1998 SMU Mustangs football team

Last updated

1998 SMU Mustangs football
Conference Western Athletic Conference
DivisionMountain Division
Record1–1 (4 wins, 6 loses vacated) [1] (0–1 (4 wins, 3 loses vacated) WAC)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorGreg Briner (1st season)
Offensive scheme Spread option
Defensive coordinator Eric Schumann (2nd season)
Base defense 4–3
Home stadium Cotton Bowl
Seasons
←  1997
1999  →
1998 Western Athletic Conference football standings
ConfOverall
Team W L  W L 
Mountain Division
No. 13 Air Force x$  7 –1   12 –1  
Wyoming  6 –2   8 –3  
Colorado State  5 –3   8 –4  
Rice  5 –3   5 –6  
TCU  4 –4   7 –5  
Tulsa  2 –6   4 –7  
SMU  1 –1   0 –1  
UNLV  0 –8   0 –11  
Pacific Division
BYU xy  7 –1   9 –5  
San Diego State x  7 –1   7 –5  
Utah  5 –3   7 –4  
Fresno State  5 –3   5 –6  
San Jose State  3 –5   4 –8  
UTEP  3 –5   3 –8  
New Mexico  1 –7   3 –9  
Hawaii  0 –8   0 –12  
Championship: Air Force 20, BYU 13
  • $ – Conference champion
  • x – Division champion/co-champions
  • y – Championship game participant
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1998 Western Athletic Conference Mustangs football team represented Southern Methodist University (SMU) as a member of the Mountain Division of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) during the 1998 NCAA Division I-A football season. Led by second-year head coach Mike Cavan, the Mustangs finished the season with an overall record of 5–7 and a mark of 4–4 in conference play, tying for fifth place in the WAC's Mountain Division. However, SMU vacated 10 games after Steve Malin was found to have been ineligible due to academic fraud. The Mustangs played their home games at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas.

Contents

Schedule

DateTimeOpponentSiteTVResultAttendanceSource
September 57:00 p.m.at Rice
L 17–23 OT42,674
September 127:00 p.m. Tulane *
L 21–3112,316
September 196:00 p.m.at Arkansas *
L 17–4455,544
September 262:00 p.m. Ole Miss *
  • Cotton Bowl
  • Dallas, TX
L 41–48 OT22,281 [2]
October 311:00 p.m.at Hawaii
W 28–0 (vacated)25,912
October 102:00 p.m.at Wyoming
L 7–1215,504
October 172:00 p.m. TCU
W 10–6 (vacated)26,360
October 242:00 p.m. UNLV
  • Cotton Bowl
  • Dallas, TX
W 10–7 (vacated)16,073
October 311:00 p.m.at Air Force
L 7–3130,053
November 72:00 p.m. Tulsa
  • Cotton Bowl
  • Dallas, TX
W 33–3 (vacated)11,143
November 142:00 p.m. Colorado State Dagger-14-plain.png
  • Cotton Bowl
  • Dallas, TX
L 10–3221,133
November 2111:00 a.m.at Navy *
 KLDT W 24–1127,487
  • *Non-conference game
  • Dagger-14-plain.pngHomecoming

Personnel

Roster

1998 SMU Mustangs football team roster
PlayersCoaches
Offense
Pos.#NameClass
C 70Austin AdamiSr
RB 21Kelsey AdamsSr
QB 15 Josh McCown So
RB 46Jeff PenningtonJr
Defense
Pos.#NameClass
Special teams
Pos.#NameClass
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injury icon 2.svg Injured
  • Redshirt.svg Redshirt
NamePositionSeasons at
SMU		Alma Mater
Mike Cavan Head coach2 Georgia (1972)
Warren BelinLinebackers, assistant recruiting coordinator2 Wake Forest (1990)
Greg BrinerOffensive coordinator, quarterbacks1 USC (1972)
Derek Dooley Wide receivers, assistant recruiting coordinator2 Virginia (1991)
Troy DouglasDefensive backs2 Appalachian State (1988)
Paul EtheridgeTight ends, offensive tackles2 Georgia (1993)
Steve MalinDefensive line5 East Texas State (1993)
David McKnightRunning backs2 Georgia (1969)
Eric Schumann Assistant head coach, defensive coordinator, secondary2 Alabama (1977)
Randy WilliamsCenters, guards, recruiting coordinator2 Valdosta State (1991)
Source: [3]

