slu72

Then get on the jet and go. If it's gonna happen let it happen quickly. I think the general consensus is that Fr. B's not gonna go out of his way to change his mind and up the ante because he's tired of him. The true test for Fr. B will be who does he replace him with and that's what scares me.

If he wears an SMU sweater with a big pony across it on the sidelines, I'm gonna be really po'd. I think SMU has serious Baylor envy. They are Texas' forgotten other private school. So they are willing to toss big $$ to a name coach. RM is not a young gun slinger type coach who's going to bring in 4 or 5 star recruits because he's not willing to do what it takes to get that done. He's not a Calipari or a Pitino who can take SMU to national prominence w/in a year or two. The AD at SMU said they had everything in place for a winning program in the Beast and cited access to the top players in the Ft. Worth/Dallas area. Well, they should check how well RM's done in landing St. L's big time talent. If RM takes it, I see it turning out like Bobby K at TX Tech. Which was not so good in year 3 or 4.

Ill offered Smart of VCU $2mm and he decided to stay for his paltry $800k. If RM leaves he's money hungry. I'm in the camp that says he's using this as leverage for a bigger BB budget, a few more bucks for his wallet, and charter flights. If Fr. B cannot see his way clear to provide an extra mil or so to meet his demands then SLU deserves a 2nd class program.

In the PD. See link on Billikens.com

In light of C.May's statement is it ok to jump off the bridge now? What a mealy mouthed statement from May. The fact he didn't express a little more support for RM continuing the development of SLU's program, leaves me with a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach.

In light of C.May's statement is it ok to jump off the bridge now? What a mealy mouthed statement from May. The fact he didn't express a little more support for RM continuing the development of SLU's program, leaves me with a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach.

Who's bitchin'? I'm crying in my beer here.

Great... just f'ng great. Time to break out the old, "It's hard being a Billiken fan." Well, at least I got to see the Bills win one game in the NCAA. Still can't believe he'd leave, but life goes on. Suggestion for new shirt: "Did we give up when SMU bombed the Fetz?"

ND going to the Big 10 rumors have been around since man invented the wheel, Cowboy. I was talking w/ some Big10 fans in Columbus and they all expect it to happen once ND's contract w/ NBC expires. ND football's pretty irrelevant right now and will stay that way as long as they stay independent. UC and UL have been rumored to be going to the B12. Also, CT and Rutgers to the ACC. When is the question, not if.

Ammaker from Harvard. But I think he's making over a $1mil.

I don't know of any coaches out there as big time as RM that would even consider taking the SLU job. And if there were, they'd have to come up with something in the 7 figure range to get him. I still think the question is how far would he have to go to keep him, and I don't think it's match $2mm, and how wide is the rift between him and Fr. B.

No doubt, Tonka, he'd leave with a huge credibility gap. On the other hand, the man deserves an extension and a raise. It was posted around 2 weeks ago in one of his interviews he said something like," I'll stay as long as they want me, and, no, I haven't heard anything about an extension." Still waters run deep. I think there's a lot more of the iceberg we can't see, and I'm implying he and Fr. B have some major differences. A man in Fr. B's position thinks, "no one employee is indespensible." The employee thinks, "True enough, but I can always take my skills and talent elsewhere and be more appreciated." Rumors of a rift between these two have been talked about on this board since the great charter plane issue debacle and RM going public so many times with, "we belong in the MVC." I've always been a believer in "where there's smoke there's fire." How big this fire is will determine whether RM stays or goes. If he and Fr. B can't find some common ground then they can't co-exist. And RM probably feels he's too old and too good at what he does to stick around and continually have to fight turf battles with the head honcho.

I smell Fr. B.

SMU's a team that finished near the bottom of CUSA at 13-19. MD gets fired, so am assuming there's not a lot of talent in the incoming pipeline. I mean they wouldn't fire a guy if he had a decent incoming class unless he dumped the his secretary on her head in a motorcycle crash, and then lied about it. It's pretty late in the recruiting season to be finding even gems in the rough. Furthermore, depending upon what's returning to SMU, we all know how harsh RM treats leftovers. Granted, a big raise in pay is hard to turn down for a guy nearing retirement, but this job is going to take a serious toll on his health. Yeah, SMU may have big dollar donors, but you have to think those boosters are being held in check because of SMU's tarnished history w/ high rolling boosters. And if they do Pony up the funds, how much of RM's private time are they gonna want. Sorry, this just doesn't seem a good fit no matter how you look at it, other than money and FR. B's miserly attitude when it comes to hoops.

No offense, but no one on that list excites me. The guys we have have all been drilled in RM's system for 3-4 years now, I think we'd really struggle if for example we got the MU asst who wanted to install a style similar to MU's. This would be difficult since we're not what one would call an athletic team. We win because of their discipline and faith in RM's system. For that reason, I think the choices would be narrowed down to guys who've worked under RM, or to find a HC who's very much like him. And there aren't a lot of RM's out there. Man, I'm praying SLU does whatever it needs to to keep him. We could see a potential breakthru year go right down the toilet if he leaves.

