

So, on Tuesday I fly down to Houston for a deposition. It wraps up early. I rush to the airport. I get a seat on the 2:30 Southwest flight from Houston Hobby to Dallas Love Field. I run over to Pappas Burger and scarfed down a cheeseburger and run to the gate. Flight is delayed until 3:30 because of mechanical problems.

Well, crap. Sit around and wait, make a few calls, read a magazine.

Finally, we board. The plane is full and the plane is hot as hell. "We just wheeled this plane out of the hanger; it is brand new. Since it wasn't on, the air conditioning wasn't running but it should start to cool down once we get in the air." I am sitting next to Leo. Leo is awesome. Leo is also 6'4" and easily 280. Leo could easily be mistaken for a NFL defensive tackle. Leo explains he works in "professional personal security." I figure out that means he is a body guard and owns a body guard company. Which makes sense; I am not going to try and go through Leo to get to somebody.

Then the pilot announces that Love Field is shut down and we aren't taking off for about an hour. We haven't left the gate so we could get off the plane if we wanted, but were told to stay close because we could leave any time and we would have to board quickly. Initially, I stayed on but realized I would regret not standing up. I went to the bar and had a beer, made some more calls.

After an hour, they announced the plane was leaving, but it wasn't going to Dallas, it was going to Midland. So I ran onto the plane and got my coat.

After another hour they cancelled the flight.

So Leo and I are in line to exchange our tickets for standby tickets. So I do what I do in these situations and go into "Mr. Wolfe" mode. My paralegal calls me Mr. Wolfe when I start quickly listing facts and listing and dismissing options before immediately announcing the problem and solution. Mr. Wolfe is Harvey Keitel's character in Pulp Fiction. "I am Mr. Wolfe; I solve problems."

Turns out the 2:00 was cancelled, too. So every Dal-Hou flight from 2:00 to 6:30 is delayed or cancelled. Flights about every half hour; every flight at least 2/3 if not completely full. They will not let a plane take off to Love until the airport is open, which it is not and the weather according to my wife sucks and will continue to suck for at least another hour. So every flight until 7:30 is cancelled or delayed, so that that is at least 8 full planes of people (assuming 2/3 full and a flight every half hour) delayed trying to get to Dallas. We are not leaving by plane today. And tomorrow, we have to deal with all these other people and the people that already have tickets on tomorrow's flights. I am betting we aren't in Dallas until noon.

I call a rent car place. They will rent me a car right now from Houston to Dallas, unlimited mileage for $108.00. With gas, assuming using a full tank at $3 a gallon (I don't know what car I am getting so I am being conservative) and taxes, that is $160. If I can split this 4 ways, that is $40 a person. Leo is in. Turn to two old guys in front of me and quickly they can't decide because they already have a hotel room. Then the lady on the phone says I have to get it there tonight by 11:30 (it is 6:45) or it will be another $40-$60. The old guys can't decide and I assure them we can get the rent car by 7 and make Houston in 4 hours; I drove Houston to Dallas every other week for 3 years and had a political job before law school where I drove up and down 45 all the time. Traffic will have dissipated by 6:30 PM; there is no construction north of Conroe; the weather is north of Centerville so no rain for the first half; we can make this easily. We will even prepay the gas so we don't have to stop before Then one of the old guys says, "I am in, but I can't drive. I have already had 4 beers." We left but not before giving the rental car number out to two others.

So me, Leo, John and drunk Charles race to the rental car counter. Get the keys to an Impala and after a bathroom break ("Go now, we aren't stopping.")are on the road by 7:08; on I-45 by 7:15. Check in with the wife every hour; she is freaking out that I am in a car with 3 guys I don't know. "Honey, with the exception of Leo, I can take these guys." "Who can take Leo?" "I don't know. Maybe DeMarcus Ware. But Leo had to go through airport security so he isn't armed; but of course, he could crush me with his thumbs."

We make great time; no rain until Fairfield. We got the Ranger game on the radio. We were doing so well, we almost stopped for dinner, but it clearly had just rained in Fairfield and there was lightning in the distance. We pressed on. Then the sky opened up and our speed dropped from 90-95 to 50. It was a monsoon all the way to Corsicana and rained the rest of the drive.

We rolled into Love Field and I dropped three guys off at their cars and returned the car. My paperwork says I picked the car up at 7:08 and returned it at 10:38. It is exactly 256 miles from Hobby to Love. As I waited for my receipt I realized everyone in front of me and behind me had done the same thing.

Did I do the right thing? I don't know, but I do know that according to Leo's Treo, the 8:30 flight to Love Field hadn't left at 9:30. I also know that as of 1 AM, according to SW's website, some flights did get out and get to Love.

Oh, and if you ever need professional personal security, I highly recommend Leo.

AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies -- 10th Anniversary Edition

2007-06-21T10:40:00.000-05:00
Behold the confusing title of a 10th anniversary edition of a list recognizing movies over the last 100 years. I suppose that sounds better than 110 years ... 100 movies. Here is the AFI list.

Because of my confusing SMU education which included a double major in film and political science, and my own interest, I have seen 91 of 100 of the movies on the list. I have seen parts of an additional 3. And hey, I admit seeking out the movies on the list when it first came out to fill in the gaps.

Anyway, Forrest Gump has no business being on that list. BladeRunner has no business being on that list. Do the Right Thing has no business being on that list; Boyz N The Hood is infinitely better. I can make an argument for the Sixth Sense. The General is too low. Godfather Part II is too low. Fellowship of the Ring is not the best film of that series. Empire Strikes Back isn't there. I refer to Roger Ebert regarding the Graduate: (I am paraphrasing here) That movie is not nearly as good as I remember it.)

