Tag: SMU

Former Notre Dame football coach Gerry Faust dies at age 89

Rest in peace, Coach.

Sad news for longtime Notre Dame football fans broke Monday. [autotag]Gerry Faust[/autotag], who coached the Irish from 1981 to 1985, has died at age 89.

Over his five seasons in South Bend, Faust accumulated a record of 30-26-1, good for a .535 winning percentage. Under his leadership, the Irish won the 1983 Liberty Bowl over Doug Flutie and Boston College. The following year, they lost the 1984 Aloha Bowl to SMU in its last game before it was handed the death penalty a few years later.

A disappointing 1985 season in which the Irish went 5-6 prompted Faust to announce that he would resign after the final game against a Miami team coached by Jimmy Johnson. The Irish lost that game, 58-7, and the university would go on to hire [autotag]Lou Holtz[/autotag] as Faust’s successor.

After his Irish tenure ended, Faust went to coach at Akron, where he did so for nine seasons and compiling a 43-53-3 record. But he never lost his love for the Irish no matter how much time passed:

Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Faust family during this difficult time.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes and opinions.

Follow Geoffrey on X: @gfclark89

Notre Dame football will host SMU in 2026, replacing Virginia

This time, the Mustangs won’t be fresh off the death penalty.

Notre Dame football plays five ACC opponents every season in exchange for retaining its independence. While we are told who the Irish will play well into the next decade, that opponents list can change anytime. We just got an example of that.

The ACC has announced that the Irish will host SMU during the 2026 season on a date yet to be determined. This game will replace the one against Virginia that was scheduled for Oct. 17 of that season. This will allow the Cavaliers to play the first of two games they have scheduled against West Virginia, a series that was concurrently announced.

This will be the first time the Irish and Mustangs have met since the Irish earned a crushing 59-6 victory in 1989. At that time, the Irish were the top team in the country and fresh off their most recent national championship. The Mustangs, meanwhile, were fresh off the death penalty sidelining them for two years.

The playing field should be a little more even this time. That should at least make this game more competitive.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes and opinions.

Follow Geoffrey on X: @gfclark89

Wisconsin trending toward flipping a commit from SMU’s class of 2025

Wisconsin trending toward flipping a commit from SMU’s class of 2025

Wisconsin is trending toward flipping class of 2025 cornerback Zay Gentry from SMU, according to recent predictions from On3’s Steve Wiltfong and Billy Embody.

Gentry committed to SMU on May 19. He then took official visits to Wisconsin on May 31, Baylor on June 14 and Nebraska on June 21, but remained committed to SMU through the process.

Related: Updated college football recruiting class of 2025 national rankings by blue-chip ratio

Wisconsin appears to be on the verge of flipping Gentry’s commitment after On3’s two predictions, and after the Badgers continued to pursue the talented cornerback even after his commitment to SMU. The indication is especially clear given Steve Wiltfong’s resume as a recruiting insider — first at 247Sports and now at On3.

Gentry is ranked as 247Sports’ No. 533 player in the class of 2025, No. 45 cornerback and No. 87 recruit from his home state of Texas. His potential addition to Wisconsin’s class of 2025 would bring the group to three total cornerbacks, and make it so 11 of the program’s 14 official visitors from May 31 are committed (three-star wide receiver Muizz Tounkara still undecided). The only players Wisconsin has failed to land are Gentry (so far), four-star edge Jayden Woods (Penn State), four-star cornerback Rukeem Stroud (UCF) and four-star edge Jayden Loftin (Tennessee).

Gentry would be commitment No. 23 for Wisconsin in the class of 2025. The Badgers’ group ranks No. 16 in the nation and No. 5 in the new Big Ten.

Flipping the talented cornerback from SMU could be one of Wisconsin’s last big splashed in the class as the cycle continues to wind down.

Contact/Follow @TheBadgersWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin Badgers news, notes and opinion.

ACC Tournament will feature top 15 teams beginning in 2025

The Irish men will have to get better fast.

The ACC will include California, Stanford and SMU beginning with the 2024-25 season. That will bring the total number of conference members to 18. With that clearly being too high of a number for its conference basketball tournaments, the conference decided a change was needed.

Starting in 2025, only the teams that finish in the top 15 in the conference standings will be invited to the ACC Tournament. This follows a cue from a recent decision by the Big Ten, which also will be expanding next season to the point where it also only will invite the top 15 teams in the conference standings to its tournament.

