Well, I have to say something.

Greetings from seminar land!!!

Anything happening while I am away?

Tubbs' status at SMU in jeopardy.

Tubbs fired after two seasons.
Statement from SMU
Blackistone.

DISD Coaches upset.

Oh.

Let me restate the official SMU Football Blog positions on sports other than football and on Tubbs. First, I chose SMU Football Blog as a title because I never wanted to respond to anyone to say, "Why did you not say anything about the Women's Crew Team beating Old Dominion?" I like other SMU sports just fine, I just like football more. I talk about all other sports how and when I want.

As for Tubbs, I didn' like his hiring. I thought SMU could do better than Tubbs, who I remind you was the no. 2 or 3 assistant for Oklahoma. I didn't think Tubbs could deliver what we were told he would deliver: a pipeline to DISD talent. And make no mistake, that is what was implied. To suggest that Tubbs was "supposed to just get SMU's foot in the door" is crap; he was expected to deliver.

Apparently, SMU at the time had its own reservations by only giving Tubbs a four-year deal instead of the standard five. My opinion is that if you weren't willing to give the guy five, should not have given him four (or three or two or one for that matter). In the end, the four-year deal would end causing about as much trouble as it was worth.

But hey, Tubbs was hired, he's here, he's the coach. Support him.

So Tubbs comes here and barely cracks .500 his first year. Below .500 the second year. Really lights no fires in the recruiting. His most significant recruit being a project center from Africa via Virginia prep school. Never recruits a single kid from DISD. Only one area kid at all the traditional way. Midway through his second year, he starts wanting an extension and gets some help from his buddy at the Dallas Morning News.

Let's look at this honestly. Did Tubbs merit an extension? No. SMU's RPI has gone down every year. Dement's last year it was 137. Tubb's first season, it was 144. At the end of this season it was 234. SMU was 0-1 versus the top 25, 0-5 versus the top 50, 0-7 versus the top 100, and 1-10 versus the top 200.

Yeah, well, Bennett got an extension! After three years, he did. Went 3-8 after going 3-8 and 0-11 before that. Yup. And then he got another one last year after going 5-6. There isn't a numerical formula at work here. For the most part the extensions of Bennett were not rewards so much as an attempt to show confidence in Bennett's ability and project stability. Based on that standard didn't Tubbs deserve an extension?

Personally, I take it as fact that you don't let a coach go into the season on the last year of a deal. I don't think the stability thing was an issue as much as it was with Bennett at the time of the first extension(obviously, it is now). Tubbs didn't really need one till the end of next season. The problem with next season is that the the odds that the Tubbs 2006-07 campaign was going to be better than 2006-'06 were about nil in my book. Hopkins, the team leader in minutes, points and assists is leaving and there really isn't anyone to fill those shoes. I am not sure you are going to learn anything more about Tubbs next year that you don't already know.

Tubbs probably didn't deserve an extension. Still, I was content with SMU giving him one. If you are going to give a coach four years, you better give that coach four years as soon as possible. Chalk it up to making the right decision for the athletic department and be done with it. It is a judgment call that I wouldn't quibble with.

Well, that didn't happen. There was an investigation into some NCAA violations. Burgers? Detergent? What has been described in the paper, as far as I know, are not actual NCAA violations. There is more to it, right? There has to be and that is what SMU is saying. What do I know? Nothing.

SMU says there is more to it. I tend to take anything from the SMU athletic department with a grain of salt. Could SMU be making it up? Maybe. But any implication of Tubbs is an implication against SMU. SMU saying that Tubbs did anything wrong is saying SMU did something wrong. DonÂ’t forget that. I tend to believe statements against interest. It is one thing to shoot yourself in the foot, something else to aim a howitzer at your gut.

I will say that violations as a pretext for firing a coach is BS, especially minor ones. If the decision were made that Tubbs canÂ’t coach, then fire him for that reason at the end of the season. DonÂ’t wait a month and dig stuff up. Be a man and do it right away.

"Sources say..." Isn't it interesting that the sources all come from the same mindset? I find it very interesting that just days ago, Tubbs was about to land SOC's Ronnie Morgan and another junior college player. Many moons ago, I watched a high profile civil matter play out in bankruptcy court between a bunch of banks and bankrupt company. I was mostly an observer because my client was ancillaryary to the whole deal. Every day there was a hearing, it would be on the news that night. I sat right behind a local TV reporter covering the story. The local reporter got the story 100% wrong every night. Why? Because the banks wouldn't talk to the press and the debtor was more than willing to. And what the debtor was telling the reporter was far removed from reality. How did it end up? Very bad for the debtor. The point is, when one side is talking and the other isn't, you aren't getting the whole story.

Again, call me skeptical. I have thought all along that the “source” was Tubbs himself. I still think that is true.

Anyway, Tubbs is gone. Getting paid in full. It played out very weBut. but it is done.

Is this the biggest mess in the history of coaching changes? Not by a long shot. There are many that are much worse. Some in Texas. Calm down and think about it. The difference is SMU has baggage and as SMU fans, we carry that baggage around to every press conference. I am going to talk about this in the coming days. We really need to stop that.

Well, the Dallas coaches are pissed. Tubbs was “their guy.” And now he’s gone in quick, summary fashion. The Dallas coaches think Tubbs didn't get a fair shake. If Tubbs coached at SMU two years or five years, the Dallas coaches would still think Tubbs didn't get a fair shake. Period. I think I said as much on the SMU board two years ago. SMU hires the right candidate and this works itself out. DISD coaches will come around.

SMU athletics PR is terrible. Just terrible. Terrible in how it relates to the press. Terrible in how it relates to the community. Terrible in how it relates to the fans. The fans is why I am here.

Was this just an Orsini power play? This is the weirdest theory and I don't buy it. I can envision a scenario where the discussions were that SMU would have to fire Tubbs and Orsini agreed, but Orsini refused to have that be his first act. In a way that was the Bill Parcells making Jerry Jones cut Emmitt Smith scenario. Yeah, I can envision something like that, but it is doubtful. It just doesn't sound plausible to me.

What now and who will take this job? I will answer that with a question of my own: Who would take the AD job? The answer was somebody with a resume better than any of us expected. Is it possible the same can be said for the basketball coach? Possibly. We go over this every time, but I go back to the point that there are not that many jobs like this available. And really, you would be surprised to find out how well SMU pays.

If SMU is smart, it flies Orsini in here tomorrow and lets him just hire a guy. No committee. No debate. Let Orsini identify a candidate and get to work.

Again, everybody needs to calm the [BLANK] down.

Anyway, back to seminar fun.

Edit: toned the language down.