As you can tell, I am posting again. Part of that is a decision to just post anything I am interested in, which includes movies, food, other sports, as well as SMU. I am going to avooid politics as best I can because some people can't handle a rational discussion.

Red helmets

2007-06-21T09:50:00.000-05:00
So, while I earlier reported that there would be a uniform change after this season, some people just found out. The brief story is as follows. SMU has a Nike contract. That means SMU wears Nike uniforms. The Nike contract expires at the end of this year (I have heard conflicting reports as to what "this year" means. School year? Football season? 2007?). Nike is on its way out and apparently, Adidas is on its way in.

This has caused some to dream of a return to the "classic" SMU uniform: White pants with stripes on the side, blue jersey, white helmet with stripes and red mustang. I support this 100%.

Some guy in the comments a while back, said SMU is missing out by not using red helmets. I know SMU had red helmets until 1972 (with a different logo), but Red helmets are not something I have ever taken seriously. I did, as requested, venture to the website of the Calgary Stampeders (?) to see red helmets in action.

The Calgary Stampeders are the Calgary representative to the CFL. From their website, it appears they have half dozen different logos. Even stranger, their mascot is a dog. But whatever.

So, in the interest of equal time, I present to you a red "Mustang" helmet. I will let you decide for yourself.

They look a lot better than the image I had in my head. The colors are red and black, not red & blue. The white stripe across the chest is ridiculous.

Spring Game

2007-04-04T08:32:00.000-05:00
I took my oldest son to the Spring Game on Saturday and caught the first half. Strangely, according the box score, I saw all the scoring. I have yet to walk away from an SMU Spring Game believing that SMU has a well-oiled machine on its hands. DeMyron Martin looked better; Willis looked like he is recovering from a hand injury.

The defense looked okay. Maybe the secondary will be better than last year. Since you can't touch the quarterback, you can't judge the defensive line at all. That also probably means you can't fairly evaluate the quarterbacks either. A few years ago, Chris Phillips looked pretty good in limited Spring action, I think in large part because he knew he could sit in the backfield on every snap and avoided running.

These things are shows, more or less, and a reward of sorts for the kids that worked hard all month. What they are not, are serious contests. Case in point; there were no real teams on Saturday: No red offense and defense; no white/blue offense and defense. It was offense against defense all the way. Under those circunstances, I am trying to decide whether the 31-7 score is a good thing or not.

If it were up to me, I would give up pretending that you are trying to accomplish any real work at the Spring Game. Let the seniors be the captains of the two teams and let them pick the teams. Let them actually play and have a little fun out there. Some other schools do it that way. I think SMU doesn't because SMU needs to "work." While I agree with the sentiment, I have no expectations of really accomplishing anything at the game anyway.

At halftime, I left the stadium and saw they were selling old game-worn jerseys for $25.00 a pop. So I ask you, when else am I going to get the chance to buy a game worn 2004 Desmond Jones home jersey for $25.00? I mean, you have to, don't you?

My son and I then walked around the stadium towards the new Dedman Center, which I have never been in. It is a very nice facility. First class, like every other SMU building. Saw the sunning pool. Probably lingered near the sunning pool a little too long. I mean . . . yeah. What was I talking about?

Of course, along the way, we walked through Doak Walker Plaza, which brings me to the real issue of the day.

Uniforms

2007-04-03T11:35:00.000-05:00
There is some discussion about uniforms lately. Yes, there is a push to make the colors throughout the athletic department consistent (as well as the University as a whole). But there are a couple of things to consider.

First, SMU has one more year on its Nike contract. That isn't to say the uniforms cannot change. It does mean that if next year SMU switches to Under Armour or Adidas or Reebok, the uniforms will have to change again, at least subtly. For example, Nike is the only company doing piping on the jerseys right now.

Rumor is Adidas wants SMU bad. That may be soccer related. I don't know. I do know kids like Nike. I have a hard time believing Coach Doherty wants anything else.

Second, Bennett apparently really likes the blue helmet. It is his baby. I hated the blue helmet at first. The current blue helmet with red mustang outlined in silver is improved over the original non-outlined mustang version. I still prefer the white helmet with red mustang. But if they change the helmets to green with pink mustangs and SMU wins, nobody is going to care.

So, in brief, expect no major changes this year.

And for the record, the administration doesn't think "2008: New Coach, New Unis, New Attitude!" is very funny.

Post-NCAA Tournament

2007-04-02T22:14:00.000-05:00
As I am posting this, it looks like Florida will repeat.

I have a few friends that are alums of Ohio State. This is to make them feel better. BTW, don't watch this at work, especially with the speakers up. You were warned.

See, this is the in-depth coverage you don't get on Orsini's blog.

Actual SMU football related post tomorrow. I had a long boulevard-related discussion today. Very insightful. Waiting for a little more information, before posting.

This just in!!!

2007-03-25T20:41:00.000-05:00
Rice has a new coach!!!
Just kidding. The real world dominates my life right now and I hope to get back to blogging soon. I will be at the Spring game. Anyway, until then, I have decided to root for UCLA in the Final Four.

Apparenlty, UCLA has something called an "Undie Run" every March.

Rice's head coaching search

2007-01-16T08:21:00.000-06:00
Rice is currently scrambling to find a head coach after Tulsa yanked the rug that is Todd Graham out from under them. They have put together a short list according to their message board and the Houston Chronicle. Interestingly, if I were to put together a short list of people I would consider hiring, Rice has put together a largely similar list.

Bo Pelini: DC & LB Coach LSU; was interim HC after Solich was fired at Nebraska; under 40.

Charlie Strong: Assistant Head Coach-Florida; Co-Defensive Coordinator & LB; interim HC Florida (coached Peach Bowl).

Chris Hatcher: HC-Voldesta State.

