Coming off their abysmal 1-11 season, the SMU Mustangs obviously have a lot to do this offseason as they attempt to return to relevancy. The good news: new head coach Chad Morris has brought a new sense of hope to the program, and many feel like that he will be able to orchestrate a turnaround on the Hilltop. But before anybody can worry about the future, the Mustangs have some things they have to take care of this offseason.
Recruiting: Take back Texas
Perhaps the biggest detriment to the program as a result of the June Jones era has been the loss of recruiting in the state of Texas. The Mustangs are located in one the biggest recruiting hotbeds in the entire country, but Jones and his staff failed to (or didn’t want to) take advantage of this fact.
One of the biggest reasons why SMU was so interested in Morris is his ties to Texas. Morris previously spent time as a highly successful high school coach in the state, so school officials are hopeful that he can tap into the recruiting pipeline right in their backyard.
He’s already gotten off to a good start, landing four commitments from within the state during his first month on the job. SMU has gotten commitments from a quartet of three-star recruits: tight end Hunter Herndon, wide receiver D’erren Wilson, outside linebacker Michael Scott and quarterback Ben Hicks.
Hicks, a former Houston commit until head coach Tony Levine was fired, was an especially nice get for Morris and his staff, as he is the first quarterback commit for the 2015 recruiting class.
Morris is off to a good start on the recruiting trail, but there are still plenty of areas in need of improvement on the roster, especially on defense.
Figuring out the quarterback situation
Speaking of areas of improvement, the Mustangs must figure out what to do about their quarterback situation, a source of many of the team’s problems this past season.
Morris has proven during his time as an offensive coordinator that he can work wonders with quarterbacks, as signal callers such as Tahj Boyd thrived under his tutelage at Clemson.
While Hicks is likely the quarterback of the future for SMU, the Mustangs will most likely stick with Matt Davis under center for the 2015 season, as he is a high-potential, dual-threat quarterback who would fit well in Morris’ offensive scheme.
Davis struggled as a passer in his 10 games during the 2014 season, throwing for 855 yards, three touchdowns and seven interceptions on just 54.3 percent passing. However, he did run for 613 yards and four touchdowns on the ground.
If Morris can help him improve in the passing department, Davis could reach his potential and wreak havoc on opposing defenses.
Improve the defense
Unfortunately for the Mustangs, their defense made just about every opposing offense look like Oregon in 2014.
The SMU defense ranked near the bottom in the nation in almost every statistical category, and the team will be losing a lot of starters, which means that things might not get much better in 2015.
The good news for the Mustangs is that Morris was able to bring in Oklahoma State defensive backs coach Van Malone as his defensive coordinator. While Malone is an excellent hire that will certainly be a boost to SMU’s beleaguered unit, but the team still will have subpar personnel to work with this next season, so the likelihood of a vast improvement on defense in 2015 is very low.
Morris and his staff need to bring in some solid recruits and defense, and hopefully Malone and the defense will be able to make at least a little progress next year.
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