With the announcement that UCF’s Steve Orsini will be joining SMU immediately after Jim Copeland departs May 31, Ed Board would like to offer some advice for both men to help push SMU athletics onward and upward.
First on the agenda is the last major personnel issue for Jim Copeland: whether or not to extend men’s basketball coach Jimmy Tubbs’ contract. Really, it ought not to be Copeland’s decision at all.
With less than two full seasons and one recruiting class under his belt, we think it is entirely too early to pass judgment on Tubbs one way or another. Don’t fire him, don’t extend his contract – just give him his due time. Basketball signing day is just around the corner, and if Tubbs brings in a class as talented as this season’s freshman crop, SMU may have a strong, young team in 2006-2007.
Furthermore, with Copeland headed to retirement, making a decision that could saddle SMU with a coach who doesn’t pan out in his original contract term could sully Copeland’s legacy and hurt Orsini’s plans for success. Just wait it out.
As for Orsini, Ed Board is pleased with the choice President Turner and the selection committee made for SMU. The man has a background studded with successful schools and has Dallas connections that few others could boast from his association with America’s Team.
Dallas is where his work begins. Orsini’s first job in the fall needs to be getting the city of Dallas excited about SMU football. With a majority of games in Texas or within driving distance and a team, which has great potential for success, it would be lovely, just lovely, if we could fill up Ford Stadium for a few games.
Orsini needs to kick the marketing machine into high gear and do what his predecessors have failed to do for decades: Make SMU Dallas’ team. Oh, and if he can figure out a way to get students in the stands, that would be great too.
Secondly, we expect Orsini to quickly fall in line with Dr. Turner and continue to do what we at SMU seem to do best: Build stuff. A basketball practice facility on par with local high schools would do wonders for recruiting, and our nationally prominent swimming and diving teams deserve a new pool. Don’t get us started on soccer, either. SMU’s most competitive sports deserve a nationally competitive facility. The rumor is, and his background in accounting suggests, that Orsini is somewhat of a financial whiz. We’re anxious to see some magic.