Larry Fedora: OC Oklahoma State; former OC at Florida; former HC Garland HS.

To that list, the Houston Chronicle also adds Denver Broncos defensive line coach Andre Patterson, Georgia defensive coordinator Willie Martinez and Arizona defensive coordinator Mark Stoops. Also, there is current Rice defensive coordinator Paul Randolph.

I can't imagine Rice doesn't have a coach by the end of this week. If I am Rice, I go hard after any one of those first four.

Weekly roundup

2007-01-12T07:43:00.000-06:00
SMU barely beat Brown and lost a buzzer-beater to open conference play against Southern Miss. Here is the DMN's version.

Bennett received the American Football Coaches Association's 2006 Academic Achievement Award on behalf of SMU. SMU recorded a 100 percent graduation rate when all members of its freshman class of 2000-2001 earned a degree.

The picture is a little hard to make out, but did Bennett shave the 'stache?
The big football news is coming out of Tulsa and Rice today after former Tulsa Defensive Coordinator Todd Graham became the former head coach of Rice today, just a couple of days after receiving a contract extension. The Rice folks are apoplectic.

Key to BCS title?

2007-01-09T15:01:00.001-06:00
From the DMN Colleges Blog:

Key to BCS title? Recruit Denton Ryan D-linemen

Florida DE Jarvis Moss, who spent much of last night harrassing Heisman Trophy winner Troy Smith, became the second Denton Ryan alum to win a BCS
championship. Moss played next to Texas DT Derek Lokey, a contributor on last
season's national championship squad, in high school.

This trend with Denton Ryan D-linemen is great news for SMU fans. Ryan DL Ben Goldthorpe orally committed to the Ponies last week, so it's fair to expect a crystal football in a Ford Stadium trophy case in a few years.

Key to BCS title?

2007-01-09T15:01:00.000-06:00
From the DMN Colleges Blog:

Key to BCS title? Recruit Denton Ryan D-linemen

Florida DE Jarvis Moss, who spent much of last night harrassing Heisman Trophy winner Troy Smith, became the second Denton Ryan alum to win a BCS
championship. Moss played next to Texas DT Derek Lokey, a contributor on last
season's national championship squad, in high school.

This trend with Denton Ryan D-linemen is great news for SMU fans. Ryan DL Ben Goldthorpe orally committed to the Ponies last week, so it's fair to expect a crystal football in a Ford Stadium trophy case in a few years.

Coaching Carousel, Round II

2007-01-09T08:38:00.000-06:00
Just when you think the waters of college football have calmed, a seemingly irrelevant act causes ripples throughout college football. The Atlanta Falcons hire Louisville coach Bobby Petrino. Now comes word that Louisville will hire Tulsa's Steve Kragthorpe. This is important for SMU because, obviously, SMU plays Tulsa every year and second, Tulsa and SMU compete for the same recruits (more often than they should, IMO). Tulsa AD Bubba Cunningham is not the AD that selected Kragthorpe or wojcik; this, to my mind, will be Cunningham's first substantial hire.

Second, Alabama's hiring of Nick Saban may cause even more ripples. Saban apparently contacted Rice offensive coordinator Major Applewhite about the offensive coordinator position at Alabama. Major was all too happy to comment on it to the Houston paper. The fact that Major was so quick to admit interest tells me Major is not going to get this job; Major is marketing himself more than anything else. More likely, Saban goes after Paul Petrino at Louisville for the offensive coordinator, unless Paul follows his brother to Atlanta.

The week that was

2007-01-05T09:24:00.001-06:00
Well, I went a week without talking basketball. I missed a troubling loss and a decent win over a bad team (wait, maybe that means it isn't a decent win). Not really sure what happened in the loss to North Carolina A&T.

Win or lose, I was far more interested in this in today's DMN:

SMU, riding a two-game losing streak, suffered through a "horrible" practice Wednesday, coach Matt Doherty said.

Team captain Jon Killen warned Doherty that the Mustangs' confidence was down.

"We've got to change our course of action," Doherty said he realized. "We've got to build 'em up."

So Malcolm Farmer, director of operations, quickly put together a highlight video. The team sat down in Moody Coliseum's bleachers after Thursday's walk-through to watch it.

"It got the guys fired up," junior Derrick Roberts said. "We chose to come out and make a difference on the court."

This is what, by most accounts, Doherty didn't do at North Carolina. At UNC he pushed harder and harder got more negative and negative. Now, he is builiding players back up. I think there was some concern that he was headed down that same path a few weeks ago. What we can't forget is that Doherty is a good coach and a demanding coach. He is going to be hard on his players.

So, over at the Orsini blog, where he doesn't post pictures of USC cheerleaders, Orsini is inviting "guest bloggers." Now we have a post from Head Football Coach Phil Bennett. At the end, Bennett says he will be back with more insight, but for the life of me I didn't read anything in his post that couldn't have come from nearly any coach in Division I. It really isn't fair of me to criticize; the guy is in the middle of recruiting. It isn't like he has much he can comment on.

In other news, Chuck Faucette is rumored to be gone.

Why I root for USC from time to time

2007-01-03T20:38:00.000-06:00
I did summer school at USC one summer in high school. Yes, I was that kind of nerd. But the real reason I root for USC every now and then is ...

OU whips SMU 69-42

2006-12-29T08:38:00.000-06:00
Well, that wasn't much fun. At least the DMN sent Katie Papadapoulous to cover the game.

All this game proves is that the men's basketball team is that this team isn't going to have some kind of miracle season. Nor should one have been expected. This is still the team from last year minus its best player. The coaching is better, for sure, but the talent isn't there to compete night in and night out. I said before the season started that .500 was the best anybody could reasonably expect. SMU is better than that and may very well be the team nobody in Conference USA wants to play come conference tournament time. That in itself will be a successful season.