After the season

NFL Draft

Two members of the 1998 SMU squad were selected in the 1999 NFL draft. Defensive back Donald Mitchell was selected in the fourth round and 117th overall by the Tennessee Titans. Defensive back Coby Rhinehart was selected in the sixth round and 190th overall by the Arizona Cardinals. [4]

Steve Malin controversy

Twelve years after the NCAA "death penalty" that caused the SMU football program to shut down for two years, SMU encountered another scandal. SMU notified the NCAA of possible recruiting violations in early August 1999 and subsequently suspended defensive line coach Steve Malin. [5] On November 7, 1999, The Dallas Morning News reported that former SMU football player Corlin Donaldson alleged that Malin paid another person $100 to take Donaldson's ACT exam in 1998 so that Donaldson would be eligible to attend SMU. Although Donaldson described this account to NCAA investigators, Donaldson recanted this story under pressure from Malin to save Malin's job. [6] Following an internal investigation, SMU fired Malin on December 8, 1999; Malin had been suspended that year since August 3 without a replacement at his position. Additionally, SMU removed one assistant coach from recruiting roles for the 2000 season, reduced a total of 8 scholarships for the 2000 and 2001 seasons, and reduced a total of 16 official campus visits for high school recruits for those seasons as well. SMU also submitted a report to the NCAA. [7]

On December 13, 2000, the NCAA placed SMU on two years' probation and vacated ten games from SMU's 1998 season in which Donaldson played, which reduced SMU's record to 1–1 for 1998. [8] [9] SMU's 2005 media guide indicates that the NCAA vacated the first ten games of the 1998 season. [10] The NCAA reported that its infractions committee "concluded that the assistant football coach [Malin] initially suggested that the prospective student-athlete [Donaldson] should participate in academic fraud, actively assisted in the initial fraudulent ACT, had actual knowledge of the fraud in the second ACT and finally, had reason to know that the prospect, after enrolling at the university and becoming a student-athlete, was ineligible to compete by reason of the academic fraud." [9] Additionally, the NCAA also discovered rules violations regarding recruiting and tryouts dating back to 1995. [9] The NCAA also extended SMU's self-imposed restrictions on coaches' off-campus recruiting to the 2001 season and limited official visits for high school recruits to 38 for the 2001–02 school year. [9] [11] Malin also was assessed a seven-year show-cause penalty. [9]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">June Jones</span> American football player and coach (born 1953)

June Sheldon Jones III is an American football coach and former player who was most recently the offensive coordinator of the Seattle Sea Dragons. Jones was the head football coach at the University of Hawaii at Manoa from 1999 to 2007, and was the head football coach at Southern Methodist University (SMU) from 2008 until he resigned on September 8, 2014. He coached in the National Football League (NFL) for three years as head coach of the Atlanta Falcons from 1994 to 1996, plus a ten-game stint as interim head coach of the San Diego Chargers in 1998; he also spent 1+1⁄2 seasons as head coach of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the Canadian Football League (CFL). Jones was the general manager and head coach of the Houston Roughnecks.

Matthew Francis Doherty is an American former college basketball coach best known for his time as head coach of the University of North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball team. Prior to accepting the head coaching position at UNC, he spent one season as head coach of the University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's basketball program.

David Gregory Bliss is an American basketball coach. He served as the head men's basketball coach at Oklahoma, Southern Methodist, New Mexico, and Baylor of the NCAA Division I, as well as Southwestern Christian of the NAIA.

