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I know a lot of guys like to discuss SMU, well I got this email from a co-worker today. It's a pretty lengthy interview with the AD Steve Orsini, some pretty interesting thoughts in here.

SMU AD Talks Mustang Athletics As ‘Pivotal’ Seasons Approach

DALLAS – SMU Director of Athletics Steve Orsini began his fourth year on The Hilltop in June. Arriving from the University of Central Florida with a reputation for stellar fundraising, upgrading facilities, big-name coaching hires and producing true student-athletes, Orsini hasn’t disappointed.

In the midst of a $60 million building campaign, SMU opened the $13 million Crum Basketball Center, a practice-only facility, and the Turpin Tennis Stadium last year. A new golf complex is under construction and renovations to Moody Coliseum and other existing facilities continue.

Fundraising is at an all-time high, with over $4.5 million added to annual giving in 2008-09. Twenty donors, Orsini’s Circle of Champions, committed $100,000 each for five years to bring in football coach June Jones.

SMU’s refined graduation rate for student-athletes remains a remarkably high 96 percent. Nearly half of SMU’s 440 student-athletes made the Conference USA Commissioner’s Honor Roll last year.

Mustang teams won five conference championships in 2008-09, including women’s basketball, women’s cross country, women’s swimming/diving, men’s swimming/diving and women’s tennis.

But football and men’s basketball, the school’s most visible programs, have struggled for wins since Orsini’s arrival. Basketball coach Matt Doherty, Orsini’s first hire, is 33-58 over three seasons with a high mark in C-USA play of 4-12 in 2007-08. Jones’ football team managed just one win last year, his inaugural SMU season, matching the team’s record of a year prior.

On Tuesday, Orsini sat down in his office at Gerald J. Ford Stadium to discuss his tenure to date, his philosophy and his goals for SMU.

How pivotal will this year be for football and men’s basketball?

“I think what’s important in those two sports is that we show a movement towards Top 25 status. We have a long way to go in both of those sports. We recognize that but I think what is pivotal this year isn’t that we flip the records, so to speak, but at least show the foundation is in place.”

“It’s important we see a tick up, so to speak. If that’s not the case, then we’re definitely not reaching my expectations for this year.”

Is there a benchmark for football this year, in terms of wins?

“I’m with Coach Jones. He wants to go to a bowl game. So that’s six wins, minimum. I’m going to support his plan there. I believe in that. I believe we can do that.”

“That’s a very big improvement. That’s more than a tick up.”

And men’s basketball?

“As far as Coach [Matt] Doherty is concerned, Coach and I have talked about it. We can surely significantly move the number of wins into a .500 record. I think that’s a minimum.”

“We played a lot of young people [last season.] Was it eight faces last year that significantly played that were new ones, whether they were junior college transfers, four-year college transfer or true freshmen? So now they’re not [new.] Now they’re back.”

“I’m a big believer one of the key components of the profile of a winning team is experience - with talent, obviously. We’re gaining that experience, but experience takes time to gain. Football is really in the same boat. We played a lot of freshmen last year.”

Are you surprised football and men’s basketball haven’t yet turned around?

“You know it’s interesting. It’s almost mirroring UCF. … I worked with a coach there that I inherited. It didn’t work out. For two years I worked with a coach I inherited here, surely hoping that person would take us to reach our full potential. It didn’t work out. George O’Leary’s first year [as football coach at UCF], we were 0-11. His second year, we were 8-4, going to a bowl that we lost in overtime by missing an extra point.”

“Again, I’m not sure 8-4 is a realistic goal for us here [this year] but in Coach Jones’ second year, I surely expect to see, and I know they expect to see, a significant improvement. And I think we’ll see that.”

“So, actually, I’m feeling good about where we’re at. I wish we didn’t have to invest those three years so far to get where we are but I think that’s a pretty good process. I think that’s a pretty good timetable, when you look back at it.”

“But yet we have a sense of urgency. I don’t want people to be complacent, to say, ‘Oh, this is the Orsini Four-Year Plan.’ No, that’s not how I started out. I wanted to win right away. I do think SMU has all the pieces of a winning puzzle on the table. They aren’t all in place. I think we’ve got the right people to put them in place. That’s the same for basketball.”

Of what successes here are you most proud?

“Number one, keeping the high achievement of our academic performance of all our student athletes. At the end of the day, giving them a degree from SMU is what it’s all about. That will help them the rest of their life.”

“Another thing is conduct. I’m really proud of our young people. There are a lot of temptations out there. We’re just a reflection of the society, of young people. … That’s a tribute to our coaches.

“Athletically, other than the two sports that we been focusing on so far in this interview, I’m really proud of the success: five Top 25 programs. We’re nationally competitive.”

“But I realize [football and men’s basketball] are a main interest to our university, to our supporters. So I’m not trying to skirt those issues, that’s for sure.”

“I’m here because Dr. Turner said they worked hard at SMU from that thing that occurred twenty-something years ago, where the pendulum may have been swung the wrong way - and to correct it, was swung maybe too far the right way. And Dr. Turner explained, we believe at SMU we have a fine balance now. We want academic success and we want athletic success - done the right way.”

“Seventeen sports. We want to be Top 25 in all of them.”

“I’m proud of the achievement in building the Crum Basketball Center and raising the money for June Jones and his staff, that we can compete in the market to get a top proven coach in both Matt Doherty and June Jones. Those are fundraising goals that we’ve met.”

Is baseball even on the horizon?

“Dr. Turner has a great response to that: ‘As soon as you pay for the sports you have.’ I think that’s a very fair assessment. That’s all I can ask for.”