Listening to Doherty, however, reveals that he would punch me in the face for saying that.

"We got to learn from this," Doherty said. "I really don't care about Saturday's game [against North Carolina A&T]. I care about finding a toughness in our team. If that means running the heck out of them in practice tomorrow, that's what I'll do. We've got to be tougher or otherwise we're just pretending to be a good team."

I don't envy the players today, but I envy where I think Doherty is going to take them eventually.

Happy New Year.

Post-Christmas and SMU @ OU

2006-12-28T07:52:00.000-06:00
Well, I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas. Me? Mine had its usual ups and downs. Santa gave great gifts. I got great bills. For Christmas presents I received, there is this ongoing problem. I ask for certain items and instead of getting those items, I get a "variation on theme." For example, imagine walking into a restaurant and ordering fried chicken. The waiter brings out pecan crusted seabass. See, it isn't fried chicken, but it was pan-fried and it does have a crust, but while it isn't chicken, it is "white" meat. Apply that to Christmas gifts: I asked for an FM modulator for my ipod so I can listen to it through my car stereo; I received a speaker so I can listen to my ipod at home through it rather than through my home stereo. This has gone on for years with my wife and for the life of me, I can't figure out how to correct it. I have tried circling items in catalogs, I have tried writing down model numbers; I have even told her where to buy something for the cheapest price.

Anyway, Matt Doherty had a merry Christmas. SMU beat TCU on a buzzer-beater. And Santa brought this:

Now, SMU faces OU in one of its toughest nonconference games of the season. I think Jeff Capel is a good coach and I think OU is a good team. I won't be surprised if OU goes to the NCAA tournament. I remember remarking that I thought Capel was an inspired hire by OU. Sure, he is young and inexperienced, but by all accounts he has a bright future and good basketball mind. It is nice to see a major athletic program willing to do something other than hire the safest choice: a coach from a lower major program.

An SMU win will likely give SMU some well-deserved regional and national attention. However, a win is unlikely. SMU has not played a lot of great teams and as I mentioned after the TCU game, OU blew the doors off TCU earlier this year. This game will be interesting to watch. Undoubtedly, Doherty has a gameplan for winning this game, rather than just keeping it close.

Oh, and TCU's Neil Doherty thinks SMU-TCU basketball can be a great rivalry. He just wishes it could be played later in the year when the students were on campus. I am sure it can eb a great rivalry, too. Too bad TCU whizzed its chance to play SMU twice a year in conference when it bolted for the Mountain West. And not like it matters, Neil Doherty isn't likely to get too many more chances to coach again SMU, anyway. After talking to my TCU and Fort Worth friends, the consensus at TCU is that nobody goes to the games and nobody cares and the basketball team stinks.

And there will be much rejoicing (and fist-pumping)

2006-12-22T08:19:00.000-06:00

In the above picture, SMU's Donatas Rackauskas crushes TCU's dreams like a bug. Notice you can actually see the moment when the TCU' player's heart breaks.

DMN version.

Star Telegram version.

Let's be honest, Dez Willingham's 3-pointer at the buzzer was a gift from Santa.

SMU played up and down all night, trailing by as much as nine in the first half and leading by as much as eight in the second. Ike Ofoegbu was in foul trouble much of the night but was subbed in and out effectively. I liked the way Matt Doherty stuck with Rack on the inbounds play despite two turnovers at the end. It shows confidence in the player.

This was basketball win number 100 over TCU. I like that. Symmetry. This was a win SMU needed to keep momentum in the metroplex. I still say SMU is struggling for relevancy in this town and beating the cross town rival is a good way to establish itself as the dominant basketball team within a 100 mile radius.

Matt Doherty, you are my hero. Now go beat Oklahoma. Of course, OU already beat TCU 63-35. Eeeeee.

Wow, three basketball entries in a row.

When Baylor fans come to Ford Stadium in 2011 and 2013, they can also check out the George W. Bush Presidential Library.

SMU signed Rock Dennis, a defensive back from Garden City Community College. The more I hear about this kid, the more impressed I am; he sounds like a true athlete. I don't know if he will start, but at a minimum, he will provide needed depth for a weak secondary. Still, most SMU football fans were hoping for more.

Merry Christmas everybody.

SMU @ TCU

2006-12-21T07:36:00.000-06:00

It's D'oh Time!

Coaches share Court Again as SMU Plays TCU

Shows you what I know. I was completely oblivious to the fact that both TCU's Daughetery and SMU's Doherty were assistants under Roy Williams at Kansas at the same time. I mean, I knew TCU got Daugherty from Kansas and I knew Doherty had been an assistant at Kansas before getting the Notre Dame head coaching job, I just never put the two together. I guess it isn't surprising to me that this is the "story" leading up to the game.

To me, the real story is the slide TCU basketball has been on the past few seasons, despite landing a premier assistant and building a nice practice barn, err, facility. Compare that to SMU, which is also building a practice facility and has hired a new coach that has reinvigorated the program. A friend of mine that went to TCU was lamenting the complete lack of interest in the TCU basketball program these days. Asked if he was going tonight, he said he had absolutely no interest.

Best thing in the Star Telegram is a chart listing the highlights for both coaches. Among the list, "Notable award: Doherty: Associated Press National Coach of the Year in 2001; Daugherty: CollegeInsider.com's Best-Dressed Coach in 2004." Well, there you have it.

Wow, two basketball posts in two days. I may have to change the name of the blog.

Changes

2006-12-20T09:55:00.000-06:00
Upgrading the blog to see if it corrects the "issues" I am having. It will take me some time to get the colors and the header back.