While Notre Dame’s 16th-ranked women’s team is not expected to slide to the bottom of the ACC anytime soon, the men already are there in a rebuilding season. If the new rules went into effect for this season, the Irish wouldn’t be invited to the tournament.

Hopefully, with a year of experience under their belt, the young men’s Irish team will improve enough that they still will play in the 2025 ACC Tournament. There’s a long road ahead though, and there’s no guarantee of things being any better next year. Best of luck to [autotag]Micah Shrewsberry[/autotag] and his team in reaching this new goal.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89

Wisconsin to host top 2025 CB target, SMU commit Zay Gentry on official visit

Wisconsin to host an SMU class of 2025 commit on official visit this weekend

Wisconsin will host top class of 2025 CB target Zay Gentry on an official visit this weekend, the cornerback recently confirmed on X. He is part of a jam-packed official visit weekend for the Badgers as their June recruiting push begins.

The three-star cornerback has been one of Wisconsin’s top targets in the class of 2025. Gentry will still visit the Badgers despite his recent commitment to SMU on May 19.

Related: Full list of Wisconsin football’s scheduled class of 2025 official visits

Gentry chose the Mustangs over finalists of Missouri, Wisconsin, Baylor and Oklahoma State. He reportedly has two official visits scheduled: this weekend to Wisconsin and June 14 to Baylor.

The McKinney, Texas native is 247Sports’ No. 512 player in the class of 2025, No. 45 cornerback and No. 87 recruit from the state of Texas. The service’s only crystal ball prediction for his destination is from February 20, 2024 and correctly picked SMU.

Wisconsin will look to flip Gentry’s commitment and add him to their growing class of 2025.

The Badgers group ranks No. 19 in the nation with 11 players committed entering June.

Contact/Follow @TheBadgersWire on X (formerly Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin Badgers news, notes, and opinion.

[lawrence-related id=77546,77221,77325,77526,77518]

USC basketball assistant Eric Mobley leaves the program

Eric Mobley is expected to join Andy Enfield at SMU.

USC basketball’s coaching staff continues to turn over. With Eric Musselman coming in and Andy Enfield leaving for SMU, spots on both coaching staffs are changing. We have already seen longtime Enfield assistant Chris Capko move to SMU to join the Mustangs. Another similar change might be about to happen. Eric Mobley has not yet signed with SMU, but he has announced that he is indeed leaving USC. It does set the stage for a move to SMU with Enfield.

Eric Mobley is responsible for bringing Evan Mobley and Isaiah Mobley to USC. We often see head coaches hire the fathers of recruits onto their coaching staffs in order to secure recruitments and also guard against transfer portal departures. Enfield hired Eric Mobley to ensure that Evan and Isaiah would become Trojans. The move was a shrewd one, and it paid off in a big way for USC basketball. Evan Mobley led USC to the Elite Eight in 2021, making the most of his one year of college basketball. Isaiah Mobley helped USC return to the NCAA Tournament in 2022, producing a very strong season for the Trojans.

The partnership between Enfield and Eric Mobley was productive. It might now continue in suburban Dallas with the Mustangs in the ACC.

Visit our friends at Fighting Irish Wire, Buffaloes Wire, and Ducks Wire. Follow our newest sites, UW Huskies Wire and UCLA Wire.

Andy Enfield brings lead assistant coach Chris Capko to SMU

Chris Capko will continue to assist Andy Enfield at SMU as the Mustangs enter the ACC.

The movement of Andy Enfield from USC to SMU raised the question of staff retention. How many of Enfield’s assistant coaches would go to suburban Dallas to be on his staff as the Mustangs move to the Atlantic Coast Conference? We got at least one answer on Thursday. It was announced that longtime Enfield assistant Chris Capko will indeed join him at SMU.

Capko was universally liked and respected at USC. Andy Enfield had specific strengths as a coach, and Capko augmented them, giving structure and positive energy to what the Trojans did. The Capko-Enfield partnership led the Trojans to three consecutive NCAA Tournaments from 2021 through 2023. If you count the 2020 season — when the pandemic canceled the NCAA Tournament, which USC would have made had the event been played — USC made four straight NCAA Tournaments thanks to Enfield, Capko, and the teams they guided. Capko, at 40 years old, would love to help Enfield make a big first impression at SMU in the ACC. If he can do that, a head coaching job could be just around the corner as he tries to take the next step in his career.

We at Trojans Wire wish Chris the best and hope he and Enfield succeed at SMU.

