Coaching Changes

[golfnut69]

That didn't last long.

CFN's take;
http://collegefootballnews.com/2017/12/ ... for-oregon

[anEngineer]

Chad Morris is headng to Arkansas. SMU's on the hunt again.

I wonder if Morris gets this job if Banks is ruled to have gotten into the end zone. Without that win, SMU is 6-6, not 7-5. Perception-wise, 7-5 is a lot better. Also, Morris's record at SMU would be 13-23. As it is, 14-22 is pretty weak. I think the hire says more about Arkansas than Morris. Regardless, the fact that coaches with these kinds of records are still being hired away from the conference for decent P5 jobs shows the AAC is getting respect as a tough place to play and win. The one thing that has been lacking is ability to show it in bowl games against quality P5s.

[HoustonWave]

Morris brought in his P5 and JUCO mercenaries for a short term pop, which he barely got with the hideous goal line call. He will definitely cash in with the first offer he gets. I agree, him going to Arkansas says a lot more about where Arkansas stands than where Morris stands--similar to the embarrassing fiasco at Tennessee. You look at the bottom half of these P5 conferences, and it just screams for a system of relegation, similar to what England's Premier Soccer League does.

[golfnut69]

and the winner of the Arkansas Coaching Derby is

http://www.nwaonline.com/news/2017/dec/ ... /?breaking

http://www.espn.com/college-football/st ... rris-coach

The former UH AD was so impressed with the good Major he did not even bother to ask him to come to Arkansas...I guess Major was Tillman Ferrita's choice

[1989alum]

Any fear that SMU comes calling on Fritz?

[galvezwave]

Any fear that SMU comes calling on Fritz?

Nah. Once he gets it turned around he'll draw interest. But he's too old to move laterally , IMO. Fritz will either lose and get fired from here or win and go p5. Just like all the rest.

[golfnut69]

Any fear that SMU comes calling on Fritz?

Too many younger and in a sense higher profile type OC's and DC's out there....but CJ and Chris Scelfo are available

[galvezwave]

Any fear that SMU comes calling on Fritz?

Too many younger and in a sense higher profile type OC's and DC's out there....but CJ and Chris Scelfo are available

That's not a very attractive job either.

[GreenLantern]

Any fear that SMU comes calling on Fritz?

Too many younger and in a sense higher profile type OC's and DC's out there....but CJ and Chris Scelfo are available

The Scelfos have far too strong of an ethical character to fluorish there. SMU needs a coach such as Hugh Freeze or Bobby Petrino.

[DfromCT]

Morris brought in his P5 and JUCO mercenaries for a short term pop, which he barely got with the hideous goal line call. He will definitely cash in with the first offer he gets. I agree, him going to Arkansas says a lot more about where Arkansas stands than where Morris stands--similar to the embarrassing fiasco at Tennessee. You look at the bottom half of these P5 conferences, and it just screams for a system of relegation, similar to what England's Premier Soccer League does.

In theory, the relagation idea is a very good one. In practice, it's got a snowball's chance in hell of ever happening. I cannot blame Morris for leaving, he's not a young coach and has to take advantage of his opportunities. I don't think his hiring would have changed if he was 6-6 versus 7-5 as I'm sure the AD at Arkansas knew how close he was to being 6-6. But again, I don't fault him at all for taking a higher profile job and a HUGE increase in pay.

[1989alum]

I remain a fan of Chris Scelfo and am surprised he has not had better opportunities. If my memory serves me correctly, he was making good progress here and we won the Hawaii bowl in '02 before Cowen shat the bed with his D1 review in '03 which understandably hurt recruiting, fan support, coaching energy, etc. And then Katrina was the nail in his coffin.

[golfnut69]

Any fear that SMU comes calling on Fritz?

Too many younger and in a sense higher profile type OC's and DC's out there....but CJ and Chris Scelfo are available

The Scelfos have far too strong of an ethical character to fluorish there. SMU needs a coach such as Hugh Freeze or Bobby Petrino.

I was going to list Freeze, but he has to serve a two game suspension and I am not sure SMU know's how to handle those situations !!

[ajcalhoun]

I remain a fan of Chris Scelfo and am surprised he has not had better opportunities.

I still like Chris Scelfo and I hate the bashing he gets on this site but you just can't punt on third down.

[golfnut69]

Sumlin, does not make the cut in Knoxville

http://www.espn.com/college-football/st ... head-coach

http://collegefootballnews.com/2017/12/ ... at-so-hard

[DfromCT]

I remain a fan of Chris Scelfo and am surprised he has not had better opportunities.

I still like Chris Scelfo and I hate the bashing he gets on this site but you just can't punt on third down.

The third down punt will haunt him, though he's not the first coach to do so (nor will he be the last!) If you read his book about the Katrina season, you'll always appreciate what he did for Tulane football in a year that no coach has ever faced anything close to such adversity. He knew early in the season that his kids, (removed from families and relatives that had suffered devastation and loss of life and living in a dorm that should have seen it's last students years prior, playing 11 road games) were spent. I don't think Chris ranks among the top 5 Tulane coaches for X's and O's, but I think he's the best Coach we've had in terms of helping approximately 100 student athletes deal with a devastating situation totally beyond his, or anyone's control. Rick Dickson's finest hours were in the months post-Katrina and following the Devon Walker injury. I'm not a big fan of either Scelfo or Dickson (less so of Dickson) but their work in these situations should never be overlooked.