George Lynch

2006-12-20T08:22:00.000-06:00
Matt Doherty added George Lynch to his staff as "administrative assistant/graduate manager."

Administrative assistant?

"Hey, George. I know you were the twelfth overall pick by the Lakers in 1993, but will you make a copy and fax this? Great. Thaaanks."

In other basketball news, the Dallas Morning News has the following uncomfortable headline for the SMU women's basketball team's victory over Detroit in Mexico: "SMU Women have good time in Cancun." Apparently, they went wild.

Finally, tomorrow is the SMU-TCU men's basketball game in Fort Worth. TCU is bad but probably better than a lot of teams SMU has beaten to date. In my opinion, this is an important game for SMU and for Matt Doherty. After all, it is the rivalry. SMU coaches have in the past lost games that really matter to the SMU fan. This will be an important game to determine if Doherty "gets it." I think he does; everything we have seen to date says as much.

I hate blogger

2006-12-20T08:21:00.000-06:00
I had a nice little post and it just got lost.

Orsini interview on SMU.edu

2006-12-19T20:44:00.000-06:00
I haven't seen this mentioned anywhere. Orsini sits down in his office and talks about the state of the athletic department. It is a long interview, but worth watching.

Mustang Momentum

Apparently, we took a step back in volleyball. Who new?

Louisiana Tech hires Derek Dooley

2006-12-18T07:21:00.000-06:00
I only post this because it is interesting. Former WAC conference-mate Louisiana Tech hired Miami Dolphins Tight End Coach Derek Dooley to be its new head coach. Derek Dooley coached Wide Receivers at SMU under Cavan from 1997 to 1999.

Doherty Pub

2006-12-13T13:32:00.000-06:00
From CNNSI's Seth Davis:

Immediate Impact
Ten first-year coaches who are already making mark

9. Matt Doherty, SMU
Previous school: Florida Atlantic
Replaced: Jimmy Tubbs
SMU's record last season: 13-16
Current record: 6-1

This program hasn't been heard from since Dave Bliss was coaching there back in the early 1980's, but many people believe there is potential for growth at SMU, mostly because of its location in Dallas. Doherty knows how to schedule easy wins (one came against Texas College, a non-Division I school), but SMU did play Florida State close before losing in Tallahassee. The Mustangs also have a five-point home win over a good Dayton team to their credit.

Also on the list is Mike Davis at UAB (#5).

Thoughts on the Practice Facility and Dodge

2006-12-13T08:45:00.000-06:00
Orsini Blog

SMU Release

Dallas Morning News

SMU broke ground on a new practice facility on Friday. The facility will honestly be as good as any facility in the country. Add to that new lights, a new scoreboard and a new floor for Moody and the building blocks for a first class basketball program seem to be in place.

SMU men’s basketball is ridiculously high in the RPI and Sagarin rankings. The RPI will start to plummet as SMU will play a couple of really low ranked Division I teams. Sagarin, I am not sure about-that one may stay up there a while. If I were to guess, the RPI drops into the 50’s by the Oklahoma game, even if SMU wins every game up to that game.

So the basketball team takes to the court tonight for the first time in seemingly forever. I am not going to be there, but I will make the game at TCU on the 21st.

The world is apparently ending because NTSU hired a high school coach. Now, granted, Todd Dodge is a really frickin’ good high school coach. But he has never been a head coach at this level and we really don’t know how well he is going to be able to recruit to NTSU, though most think he will be a good recruiter and most think he is an offensive genius. Only time will tell.

My thoughts on this are pretty simple. The average SMU fan is so beaten down, it has started looking around for where the next punch will come from. Therefore, everything is a negative. And if SMU loses a game, SMU needs to fire the coach. And if the season doesn’t end with a bowl, SMU needs to fire the coach. It is just the nature of the “SMU condition.” SMU fans view potential offseason changes as the only excitement to be had. Yet hiring a new coach yields only temporary gratification if he isn’t immediately successful. And since success, let alone immediate success, is hard to come by at SMU, the SMU fan starts to look for the next coach.

Well, Steve Orsini thinks differently. He believes that the best thing for SMU is to keep the current coach. Steve Orsini believes Phil Bennett will be successful at SMU. Two thoughts oh that. First, it doesn’t matter what you or I believe because Steve Orsini is the one making the decision, and as long as he really believes it and actually cares, I am willing to go along with it. Second, assuming Orsini is right, Phil Bennett and SMU being successful is ultimately far more important than any instant gratification to be gained by hiring a new coach.

So best of luck to Todd Dodge; I hope SMU beats NTSU by 50.

Willis Honors

2006-12-08T10:11:00.000-06:00
My son made a "dreamcatcher" thing in preschool: paper plate, yarn, feathers and beads. I think it worked because last night I didn't think about SMU losing to Rice or NTSU. So, maybe we can get back to positive SMU news.

Willis now has a nice little display for all the honors he has picked up:

Willis was named Conference USA's Freshman of the Year by both the media and coaches and was also tabbed an honorable mention All-C-USA selection on the past two weeks. Willis set numerous school records in 2006 including new marks for season touchdown passes and completion percentage. For the year, he completed 182-of-270 passes for 2,047 yards and 26 TDs with just six interceptions and ranks 10th in the nation in passing efficiency. His 29 TDs accounted for are the most in SMU history and his 2,401 yards of total offense is fourth-best in a season at SMU.

And now, he was named Third-Team Freshman All-American behind Colt McCoy and Riley Skinner. That puts Willis ahead of Matt Stafford @ Georgia, Graham Harrell @ Texas Tech and Chase Daniel @ Missouri.

We should all be pleased and encouraged with the year Willis had.

Things you can find on ebay

2006-12-08T09:01:00.000-06:00

Do I have a good reason for posting this? No. Do I need one?