Visit our friends at Fighting Irish Wire, Buffaloes Wire, and Ducks Wire. Follow our newest sites, UW Huskies Wire and UCLA Wire.

How Andy Enfield exit for SMU changes Bronny James’ decision

Andy Enfield leaving means Bronny has more choices than he did a week ago.

Lost in the smoke after the Bronny James transfer portal rumors were debunked is the reality that Bronny James’ head coach at USC left the program. Andy Enfield going to SMU might not wind up changing Bronny James’ plans, but this is a change in the situation. It does give Bronny James and LeBron James a chance to reconsider what they are doing and how they are doing it. In terms of predicting what actually happens, this might not change anything. In terms of giving Bronny some real options for the 2024-2025 basketball season — college or pro — it does introduce a new path.

Enfield plainly didn’t develop Bronny’s game the way Bronny and LeBron probably hoped. However, if LeBron wants Bronny to join him in the NBA next season, likely with the Los Angeles Lakers, questions of overall development and draft stock weren’t ever all that relevant anyway. The Lakers would simply draft Bronny and keep LeBron as the valuable component of a Bronny draft selection. Bronny’s draft value wouldn’t apply to himself, only to LeBron. The Lakers could then nurture Bronny and slowly bring him along under LeBron’s watch. This is the likely outcome for Bronny.

However, Enfield leaving means that Bronny could get a different coach in a second season of college basketball. He could go to Ohio State or Oregon, two other schools which considered him. He could get exposure to other coaches and styles of play, which would give him a chance to develop his game and improve his draft stock for 2025. It’s certainly not a bad option. Is it the one Bronny is likely to choose? No. However, it’s right there if he wants it.

Visit our friends at Fighting Irish Wire, Buffaloes Wire, and Ducks Wire. Follow our newest sites, UW Huskies Wire and UCLA Wire.

Trojans Wired podcast reacts to Andy Enfield leaving for SMU, looks at USC coaching job

USC needs a new head basketball coach. Let’s talk about that and reflect on the Andy Enfield era as well.

The news is now official. Andy Enfield has indeed left USC basketball for SMU. The Trojans have an open head coaching job and a chance to upgrade their program. SMU has its new coach as it enters the ACC. What a turn of events.

We noted that USC received a lifeline from SMU with this move:

“A buyout would have been expensive. Cohen had just forked up a lot of money to hire Lincoln Riley’s new football assistants on the defensive side of the ball. The financial expenditure needed to eat the buyout and then get a high-quality coach would have been considerable. USC basketball fans would say that the expense would have been worth it, but it’s entirely fair to note the factors militating against a firing. Enfield was likely to stay if it was up to USC’s administration, and that’s entirely reasonable. The scenario USC basketball fans were hoping for was for Enfield to seek a fresh start elsewhere.”

SMU and Enfield have both helped USC. Now the Trojans have an opportunity to take their program to the next level. We discuss the news with Ian Hest on our latest podcast:

Visit our friends at Fighting Irish Wire, Buffaloes Wire, and Ducks Wire. Follow our newest sites, UW Huskies Wire and UCLA Wire.

Trojans Wire discusses Andy Enfield to SMU, USC coaching search on Press Box Radio Show

We discussed Andy Enfield’s move to SMU and USC’s new coaching search on the radio Thursday morning.

The Andy Enfield-to-SMU news is a huge topic of conversation right now in the national college basketball world. That story and the Pat Kelsey hire at Louisville have dominated the college basketball conversation in the hours before the Sweet 16 begins Thursday afternoon. Trojans Wire joined the Press Box Radio Show to discuss Enfield, SMU, the new USC basketball head coaching search, and the Sweet 16. It’s a packed show with college basketball at the center of the conversation.

Whom should USC focus on in its coaching search? We told Press Box Radio that the Trojans have to make a phone call to a few elite coaches, even if those coaches aren’t likely to take the USC job. There are almost always certain candidates an athletic director has to call in a coaching search. The athletic director must force those candidates to say no. Then an athletic director can move to other, more realistic candidates. We broke down the elite candidates who should get the first few phone calls from USC’s Jennifer Cohen. Then we moved into the more realistic candidates for the Trojans. It’s all part of our appearance on the Press Box Radio Show at PressBoxRadio.com.

Visit our friends at Fighting Irish Wire, Buffaloes Wire, and Ducks Wire. Follow our newest sites, UW Huskies Wire and UCLA Wire.