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Friday, August 14, 1998
Cavan believes that with hard work, SMU can
keep achieving
By JAIME ARON AP Sports Writer
DALLAS (AP) - Mike Cavan was hired to coach Southern Methodist
because he had shown he could turn around losing football programs.
Given a few years, maybe he could do the same thing for the once-proud
Mustangs.
Years? Cavan only needed months. In his first season, SMU strung
together five straight wins and ended up with a winning record,
its first since the NCAA shut down the program a decade before.
Had the Mustangs defeated winless Texas Christian in the season
finale, they could have earned their first bowl berth since 1984
and may have even had a shot at a conference title.
Looking back, Cavan says the 21-18 loss "may have been
the best thing for us."
"If we had won, it would've been too much too soon,"
said Cavan, whose team finished 6-5, 5-3 in the Western Athletic
Conference, tying them for second in the Mountain Division.
"It was a good experience for the guys to know what it's
like to get to that level, to know it's obtainable. But I don't
think we worked hard enough. We've got to work harder."
Hard work is Cavan's mantra.
Hard work is why his players succeeded last year and hard work
will lead to success this year, he says.
So far, his team is responding.
"We had tremendous workouts during the offseason and this
summer," Cavan said. "We averaged 55-60 guys every day
and sometimes as many as 70. My first summer here we were lucky
if we had 30 guys. Before that, 10."
Cavan came to SMU after kick-starting Division I-AA East Tennessee
State and, before that, Division II Valdosta State. Athletic director
Jim Copeland said he expected Cavan could do the same in Division
I-A not simply because he'd done it before, but because of the
way he did it.
"He just finds ways to get things done," Copeland
said. "He doesn't look at obstacles."
Cavan took over a roster loaded with players recruited for
the run-and-shoot, many of whom were scarred by years of losing.
In addition to teaching them a can-do attitude, he put in a traditional
I-formation offense.
SMU got off to a slow start, winning just one of its first
five games. Then came the five-game winning streak, the program's
longest since 1984-85.
"I think they started to understand if they work hard
and become real good and win, things get better for you,"
he said. "You're looked upon by your fellow students with
a lot more respect and more people come to ballgames."
Cavan had talked of having a balanced offense, unlike his pass-oriented
predecessors, but the Mustangs ended up averaging 197 yards per
game on the ground and 112 in the air.
"We got a little stubborn and ran the ball more than we
should have," Cavan said. "But they were so unbalanced
when we got here that we had to teach them, and the only way to
teach something that far out of whack was to go out of whack the
other way, which we did."
This year, Cavan is hoping to "swing that pendulum to
the middle."
It shouldn't be too difficult considering last year's leading
rusher Donte Womack was a senior and the third-best rusher was
also a senior, quarterback Ramon Flanigan. His replacement, sophomore
Chris Sanders, is much less mobile.
While last year's defense allowed 329.9 yards per game, good
for 29th in the country and the school's best since 1985, Cavan
wants the Mustangs to be even stingier.
"I think we've got to become more aggressive," he
said. "We did that last year, but nowhere near where we want
to be. We also need to cause turnovers. We did that last year,
but we need more of it."
Doing a little more than last year might as well be SMU's slogan.
"I keep telling them, 'Hey guys, you experienced a little
success last year because we worked. If we want to experience
more, we've got to work hard. ... Let's go to work, let's go experience
this again," Cavan said.
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