Malcolm Gladwell

2006-12-06T14:08:00.000-06:00
Malcolm Gladwell spoke at the Tate Lcture Series last night. I missed it because of a long ago scheduled commitment, so I forgot to mention it. Malcolm Gladwell writes for the New Yorker and among other things, is a sports junkie.

Here is an article he wrote in May 2006 on quantifying NBA talent.

He's written two books: Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking and The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference. Not the lightest of reading, but worth checking out.

Here is a link to an interview Gladwell did with ESPN Page 2's Bill Simmons.

I do have space on my calendar for the January 16th lecture by Doris Kearns Goodwin, if anybody has an extra ticket.

Are they following us?

2006-12-06T11:06:00.000-06:00
So SMU schedules Sam Houston State, then UT schedules Sam Houston State. Now, comes word that UT is going to schedule Arkansas State. Very suspicious to me.

Sorry I haven't posted much lately. I can't sleep. I keep having the same nightmare. In it, all SMU has to do to go bowling is beat Rice playing with a backup quarterback and they can't do it. In another version, all SMU has to do is beat NTSU having a year so bad that NTSU fires its coach. Oh, wait. These are not nightmares, they actually happened.

"I wasn't gonna walk in there and say, 'Hey, I want a raise.' "

2006-11-28T15:04:00.000-06:00
Dallas Morning news version.

Daily Campus version.

First of all, this needs to be said. This could have been handled better. This did not have to drag out until Tuesday afternoon. SMU cannot dismiss this as a routine “evaluation;” Schellas Hyndman’s review was not the same as Phil Bennett’s and we all know it.

Consider this exchange between AD and head coach sometime during five hours of talks:

Bennett: "Am I your guy?"

Orsini: "When we get through with this, I'll tell you."

I am not entirely sure of the logic for keeping Bennett. I keep looking through the articles and there really isn’t one given. The closest thing we get from Orsini is the following:

"While we did not succeed to the levels we had hoped this season, we continued to make progress," Orsini said in a statement. "We will return SMU football to national prominence."

And that is part of the problem. I can’t tell you how many “ponyfans” told me they thought that even if Bennett made a bowl, that if Orsini thought he get an upgrade, he would do it. Obviously, those people were wrong, but the sentiment is right. It doesn’t matter if Bennett went from five wins to six in 2006; what matters is whether Bennett can go from six wins to seven or eight in 2007. Stealing a bit from Bob Sturm, it is just like Jim Cramer on “Mad Money”.

“We aren’t worried about where a stock has been, we are only worried about where it is going.”

Is this football team going to be better next year than this year? And the year after? That is the only question that matters. I don’t really care about 0-12 in 2004; I just care about 7-5 (or better) in 2007.

Yesterday, I was reminded there are six Conference USA bowl tie-ins next year and not just five. With these results in 2007, SMU is a bowl team. So it very well may be that Orsini is banking on the continued parity in Conference USA. After all, Jordan Palmer is gone at UTEP; Kolb is gone at Houston.

And then there is the very real probability that it just came down to money. SMU is paying for two basketball coaches and a football coach in 2006. Maybe paying for two basketball coaches and two football coach in 2007 was too much for the athletic department to bear.

But let’s not forget that letting Bennett go was a complete crapshoot. We don't know what SMU would have gotten. Maybe SMU would have found the next Charlie Weis; maybe SMU would have found the next Mike Cavan. Decent chance SMU would have found the next Phil Bennett.

Keeping Bennett has its own risks. Anybody walking around saying they think Bennett has made the right call on even 80% of his coaching decisions is crazy. I concede that this year, the decision-making improved, but there were still numerous calls that were mindboggling, AND WE ALL KNOW IT.

And here is the other thing. This year, Bennett was given everything he ever asked for. First, contrary to popular belief, Bennett can by and large recruit who he wants. As an aside, I think it is ironic that the same people that continually rip Stallion for his negativity are using his arguments to defend Bennett. The exception is transfers, and again, I think that rule is changed now, too. Second, this is Bennett's dream schedule. Bennett has complained about the schedule since he got here. SMU scheduled NTSU! Why? For Bennett! So, he gets what he wants and he comes up short. Short against NTSU and short of a bowl bid. And on top of all that, a school with a job that before the season started every single one of us would have said was a harder job than SMU, Rice overcomes all these same things and is going to a bowl game.

There is no guarantee that a new coach has to start over from scratch the way Bennett did when he took over for Cavan. If that is the way you feel, then Bennett needed to be fired now because apparently he has already left the cupboard bare. At least, that is what I was told repeatedly by Bennett in the first three years he was here: there was no talent when Cavan left. That is why he had to start over. So if SMU has to start over again, what does that say about the job Bennett has been doing?

I will warn the fire Bennett camp, and I have warned everybody of this for three years. At some point, if Bennett no longer coaches at SMU, I guarantee you he will be in our backyard within a month recruiting the same kids as SMU. Contrary to the belief of some, Benett can recruit-he is a heck of a salesman and anybody that has met him knows it; part of his problem at SMU is he hasn't had much to sell (by and large his own fault, I should add). It should be our dream that he ends up the linebacker coach on some NFL team because we don't want him as the defensive coordinator at one of our "natural and traditional rivals."

I will also add that if Bennett were let go, those outside the SMU bubble would have thought we were nuts just as we think the NTSU'rs are nuts for canning Dickey. All they see is “bowl eligible” and more wins than last year. That is all JJT sees; that is all Norm sees. That is all freakin’ Dale Hanson sees. Yeah, Dale said keeping Bennett was the right thing to do at 10PM on Tuesday, which almost certainly means it is a mistake.