The death penalty is the popular term for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)'s power to ban a school from competing in a sport for at least one year. This colloquial term compares it with capital punishment since it is the harshest penalty that an NCAA member school can receive, but in fact its effect is only temporary.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SMU Mustangs</span> Collegiate sports club in the United States

The SMU Mustangs are the athletic teams that represent Southern Methodist University in University Park, Texas, United States. SMU was founded in 1911 and joined the Southwest Conference, competing against Baylor, Rice, Texas, Texas A&M, Arkansas and Oklahoma A&M. They have been a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) since 2024.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SMU Mustangs football</span> SMU college football team

The SMU Mustangs football program is a college football team representing Southern Methodist University (SMU) in University Park in Dallas County, Texas. The Mustangs compete in the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). SMU joined the ACC in July 2024 after 11 years as a member of the American Athletic Conference (AAC).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rhonda Rompola</span>

Rhonda Lee Rompola is an American college basketball coach who was most recently the head women's basketball coach at Southern Methodist University (SMU) from 1991 to 2016.

The Southern Methodist University football scandal occurred in 1987 when the SMU Mustangs football program was investigated and penalized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Southern Methodist University (SMU), located in suburban Dallas, Texas, was the second-smallest school in the Southwest Conference (SWC) and one of the smallest in Division I-A, with a total enrollment of just over 9,000 students in 1986. From the 1950s onward, the team had found it difficult to compete against SWC schools that were double its size or more. As the 1980 season began, SMU had had twenty-one losing seasons in the previous thirty, including the last five in a row. As they increased their efforts to keep up with the bigger schools, SMU's coaches and athletic staff began using unethical methods of recruiting and retaining players. Schools in the NCAA were prohibited from paying a player to join or play for their team, and all players were required to remain bona fide students of the school they played for. According to ESPN's 2010 documentary film Pony Excess, much of the cheating took place with the full knowledge of school administrators.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sonny Dykes</span> American football coach (born 1969)

Daniel "Sonny" Dykes is an American football coach, and a former college baseball player. He is currently the head football coach at Texas Christian University (TCU), and previously served in the same role at Southern Methodist University (SMU) from 2018 to 2021, the University of California, Berkeley from 2013 to 2016, and Louisiana Tech University from 2010 to 2012. In his first season at TCU, he led the Horned Frogs to a win in the semifinal and an appearance in the National Championship game.

The 1989 SMU Mustangs football team represented Southern Methodist University (SMU) as a member of the Southwest Conference (SWC) during the 1989 NCAA Division I-A football season. Led by first-year head coach Forrest Gregg, the Mustangs were returning to competition for the first time since 1986. An NCAA investigation into continued misconduct in the football program had resulted in the Mustangs receiving the "death penalty", which resulted in the 1987 season being cancelled and indirectly resulted in the team not having enough players to field a team in 1988. After playing most of the past several seasons at Texas Stadium, the Mustangs moved back to their old home of Ownby Stadium on campus, where they had not played since 1948.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SMU Mustangs men's basketball</span> Team of Southern Methodist University

The SMU Mustangs men's basketball team represents Southern Methodist University (SMU) in University Park, Texas and currently competes in the American Athletic Conference of NCAA Division I college basketball. In 104 years of basketball, SMU's record is 1,377–1,237. SMU has reached one Final Four, made 12 NCAA Tournament Appearances, won 16 Conference Championships, had 11 All-Americans, and 23 NBA Draft selections.

The 1986 SMU Mustangs football team represented Southern Methodist University (SMU) as a member of the Southwest Conference (SWC) during the 1986 NCAA Division I-A football season. Led by Bobby Collins in his fifth season as head coach, the Mustangs compiled an overall record 6–5 with a mark of 5–3 in conference play, tying for fourth place in the SWC.

The 1997 Western Athletic Conference Mustangs football team represented Southern Methodist University (SMU) as a member of the Mountain Division of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) during 1997 NCAA Division I-A football season. Led by first-year head coach Mike Cavan, the Mustangs compiled an overall record of 6–5 with a mark of 5–3 in conference play, tying for second place in the WAC's Mountain Division. Ten years after the NCAA's 1987 "death penalty" on SMU football, SMU's 1997 campaign was the program's first winning season since the football program resumed operations in 1989. The Mustangs played their home games at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas.