[Jaxwave]

Upon his firing, I emailed Coach Scelfo and thanked him for the wonderful job he did post Katrina. I pointed out to him that he will never have an accomplishment in his life to match that year. He deserves our everlasting gratitude.

[golfnut69]

Dallas Morning News... SMU pool of Coaches

https://sportsday.dallasnews.com/colleg ... morris?f=r

a second article, with a nice pic of SMU's Stadium

https://sportsday.dallasnews.com/colleg ... kansas?f=r

[Aberzombie1892]

SMU should just hire Sumlin or Kiffin (or Meacham!) at this point, but, given how the AAC has made curious hires over the last couple of years (i.e. UCF and Houston), SMU may find a way to bypass big name coaches and hire a nobody.

[Wave755]

I remain a fan of Chris Scelfo and am surprised he has not had better opportunities.

I still like Chris Scelfo and I hate the bashing he gets on this site but you just can't punt on third down.

He was wholly unqualified for the job when Cowen hired him over RR in 1998 (coached only the OL at Georgia), but just when he was coming into his own as a HC and having won the Hawaii Bowl in 2002, Cowen pulled the rug out from under him for the 2003 review. Then, on August 29, 2005 Katrina struck.

So I do feel sorry for how Cowen treated Scelfo and believe Scelfo certainly did his best under those circumstances and conditions presented by Cowen and came through for Tulane post-Katrina when everyone thought Cowen might use the hurricane as a second chance for ending the football program.

[Wavetrader]

Dallas Morning News... SMU pool of Coaches

https://sportsday.dallasnews.com/colleg ... morris?f=r

a second article, with a nice pic of SMU's Stadium

https://sportsday.dallasnews.com/colleg ... kansas?f=r

While you're reading these, take a look at the other article set forth below which includes Chad's five biggest wins during his career at SMU - I'll reveal 3 of them for you (beating Tulane, Tulsa, and Cincy all in 2017). Makes Willie's wins against Army and Houston in 2017 look stellar by comparison.

https://sportsday.dallasnews.com/colleg ... is-era-smu

[MicMan]

I remain a fan of Chris Scelfo and am surprised he has not had better opportunities.

I still like Chris Scelfo and I hate the bashing he gets on this site but you just can't punt on third down.

The third down punt will haunt him, though he's not the first coach to do so (nor will he be the last!) If you read his book about the Katrina season, you'll always appreciate what he did for Tulane football in a year that no coach has ever faced anything close to such adversity. He knew early in the season that his kids, (removed from families and relatives that had suffered devastation and loss of life and living in a dorm that should have seen it's last students years prior, playing 11 road games) were spent. I don't think Chris ranks among the top 5 Tulane coaches for X's and O's, but I think he's the best Coach we've had in terms of helping approximately 100 student athletes deal with a devastating situation totally beyond his, or anyone's control. Rick Dickson's finest hours were in the months post-Katrina and following the Devon Walker injury. I'm not a big fan of either Scelfo or Dickson (less so of Dickson) but their work in these situations should never be overlooked.

Chris Scelfo wrote a book? Oh yeah -- "Things I Learned After It Was Too Late".

[golfnut69]

another SMU take
https://sportsday.dallasnews.com/colleg ... ch-smu?f=r

[Wave755]

I remain a fan of Chris Scelfo and am surprised he has not had better opportunities.

I still like Chris Scelfo and I hate the bashing he gets on this site but you just can't punt on third down.

The third down punt will haunt him, though he's not the first coach to do so (nor will he be the last!) If you read his book about the Katrina season, you'll always appreciate what he did for Tulane football in a year that no coach has ever faced anything close to such adversity. He knew early in the season that his kids, (removed from families and relatives that had suffered devastation and loss of life and living in a dorm that should have seen it's last students years prior, playing 11 road games) were spent. I don't think Chris ranks among the top 5 Tulane coaches for X's and O's, but I think he's the best Coach we've had in terms of helping approximately 100 student athletes deal with a devastating situation totally beyond his, or anyone's control. Rick Dickson's finest hours were in the months post-Katrina and following the Devon Walker injury. I'm not a big fan of either Scelfo or Dickson (less so of Dickson) but their work in these situations should never be overlooked.

Chris Scelfo wrote a book? Oh yeah -- "Things I Learned After It Was Too Late".

Fourth and New Orleans: How Tulane Football Survived the Aftermath of Hurricane Katrina - Sports Publishing LLC (October 1, 2007).
https://www.amazon.com/Fourth-New-Orlea ... 1596702370

[Aberzombie1892]

It looks like Willie Fritz is on SMU’s list of candidates.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/247sports. ... 918470/Amp

[GreenLantern]

It looks like Willie Fritz is on SMU’s list of candidates.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/247sports. ... 918470/Amp

Given that this is only a sophisticated rumor, I wonder what impact this may have on a promising recruiting season and the tenuous chance we might have to land L Scott.