And finally, there is the fact that Bennett is a great guy. He is a great guy to us. While Cavan came here and gave the impression that he couldn't wait to get out of here, Bennett at least acts like he enjoys it. And he puts up with a lot of cr@p from us. On the other hand, he has to put up with the cr@p because he lost the benefit of the doubt a long time ago.

So put your faith in Orsini because (i) this was not an easy decision; and (ii) it was his frickin call anyway and we will have years to second guess it.

For me, this is liberating. No more mincing words. No more keeping my mouth shut because I don't want this board used against Bennett in recruiting. The current situation is obvious. This is f'ing it. Year six of the Bennett regime. Six seasons will tie Bennett with Meyer and Rossley for the 4th longest coaching tenure in SMU history. Put up or shut up time for Bennett and all of his supporters. So without further ado…

"Four years ago they were 8 and 4, when was the last time SMU has been 8 and 4?" Bennett said. "They have 11 All-American receivers. When I got here I had to move a backup tight end to starting quarterback. They have a quarterback that threw 25 touchdown passes. They've had [academic] exemptions forever. SMU never had exemptions."

"If you want to evaluate me, the only thing you have to look to is where we came from," Bennett said.

First of all, it was five years ago, not four. Second of all, that Rice season was a fluke; Rice played THREE schools that didn’t win a game that year and six of those wins were against schools with a combined six wins. Third of all, that 8-4 Rice team lost to SMU that year. Fourth of all, that was Rice’s only winning season since 1997, which is the last year SMU had a winning record as well.

I don’t even know what “11 All-American receivers” means. Surely that is some kind of misquote or typo. Rice has had one receiver in its history with receptions for 1,000 yards and his is a sophomore this year. And he is the only Rice player in the top 100 for receptions, receiving yardage or yardage per game. More on Mr. Dillard in a moment.

Rice doesn’t have a quarterback that threw 25 touchdown passes. Chase Clement through 21 in 2006 and five in 2005. Oh, and he didn’t play against SMU, don’t forget. Unless he means SMU and Justin Willis. This article is confusing. But Willis threw 26 touchdowns and ran for another three. And if we are talking about Willis, well, to suggest that Bennett isn’t at least partially responsible for SMU’s QB problems in the past is a folly.

Now, as for Mr. Dillard, if Mr. Bennett wants to suggest SMU couldn’t get Mr. Dillard or others into school at SMU, well, I’m sorry, brother, that dog don’t hunt.

Dillard was not recruited seriously for football by anybody. Dillard received his first and only offer from Rice two days before signing day. He got into Colgate and was going to go there to play basketball. Are we expected to believe that Dillard could get into Rice or Colgate but not SMU? Oh, and Bennett forgot to mention that he invited Dillard to walkon at SMU. That is kind of an important detail that Bennett has neglected to mention.

If SMU had seriously recruited him and had offered him and he had committed, his commitment would have been panned by many because he was small and he had no other offers. Truth is Dillard is the kind of lucky homerun that a school hits every now and then. Of course, you would also have to assume that a coaching staff would know what to do with the player when he got to the school.

“If 81 would have gotten hurt instead of me," he asked, referring to a player who scored three touchdowns in Rice's 31-27 win, "who'd have won that game?"

Whoa. I can’t believe somebody would even make this ridiculous argument. Rice was without its starting quarterback and now we have to wonder what would have happened if they lost their best receiver, too? Then what? Are we supposed to pray that their running back gets hurt, too? Last time I looked, Dillard wasn’t on Rice’s goal line defense.

Speaking of goal line play…

Bennett said that he did not expect to make changes to his coaching staff.

But he does have a wide-ranging plan for improvement that touches on everything from the football nitty-gritty to getting the student body more involved to adding to the program's support staff. Bennett said he planned to add in-house recruiting and high school relations coordinators. Improved recruiting will continue to be a major emphasis.

Man, that is awesome. Should have been done in year one. “Better late than never,” I always say. Except how is this going to help recruiting now? It isn’t. Junior College Signing Day is in three weeks and National Signing Day is two months after that. This doesn’t even rise to the level of lipstick on a pig. It is more like … eye shadow on a bat.

I didn’t expect staff changes. Why make them now? It is pointless, borderline reckless, to make scheme changes now or put in an entirely new offensive system. Really, all that would do is provide excuses. And to be fair, total offense did increase from 104th to 79th in the country (of course, that is a difference of less than 11 yards per game).

"We're the fifth winningest team in the conference. When I first came here, we couldn't win a conference game," Bennett said. "We're recruiting a higher-caliber athlete, and I think we will be a team to be reckoned with in the conference championship."

SMU is not fifth, it is the sixth winningest team in the conference this year. At first, I thought maybe SMU was fifth in conference winning percentage, but that isn’t true either. SMU is tied with Marshall for sixth in winning percentage in conference at 4-4, which I need to point out is the same conference record as last year. I don’t need to remind anybody that if SMU were fifth, it would be bowling.

Oh, and the only year SMU couldn’t win a conference game was 2003. The reality is that post-SWC, SMU has averaged more than three conference wins a year and that includes none in 2003. SMU has finished .500 or better in conference a surprising seven out of 11 times. So, contrary to popular belief, SMU CAN win conference games.

Now that I have that off my chest, it is time to move on and gear up for 2007. Bennett's homework: figure out why SMU can't convert in short yardage or stop the other team on 3rd down; figure out how SMU lost so many 4th quarter leads; above all, make these guys better. Orsini's job is to eliminate the excuses: no more arguments that SMU is not on a level playing field in recruiting. Don't blame me, your coach said it, not me.

Me? My job? Figure out how to make a good signature drink for the boulevard. I am thinking Vodka, sweet and sour and grenadine. How about you?

Bennett stays

2006-11-28T14:41:00.000-06:00
Bennett will return next year.