That crossed my mind as well. But wouldn't we have been informed by now? UConn was and told an appeal would be useless.

If all the above is true, and I have no reason to doubt your veracity, then he's likely gone. No man, who's been successful in his job, wants to fund his success w/ his own money unless he owns the company. Is this all boiling down to another Spoon type case, where FR. B can't see the forest for the trees? If it is, then as long as Fr. B's here we're likely going to be stuck in mediocrity hell until he decides to step down. Note to Fr. B, these HC's tend to be the faces of their universities. Ask the man on the street to name the President of UK. Ok, now ask the man on the street to name the HC of UK.

and RM departs, how do we keep the ship afloat? Does Fr. B go on the cheap and promote Whitesell or Crews? No disrespect to either of them, but does anyone on here think they have the resume to take this team to the next level? I wonder if they'd offer A. Jensen the job? Afterall, he'd be the best guy to come in and make the transition as seamless as possible. He'd likely keep Harriman and Whitesell. He knows RM's system inside and out. He knows the players. He likely knows the incoming frosh. My concern would be, he was on the bench with PM when RM was sidelined and we all know how that worked out. There really isn't another RM type out there, ie older HC w/ a winning tradition save for Bobby K and Larry B. I don't see either of them coming to SLU. I really don't see RM going to Texas, but just in case, what would we do?

SMU is nuts. How soon do they think RM can make them relevant in the Beast? This is not like hiring Pitino to Louisville. UL had tradition and a brand. Pitino is Pitino. Granted RM's a relevant name in college hoops but he's never landed really big time recruits like the top Beast teams have. And he'll be going head to head w/ an 800 lb gorilla named Longhorn, a 25 foot great white shark named Texas A&M, a really mean rattler named Baylor (although he may have his chopped off here soon), and nearby OK State and OK. It will take RM a good 3-4 years at best to make SMU a relevant program in the Beast. For a 65 year old guy with a history of serious heart issues what's the upside for them? For him? All that $2mm is gonna get RM is about $4mm worth of stress. I can't see him doing it, unless he's got his eye on a beachfront mansion in Hawaii and this gig will give him the chance to pay cash for it. All that said, Fr. B better be calling an emergency meeting of the high rollers and saying how do we counter? Look at VCU and Butler, boys. They kept their coaching stars from jumping ship to much better and high paying programs than SMU. Get out the checkbooks.

Still, a geographical mess. If RM hated SLU travelling to the East Coast how's he gonna feel about SMU doing it unless they get him his own 767.

The post about RM being a candidate at SMU got me to thinking about the lure of playing in the Beast vs the A-10 in the near future. After this year the Beast loses WVU (B12), Syracuse and Pitt (the ACC) and could face further losses if UL and UC move to the B12. But even if they don't leave, the Beast has UL, UC, CT, Rutgers, SHall, Prov, ND (another potential bolter to the B10), Marquette, DePaul, Nova, Temple, SD State, Boise, SMU, and Houston. I may have left out a few because it's difficult to keep up with all their machinations to salvage what's quickly becoming a mess. The first negative about the Beast is they're likely to lose a few more name schools. Namely UL, UC, ND, and even CT and Rutgers to the ACC. As for the A-10 the schools I can see us losing, in addition to Temple who's gone, are UMass and Charlotte. Both have FB aspirations. Good luck. But if the A-10 goes ahead and adds Butler, VCU, GM, and possibly Creighton, it looks to be a better and more stable conference in the long run than the Beast. Also, it will have a far better geographical situation than the Beast, which will be a logistical nightmare for the travel people in their respective AD's. Why in the hell would a proven coach want to go to the Beast and leave an up and comer in a really good conference? Does he really think SMU can compete with the likes of UL, UC, CT, Marquette, ND, and Nova? How much stress would that cause a 65 year old in less than perfect health?

Do we have any evidence we are even in on Swopshire? I thought someone posted he's gonna end up at WKY?

Just read Katz's take on the SMU job. The one interesting line, "the new HC better have strong ties to Texas." Well, pardners, last time I checked RM doesn't wear ten gallon hats and Tony Lema boots.

Brown doesn't have RM's health issues that I know about. And if RM's complaining about SLU in the A-10 how's he gonna feel about SMU in the Beast? St. Louis to Philly, Amherst, and Orleans is a whole lot shorter than Ft. Worth to Newark, Philly, Providence, San Diego, Boise, etc. Sorry, but for a number of reasons, mostly Dr. C, I don't see him leaving what's got to be a fairly comfortable situation for him in St. Louis. Still, Fr. B better step up to the plate and get him committed so ends his career as HC of the Billikens.

Sounds like a match made in heaven; smart, coach's son, character, academic... the only thing missing is the kid isn't wearing an "I heart Rick Majerus" t-shirt. Looks like this is the Greek kids replacement.