What about softball and men’s track?

“We provide opportunities so, to me, those are all more opportunities for more student- athletes at SMU. So, I’m all for that.”

“And I do believe we are on track to have a plan that we will pay for the sports we have and then we can enter into the discussion with the university about adding more sports. I really do believe that’s in our future. I just don’t know when.”

What does it mean to have former president George W. Bush involved with SMU athletics?

“I think it’s a great asset of SMU to have a former president and first lady [Laura Bush] so interested in SMU. Obviously, the First Lady is a trustee of SMU and an alumna of SMU. We’re proud of that. … To have him, on his own, to come out and say, ‘I want to watch football practice and then, on his own, say ‘I’d like to talk to the team, Coach Jones, is that alright?’ And then say, ‘I’ve adopted the Mustangs as my college football team.’ We couldn’t have scripted it better.”

“Of course, he’s always welcome here. He has an honorary locker here fully stocked with SMU gear whenever he wants to use it.”

What do you hear about SMU in your travels and interactions with peers?

“I think there’s a lot of excitement and a lot of desire from the nation to see the only school that ever received the death penalty from the NCAA to come back. Americans, they don’t like people to be down. They’re an optimistic group.”

“I get a sense they all believe it’s time for SMU to come back and be competitive on a national basis again, in all its sports. It’s time. And they’ve been supportive of our efforts.”

“Now, obviously when we play their schools they’re not pulling for us, as it should be, but I think generally we’ve been well received. We get a lot of encouragement to keep plugging away, because they’d like to see us add to the value of our conference.”

You were here, working for the Dallas Cowboys, when the death penalty went down.

“I was, ironically. Right across the street. That was when the Cowboys were at 6116 [Central Expressway.]”

“I was literally watching it from across Central Expressway as it all came down, reading it in The Dallas Morning News, and really feeling … what a sad day for college athletics and surely for SMU.”

Can SMU be “ Dallas’ team?”

“Absolutely.”

What would that look like?

“Full stadiums, a really great college atmosphere, right here in the middle of a very large metropolitan area. To me, it’s the best of all worlds.”

“And to have a Roger Staubach or a Jerry Jones [involved] - obviously they have their affiliations with their universities - but they also know a great college athletic program in the Dallas community, what it means for everybody.”

Speaking of Jerry Jones, is an overhead video board slated for Ford Stadium?

(laughing) “No. But, we have plans waiting to expand the stadium as soon as we need it.”

What’s the latest on Sellout ’09 for Saturday’s opener against Stephen F. Austin?

“We’re very close, so we feel very good that by the end of the week, we should be at the sellout. And, as important to us [as the sellout] is, we want all the seats full. Nothing against our opponent, but they’ll be all fans wanting to see the Mustangs win and cheering for the Mustangs, and truly giving us what most universities have – a true home field advantage.”

“I’m real proud of our supporters for stepping up to the challenge. I’m proud of Coach Jones and our marketing team.”

“We can’t have a plan that says, ‘As soon as we win, we’ll try to sellout,’ or ‘As soon as we win, we’ll start branding ourselves better.’ No, that’s what the coaches’ jobs are. Our job is to play like a winner today. Let’s sellout the first game. … One of my marketing staff members said, ‘We acknowledge that winning attracts fans. But fans attract winning.’”

You were a team captain and fullback on Notre Dame’s 1977 national championship football team. Do you carry that example with you as you strive to mold SMU’s future?

“I draw from that experience every day and hope I can give what I had as an experience to the student-athletes at SMU. And that’s not just a national championship ring, even though it doesn’t get any better than that.”

“I got into this business because when I left Notre Dame, it was the best four years of my life and it has transformed who I was as human being. I try to give that back to this generation of student-athletes at SMU.”

“Every day, I’m motivated until we get that ring. And of course when we get that ring I’ll want another one, which will mean we’ll never stop being motivated in striving for success. For this small-town boy from Pennsylvania, Notre Dame instilled that in me and to this day, no matter what I choose to do, I’m still striving for the best.”

“If someone carries that drive and passion in their life, no matter what they choose to do, they’ll be successful, I hope. Hopefully, these 440 student athletes will graduate from here and then go out and have that drive and passion, whatever they choose to do, and contribute to our society. And the end of the day, that’s our product.”

“And I always say, ‘You’ve got to have fun doing it.’ How do you spell fun? W-I-N.”

Notes:

*NCAA refined graduation rates include school transfers, in and out.

*Orsini’s hometown is Hummelstown, Pa.; he graduated Notre Dame in 1978 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration, majoring in Accounting.

*His athletic administration experience includes: Director of Athletics, UCF (2002-06); Senior Associate AD, Georgia Tech (1999-02); Associate AD and Treasurer, U.S. Naval Academy (1994-99); Director of Administration/Ticket Manager, Dallas Cowboys (1984-93); and Assistant Business Manager & Ticket Manager, Notre Dame (1981-84).

*Orsini and his wife, Amy, have one daughter, Angela.

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NT80 Grand Master

NT80

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NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!

Agree, no Smut news!!!!

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Quoner Mentor

Quoner

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NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!

NEVER! NEVER! NEVER! NEVER!

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Quoner Mentor

Quoner

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I know a lot of guys like to discuss SMU, well I got this email from a co-worker today. It's a pretty lengthy interview with the AD Steve Orsini, some pretty interesting thoughts in here.

Based on your old posts, I have a question. When you print this off and enjoy it in the men's room, do you have someone keep watch or do you just listen for the door?

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