NCAA: The rebirth of the program after the “death penalty

Last season, the SMU Mustangs, located in Dallas, Texas, entered the ACC conference. Ending the season with an 11-3 record.

This record confirmed SMU's comeback after decades of darkness. More than forty years ago, SMU committed a sin that is now the norm in the NCAA. Back then, SMU was starved for success. The Mustangs, commonly known as Pony Express, became synonymous with money. Wealthy supporters wanted to make sure their team became a force in the NCAA. The plan worked, for a few years. Player payouts began under head coach Dave Smith. The NCAA quickly put SMU on probation until 1977. By the 1980s, it was becoming more and more apparent that players were receiving money to be lured to a university. NFL Hall of Famer Eric Dickerson even showed up at SMU in a Trans Am. Rumor had it that it had been paid for by a Texas A&M fan. It was called the Trans A&M. Dickerson always claimed that his grandmother had bought it for him. In 2022, Dickerson finally admitted that the Trans Am was a gift to lure him and the Aggies to College Station. SMU also offered a lot of money and benefits, including a player payroll. In 12 seasons, SMU was placed on probation five times, yet University Board Chairman Bill Clements authorized continued salary payments. He had a moral obligation to complete the promised payments. Who was going to stop him? Clements was also the governor of Texas, and on February 25, 1987, NCAA sanctions director David Berst held a press conference to announce that 13 players were still receiving $61,000 over two seasons. Due to previous sanctions, which yielded no results, the Mustangs finally received the death penalty in 1987. To this day, still the only program in history to receive it. The consequences were dramatic. In addition to not having football for the next two seasons. The repercussions were felt for decades

Major revival of the Texas-based program

The program resumed in 1989. SMU won one or zero games seven times over the next 20 seasons. They finished with a record of .500 or better in 1997 and 2006. Eric Dickerson who benefited from the money that sank the program in the 1980s. He contacted June Jones to become the team's coach in 2008. Jones led them to a first Bowl in 25 years, as well as winning three in four. The new transfer portal rules and the creation of the NIL changed the game for SMU. What had killed the program in the past is now one of the keys to success in the NCAA, namely: MONEY. For SMU, NIL stands for Now It's Legal The team raised a record $159 million in the 2023-24 season. 100 million in just five days after the announcement that SMU was joining the ACC conference. In their first season, the Mustangs compiled an 11-3 record. Despite a loss in the conference finals, they were selected as one of the twelve teams for the playoffs – in my opinion, one of the great stories of the past season. The Pony Express is finally back.Article by Patrick Thouin, regular contributor and College Football enthusiast

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