From the Death Penalty to the ACC Championship, SMU football is making a comeback

Before Chappell Roan had fans cheering at the Pink Pony Club, there was another pony club that thrilled Texans.

The SMU Mustangs were once a dominant football program before the NCAA’s “death penalty” ended their future.

After more than 30 years, SMU has now returned to its championship form. This Saturday, the 8th-seeded Mustangs will face 17th-seeded Clemson in the ACC Championship game and bid for the College Football Playoff.

The Mustangs went 11-1 this season and posted a perfect 8-0 record in their first season in the ACC.

The crash of the SMU is well documented. ESPN’s 30 For 30 documentary “Pony Excess” tells the story of how SMU received the “death penalty” after years of dominating the Southwest Conference. SMU graduate and star running back Erik Dickerson often expressed his disappointment at how uncompetitive the football program was at his former school.

Here’s what you should know about the NCAA’s “death penalty” and how SMU football recovered.

What is the death penalty in NCAA football?

According to NCAA.org, the “death penalty” is a sanction the NCAA can impose on a college athletic program. This includes suspending a school’s athletic program for at least one season due to serious and repeated rule violations.

Here are the penalties:

Prohibiting some or all external competition in the sport affected by the most recent serious violation for one or two sports seasons and prohibiting all coaching staff members of that sport from engaging (directly or indirectly) in coaching activities in the institution during that period .
The cessation of all initial relief grants and recruiting activities in the sport affected by the recent serious violation for a period of two years.
All institutional employees serving on the NCAA Board of Directors, management, Legislative Council, Presidential or Management Council, Executive Committee or other governing bodies of the Association must resign. All institutional representatives are ineligible to serve on an NCAA committee for a period of four years.
The institution must waive its association voting rights for a period of four years.

Why was SMU given the death penalty?

On February 25, 1987, the NCAA announced that SMU would receive the death penalty, canceling the following season and stripping numerous scholarships from the program.

SMU was punished in a scandal called Pay-for-Play. The college has been placed on probation five times for improper services.

According to The Dallas Morning News, an NCAA investigation found that in 1985 and 1986, thirteen players received a total of $61,000 from a slush fund provided by a booster. The payments, which ranged from $50 to $725 per month, began just a month after SMU was placed on the final phase of probation.

SMU did not play football during the 1987 and 1988 seasons. The private university lost several recruits. Off-campus recruiting was prohibited until August 1988, and potential recruits were not permitted to make paid campus visits until the start of the 1988–89 academic year.

How bad was SMU after the death penalty?

Very bad. In the 33 seasons after returning to play in 1989, SMU compiled a record of 136-242-3. The Mustangs did not appear in another bowl game in the Hawaii Bowl until 2009 and did not secure another conference championship until 2023.

Why is SMU good now?

Players now have the legal option to get paid through name, image and likeness deals.

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From the Death Penalty to the ACC Championship, SMU football is making a comeback

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