With the recent announcement of Mustang head football coach Phil Bennett’s firing, many SMU students, alumni and fans have been speculating as to the future of the football program. A lot of names have been thrown around as possibilities for the next football coach, but it appears that there are a few clear front-runners for the job. In general, most front runners are coaches with experience as a head coach at another Division I program, since the Mustangs’ last three coaches (Bennett, Cavan and Rossley) did not have this experience and their time at SMU did not turn out as planned.
One of the most intriguing options, however, is the only front-runner who has not been a head coach before. Alabama Offensive Coordinator Major Applewhite, the former Texas Longhorns’ quarterback, has shown tremendous ability to coach as the offensive coordinator both at Alabama and at Rice. However, concern abounds about Applewhite’s lack of experience as a coach. Many alumni have suggested that they simply will not support a hire with no head coaching experience, but Applewhite has proven to be a winner. Still less than 30 years old, if Applewhite were to be hired, he would be the youngest head coach in Division I.
If you’ve ever watched college football on ABC, chances are you have seen Terry Bowden, son of Florida State head coach Bobby Bowden and brother of Clemson coach Tommy Bowden, analyze games during halftime reports. Terry Bowden formerly had success as head coach at Auburn, but after stepping down in the wake of scandal, he has spent the past 10 years out of coaching. However, his name has been linked to the SMU job by several sources, and he has stated his desire to get back into coaching. At Auburn, he coached the Tigers to an 11-0 record in his first season, and in six years he recruited 18 players who made it to the NFL. But Auburn is an SEC school, and many worry he will not be able to have as much recruiting success at SMU.
Baltimore Ravens offensive coordinator Rick Neuheisel has been mentioned by several fans as a favorite for the job, but his previous college coaching experiences at Washington and Colorado have ended in scandal and shambles. He was successful at the beginning of his stint at each school, but that success waned as his personal recruits began to see the field of play. He also left Colorado in the midst of a recruiting scandal, and was fired from Washington after taking part in a March Madness betting pool (although he sued for wrongful termination and won).
Former Kansas and Minnesota coach Glen Mason is famous for having success at schools known as “coaching graveyards.” He led Kansas to respectability in the early and mid-1990s, then took Minnesota from the Big 10 basement to middling success. His teams consistently made bowl games, but rarely received higher accolades. He was fired in 2006 after the Golden Gophers blew a huge lead to Texas Tech in the Insight Bowl.
Another former Colorado coach whose name has recently surfaced is Gary Barnett. Though he is perhaps best known for the stripper recruiting scandal and for commenting to the media that Katie Hnida, a former female kicker who accused her Colorado teammates of rape, “was terrible,” he did win Big XII conference championships at Colorado and Big 10 championships at Northwestern before that. He was actually a candidate for the Texas job at the time that Mack Brown was hired. Barnett mentioned in The Dallas Morning News that he has “had an interest” in the SMU job since former Colorado coach Bill McCartney, under whom Barnett was a coordinator, took the SMU job in 1988 before backing out and remaining at CU.
An up-and-coming head coach who has also been mentioned as a possible candidate is Turner Gill, head coach at the University at Buffalo. Though he has had middling success as coach of the Bulls in his two seasons there, he currently has the program known for traditionally being one of the worst in Division I-FBS, competing for the Mid-American Conference championship. A former assistant at SMU, he is best known for his time as a player and assistant at Nebraska, where he has also been mentioned as a candidate for that possible opening.
While there is a multitude of options for Athletic Director Steve Orsini to consider, it seems that despite the time he has spent outside of coaching, Terry Bowden is the most qualified candidate for the SMU job. If SMU can “pony up” the money to attract him here, it would be a step in the right direction for SMU, and would be a “Doherty” type hire for the football program.
About the writers:
Mathew Busby is a junior civil Engineering major. He can be reached at [email protected].
Nathan Vance is a first-year real estate finance major. He can be reached at [email protected].