The 1999 SMU Mustangs football team represented Southern Methodist University (SMU) as a member the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) during the 1999 NCAA Division I-A football season. Led by third-year head coach Mike Cavan, the Mustangs compiled an overall record of 4–6 with a mark of 3–3 in conference play, placing fifth in the WAC.

The 2000 SMU Mustangs football team represented Southern Methodist University (SMU) as a member the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) during the 2000 NCAA Division I-A football season. Led by fourth-year head coach Mike Cavan, the Mustangs compiled an overall record of 3–9 with a mark of 2–6 in conference play, tying for sixth place in the WAC.

The 2001 SMU Mustangs football team represented Southern Methodist University (SMU) as a member the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) during the 2001 NCAA Division I-A football season. Led by Mike Cavan in his fifth and final season as head coach, the Mustangs compiled an overall record of 4–7 with a mark of 4–4 in conference play, placing sixth in the WAC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of Minnesota basketball scandal</span>

The University of Minnesota basketball scandal involved National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) rules violations, most notably academic dishonesty, committed by the University of Minnesota men's basketball program. The story broke the day before the 1999 NCAA Tournament, when the St. Paul Pioneer Press reported that Minnesota academic counseling office manager Jan Gangelhoff had done coursework for at least 20 Minnesota basketball players since 1993.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SMU Mustangs women's soccer</span> American college soccer team

The SMU Mustangs women's soccer program represents Southern Methodist University in National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) Division I. The Mustangs compete in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) and play their home games on SMU's campus in Dallas, Texas at Westcott Field.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2015–16 SMU Mustangs men's basketball team</span> American college basketball season

The 2015–16 SMU Mustangs men's basketball team represented Southern Methodist University (SMU) during the 2015–16 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Mustangs were led by fourth year head coach Larry Brown and played their home games on their campus in University Park, Texas at Moody Coliseum. They were members of the American Athletic Conference. The Mustangs finished the season with a record of 25–5, 13–5 in AAC play to finish in second place in conference.

References

  1. ↑ Due to NCAA sanctions, SMU had 4 regular season wins and 6 regular season losses vacated for the 1998 season. SMU's pre-sanctions record was 5–7 (4–4 WAC). The "official" record now is 1–1.
  2. ↑ "SMU falls to Mississippi comeback, 48–41 in OT". Longview News-Journal. September 27, 1998. Retrieved July 28, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
  3. ↑ "SMU Football: Assistant Coaches". www.smumustangs.com. Archived from the original on February 18, 1999. Retrieved January 12, 2022.
  4. ↑ "SMU Drafted Players/Alumni". Pro-Football-Reference.com .
  5. ↑ Whitmire, Keith (August 7, 1999). "SMU suspends assistant". Dallas Morning News. Archived from the original on November 19, 2001. Retrieved May 29, 2014.
  6. ↑ Valadie, Josie. "Ex-SMU player says coach urged him to cheat on test". Dallas Morning News. Archived from the original on January 6, 2002. Retrieved May 29, 2014.
  7. ↑ "SMU dismisses coach, imposes sanctions after independent investigation of rules violations". Southern Methodist University. December 8, 1999. Archived from the original on May 31, 2014. Retrieved May 29, 2014.
  8. ↑ "1998 SMU Mustangs Stats".
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 "Southern Methodist University Public Infractions Report". NCAA. December 13, 2000. Retrieved May 29, 2014.
  10. ↑ "Records and Results" (PDF). SMU Football 2005 Media Guide. p. 147. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 7, 2011. Retrieved May 29, 2014.
  11. ↑ Cash, Rana (December 14, 2000). "NCAA slaps SMU with additional sanctions". Dallas Morning News. Archived from the original on January 24, 2001. Retrieved May 30, 2014.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.