SMU fires AD Steve Orsini

[TYLERTECHSAS]

SMU fires AD Steve Orsini

Updated: May 17, 2012, 5:05 PM ET
Associated Press
DALLAS -- SMU athletic director Steve Orsini was fired Thursday, just four weeks after he and the Mustangs hired Hall of Fame basketball coach Larry Brown.
The move was announced by SMU president R. Gerald Turner in a news release, and was effective immediately.
"After several discussions over the last few weeks, it became apparent to me that it was necessary to make this change," Turner said. "While we both are committed to the support of our student-athletes and coaches, a unified effort is required for future progress in our athletics programs."
Orsini had been SMU's athletic director since 2006. In January 2011, he had been given a contract extension through May 2015.
Turner thanked Orsini for his contributions to SMU athletics and said a national search for a new AD would begin immediately. Tim Leonard, the senior associate director of athletics for external affairs, was named interim AD.
SMU is set to move from Conference USA to the Big East Conference in July 2013, a transition that Orsini was overseeing. TCU, the other NCAA Division I program in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, had been set to go to the Big East but instead accepted an invitation to join the Big 12.
Before Brown, the other significant hire by Orsini at SMU was June Jones as football coach in 2008, bringing him in from Hawaii.
After going 1-11 in Jones' first season, SMU ended a 25-year bowl drought the next year, in 2009. The Mustangs won the Hawaii Bowl for an 8-5 record, only their second winning season since resuming play in 1989 after being the only team ever given the NCAA's so-called death penalty.
On April 19, Orsini hired the 71-year-old Brown to his first college job in nearly a quarter century. That came as the coaching search was going into its sixth week and the school had already talked with potential candidates like Marquette's Buzz Williams, Long Beach State's Dan Monson and Rick Majerus from Saint Louis.
SMU hasn't been to the NCAA tournament since 1993 and hasn't won a tourney game since 1988, the year Brown led Kansas to the national championship in his last season as a college coach. Brown, the only coach to win both an NBA championship and NCAA title, replaced Matt Doherty. SMU has plans for a $40 million renovation of Moody Coliseum and built a new practice facility during Doherty's stint.
In December, Jones said he was very happy being SMU's coach, even after he had been set to leave for Arizona State and had been contacted by multiple schools about vacant head coaching jobs. Before SMU's appearance in the BBVA Compass Bowl, Jones' agent, Leigh Steinberg, believed there was an agreement in place for Jones to become Arizona State's coach.
On Twitter at that time, Steinberg indicated a deal with Arizona State fell through at the last second. He called it "one of the most bizarre endings to a set of productive discussions to bring a client to a new situation."
Rest of article
http://espn.go.com/dallas/story/_/id...ange-necessary
Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press

[olddog75]

WOW, for those of us in the DFW area, this seems to come from left field.

[RealityCheck]

Not as far out in left field as one might think. Especially considering the facts coming to light about June Jones not getting the Arizona State job and the recent beyond the outfield fence hiring of Larry Brown and the coach-in-waiting.

[HogDawg]

While Orsini certainly accomplished a lot in terms of strategy (conference moves, etc...), he still failed to build a fan base for SMU. The Mustangs still draw only 1K to their men's basketball games and about 15K to their football games. That's got to change.






HD

[Bigdog13]

While Orsini certainly accomplished a lot in terms of strategy (conference moves, etc...), he still failed to build a fan base for SMU. The Mustangs still draw only 1K to their men's basketball games and about 15K to their football games. That's got to change.






HD

15k is being kind.

[DogsWin]

While Orsini certainly accomplished a lot in terms of strategy (conference moves, etc...), he still failed to build a fan base for SMU. The Mustangs still draw only 1K to their men's basketball games and about 15K to their football games. That's got to change.

HD

Yeah, but a family of 4 can still get 4 hot dogs, 4 drinks, 4 game tickets, free parking, and sit wherever they want for a SMU - U Conn football game. We're talkin about BIG EAST FOOTBALL, baby!

[PawDawg]

Nobody will ever come to SMU games. Tulane either. Not a large enough fan base.

Back in the day when SMU was cheating heavily to get national recognition they has small crowds in Texas Stadium.

[HogDawg]

Nobody will ever come to SMU games. Tulane either. Not a large enough fan base.

Back in the day when SMU was cheating heavily to get national recognition they has small crowds in Texas Stadium.

I was with you until your last statement. Back in the "Pony Express" days of the early 80's, SMU averaged over 40K at home, and played home games in Texas Stadium.






HD

[olddog75]

Its a bit easy selling 40,000 when you played Texas, A&M and Texas Tech. Also selling tons of tickets on the cheap helped, that's how I went to the games.

[PawDawg]

I was with you until your last statement. Back in the "Pony Express" days of the early 80's, SMU averaged over 40K at home, and played home games in Texas Stadium.






HD

That was my point. Those were small crowds in Texas Stadium. It looked almost as bad as a Tulane game even when whey were cheating at their best.

[Houston Techsan]

Yeah, but a family of 4 can still get 4 hot dogs, 4 drinks, 4 game tickets, free parking, and sit wherever they want for a SMU - U Conn football game. We're talkin about BIG EAST FOOTBALL, baby!

Yeah, the parking is free, but where. On the street in the neighborhood. Rmeinded me a lot of old Tulane Stadium except people weren't charging you to park. I was glad there weren't many fans there the two times I went -- only had to park about half a mile from the stadium. If they ever fill that stadium up (about 30,000) they will be parking in downtown Dallas. That is unless you're a rich alumnus with reserved valet parking in their garage next to the stadium.