Mean Green

What everyone and his brother were expecting for weeks finally became a reality today when SMU fired Phil Bennett.

I know what you are thinking -- How will this affect UNT in recruiting?

UNT and SMU were recruiting a few of the same players. That only seems natural since the schools are located just a few miles apart.

Athlete James Hamilton of Cedar Hill, safety John Shorter of Lake Highlands and cornerback Jarrett Ben of Garland were all high on the recruiting lists for both UNT and SMU. UNT was also after La Vernia wide receiver Corey Fuller before he committed to SMU.

The impact of Bennett's ouster could affect those recruits, but there was not a whole lot of overlap when it came to who both schools are recruiting.

What could be interesting is seeing who SMU hires as its next head coach and how that affects UNT down the line. Whoever the Ponies hire, he is sure to hit the Dallas area hard in recruiting and compete with the Mean Green for players. If SMU hires a coach who likes to run a spread offense, that will only increase the competition between the schools for players.

The future of the UNT-SMU series could also be affected by the change. Bennett was on record as saying he thought the UNT-SMU series was good for both schools. Who knows what the next coach's opinion will be?

My guess is whoever takes over will want to keep the UNT-SMU game a part of the regular schedule. It just makes too much sense in terms of publicity and travel, but you never know.