And that is why you don't believe everything you hear, and especially post it to your blog.

Lots of thoughts tomorrow.

Edit: Don't expect staff changes, either.

I swear...

2006-11-28T11:30:00.000-06:00
I swear that ponyfans.com shuts the message board down on purpose some times.

I think Brad Sutton has a Bat Phone that he uses to call the administrators. Or it could go something like this:

Sutton: There is about to be a team meeting. No speculation! Unplug the server!

Administrator: But, sir! They don't know anything!

Sutton: Silence! No one must be allowed to guess the subject of the meeting! This comes from the Athletic Director himself.

Administrator: I tell you, this message board will be inoperable as planned.

Sutton: The Athletic Director does not share your optimistic appraisal of the situation.

Administrator: But he asks the impossible. I need more men.

Sutton: Then perhaps you can tell him when he arrives.

Administrator: The Athletic Director is coming here?

Sutton: That is correct, Commander. And he is most displeased with your apparent lack of progress.

Administrator: We shall double our efforts.

Sutton: I hope so, Commander, for your sake. The Athletic Director is not as forgiving as I am.

Still waiting

2006-11-28T08:07:00.000-06:00
Bennett's future at SMU still up in air

Bennett and Orsini met Sunday night. They met again late on Monday. There is a team meeting this afternoon, at which, I as, all will be revealed. Will it be the Orsini-Bennett plan or the Orsini-non-Bennett plan? Will there be wholesale changes? Will there be tweaking to the staff? Time will tell.

I am mildly irritated this has dragged out until Tuesday. Hope for the best, prepare for the worst. One would assume some thought was given to the current situation ahead of time. If not, then it should have been.

If I hear something I trust, I will let you know here. You can bet I won't run with anything unless I am confident.If you want my advice, ignore everything you hear until this afternoon. The chatter isn't worth listening to. The only things to get out of it are vitriolic diatribes on why Bennett must go or nonsensical, poorly reasoned and poorly supported reasons why Bennett absolutely must stay.

I got nothin'

2006-11-27T22:34:00.001-06:00
I have stared at my computer for 20 minutes. I don't have anything to say. I am sure I should do a season recap or link to the DMN's or something, but my mind is a total blank.

Did some late night surfing. Read that TCU is going to the Poinsettia Bowl and that Rice was going to the New Orleans Bowl. Then I wandered over to the Rice message board for the first time since before the game. I just about lost it.

The Rice loss had a major impact on me.

I have avoided Bennett talk because I don't know what is going to happen. I have sources. They contradict eachother. They even know they contradict eachother. Honestly, it is just guesswork. Even for guesswork, if they all said the same thing, I would run with it. But they don't. Everything sits with a handful of people we don't get to talk to except Orsini who casually puts up with me.

I have read a hundred opinions and nobody has sold me. So, I have a homework assignment for you. Below are some shorthand notes from the eight conference games. You tell me what they mean.

Tulane: Had a 4th quarter lead, lost it, got it back

UTEP: Disaster of a first quarter, got the lead in the 4th quarter, lost it. No Willis

Marshall: Had a 4th quarter lead, lost it, got it back

ECU: Disaster of a first quarter, blown out

UAB: Had a 4th quarter lead, lost it, got it back

Houston: Disaster of a first quarter, tied at the end of the 3rd quarter, took the lead in the 4th and lost it.

Tulsa: Disaster of a first half, took the lead in the 4th quarter and kept it.

Rice: Disaster of a first quarter, tied at the end of the 3rd quarter, took the lead in the 4th and lost it.

Also, the four conference wins in 2006 are equal to, not greater or less than the number of conference wins in 2005.

Double bad

2006-11-27T09:13:00.000-06:00
I had a family emergency over the holiday that kept me away from Houston this weekend. I won't go into detail, but I will say I have a 16 lb Thanksgiving turkey that was in the refrigerator and is now in the freezer. Hopefully it will be thawed for Christmas.

I did watch the game on Mustang All-Access (Note to self: cancel All-Access). The radio broadcast was a full 18 seconds ahead of the internet feed.

Anyway we lost. The Rice game was a microcosm of the entire season. A disaster early, followed by some excitement and then up and down and ending in disappointment.

I wish I could post more (and I will) but it is a miracle I even made it to work.

What can bowl do for SMU?

2006-11-24T21:20:00.000-06:00
The Dallas Morning News asks, What can a bowl do for SMU?

Bennett said a bowl would mean validation.

It could also be a springboard to more consistent success.

Orsini said a bowl can influence everything, from recruiting, to more practice time, to fundraising to attendance (SMU averaged only 15,428 fans this season).

Orsini said he would love his new marketing staff to be able to run a campaign next season grounded by the statement, "come support your bowl-bound team."

A bowl would be a reward for the players, such as senior safety Joe Sturdivant, who said he bought into Bennett's recruiting promise that these Mustangs would do something special and leave something special behind.

"I think things could explode around here," Sturdivant said. "There's all the things needed for a top program."

A win today, and a bowl would reward all the long-suffering fans.

A win today, and SMU really could find new life. Coming close won't cut it.

"It's time to put all the past behind us," Orsini said. "I do believe going to a bowl this year would do that."

As Big a Game as Any

2006-11-24T21:10:00.000-06:00
Stewart Mandel's blog devotes a column to SMU-Rice.

While Notre Dame-USC and LSU-Arkansas will surely dominate the headlines this weekend, Saturday’s SMU-Rice game carries its own significance for the participants, both of whom are 6-5. The winner will be assured a postseason berth, and it’s hard to say which will appreciate it more: The Owls, who haven’t been to a bowl game since 1961, or the Mustangs, who haven’t been since 1984 and have suffered through nearly two decades of post-NCAA death penalty misery.