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Parallels With SMU

As we creep up to the opener against the rivals from University Park — they don’t want to be in Dallas so we won’t say they are in Dallas — I came across this gem of a post on the now-defunct Grantland.

It is from last year’s season preview series but what struck me was the parallels to North Texas’ own of-repeated refrains when we hire a new coach: “Sleeping giant!”. From the essay:

Here is an assistant coach under Meyer, according to David Whitford’s excellent book A Payroll to Meet: A Story of Greed, Corruption, and Football at SMU: “We were selling, ‘Guys, the one thing SMU has that nobody else has is Dallas, Texas!’”

And here is Chad Morris, to me, in August 2015: “No doubt this is one of the sleeping giants in college football. We’re in one of the top TV markets in all the world.”

That sounds mighty familiar. It can be argued that were it not for the corruption and the fortunate affiliation with the SWC, SMU would have never reached the fame and fortune it did. The death penalty is some evidence of that.

Choked off from the lifeblood of television revenue after being left out of the Big 12, SMU has been awful. Although they had a series of bowl games under Jones, NT had bowls under Dickey.

NT Record since 96? 82-155. SMU’s? 84-154

The smart money says NT’s season this year looks a lot like SMU’s 2015, lots of points from both side as the programs undergoes the transition from a coach that did not recruit or recruit well to a young, exciting, energetic one with a penchant for offense.

I probably was getting too deep into the roster, but I think the NT offense will be better than SMU’s 2015 defense and so there are more wins in store for Littrell in 2016 than Morris was able to muster.

SMU Since 1996

Year W L Pct Coach(es) Bowl
2015 2 10 .167 Chad Morris (2-10)
2014 1 11 .083 Tom Mason (1-9)June Jones (0-2)
2013 5 7 .417 June Jones (5-7)
2012 7 6 .538 June Jones (7-6) Hawaii Bowl-W
2011 8 5 .615 June Jones (8-5) BBVA Compass Bowl-W
2010 7 7 .500 June Jones (7-7) Armed Forces Bowl-L
2009 8 5 .615 June Jones (8-5) Hawaii Bowl-W
2008 1 11 .083 June Jones (1-11)
2007 1 11 .083 Phil Bennett (1-11)
2006 6 6 .500 Phil Bennett (6-6)
2005 5 6 .455 Phil Bennett (5-6)
2004 3 8 .273 Phil Bennett (3-8)
2003 0 12 .000 Phil Bennett (0-12)
2002 3 9 .250 Phil Bennett (3-9)
2001 4 7 .364 Mike Cavan (4-7)
2000 3 9 .250 Mike Cavan (3-9)
1999 4 6 .400 Mike Cavan (4-6)
1998 5 7 .417 Mike Cavan (5-7)
1997 6 5 .545 Mike Cavan (6-5)
1996 5 6 .455 Tom Rossley (5-6)

NT Since 1996

Year W L Pct Coach(es) Bowl
2015 1 11 .083 Dan McCarney (0-5)Mike Canales (1-6)
2014 4 8 .333 Dan McCarney (4-8)
2013 9 4 .692 Dan McCarney (9-4) Heart of Dallas Bowl-W
2012 4 8 .333 Dan McCarney (4-8)
2011 5 7 .417 Dan McCarney (5-7)
2010 3 9 .250 Todd Dodge (1-6)Mike Canales (2-3)
2009 2 10 .167 Todd Dodge (2-10)
2008 1 11 .083 Todd Dodge (1-11)
2007 2 10 .167 Todd Dodge (2-10)
2006 3 9 .250 Darrell Dickey (3-9)
2005 2 9 .182 Darrell Dickey (2-9)
2004 7 5 .583 Darrell Dickey (7-5) New Orleans Bowl-L
2003 9 4 .692 Darrell Dickey (9-4) New Orleans Bowl-L
2002 8 5 .615 Darrell Dickey (8-5) New Orleans Bowl-W
2001 5 7 .417 Darrell Dickey (5-7) New Orleans Bowl-L
2000 3 8 .273 Darrell Dickey (3-8)
1999 2 9 .182 Darrell Dickey (2-9)
1998 3 8 .273 Darrell Dickey (3-8)
1997 4 7 .364 Matt Simon (4-7)
1996 5 6 .455 Matt Simon (5-6)

Provided by Sports-Reference.com/CFB

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