Brown resigns as SMU basketball coach amid contract dispute

By Brad Townsend

The Dallas Morning News

Hall of Fame coach Larry Brown resigned Friday morning as SMU’s basketball coach, citing an inability to work out an acceptable contract extension with the school.

Brown, 75, began the fifth and final year of his contract in June. Brown told The Dallas Morning News that he and school officials, primarily SMU president Gerald Turner, had for the past 20 months discussed an extension, but could not agree on terms.

“I love this place,” Brown said. “They gave me a chance to be the coach — a 70-year-old man, I don’t know how people would have even considered me. It’s been the most amazing, positive experience.

“And then having my kids in school here was an extra benefit I never would have believed, at this point of my life.

“The essence of it is based on what (SMU officials) they told me they would do for me (contractually), I just couldn’t be truthful with these kids anymore.”

Brown declined to get into specifics about what SMU offered versus what he was seeking. But a source close to Brown told The News that Brown initially sought a long-term deal similar to the six-year guarantee that SMU football coach Chad Morris received.

As the months wore on, the source close to Brown said, he lowered his request to five years, then four. SMU’s most recent and final offer, the source said, was for three years. However, years two and three were not guaranteed and the first year was only partially guaranteed. Also, the source said, the fully guaranteed amount would have represented a pay cut from Brown’s annual salaries since his arrival on the Hilltop.

“We offered Coach Brown a long-term contract through 2020 and hoped he would continue to serve as head coach. This morning, however, I was notified by his agent that he would be stepping down,” SMU athletic director Rick Hart said in a statement.

During a phone interview with The News, Brown expressed regret at the timing of Friday’s news, while Dallas and much of America are coping with the tragic events of Thursday night on the streets of downtown Dallas.

Brown said he considered waiting until Monday to make his decision official, but he was getting strong indications that his intention to resign would leak well before then. This week is a crucial recruiting period in which coaches are permitted to be on the road, talking to recruits, but for the past four days Brown had remained in Dallas.

So at 6:45 a.m. Friday, Brown gathered SMU players and gave them the news, while simultaneously having his letter of resignation sent to Turner. As of 9:45 a.m., Brown said, he still had not heard a response from Turner or any other SMU officials.

“I was sick about it,” Brown said. “But I was so afraid that it would get out.

“My coach’s responsibility was to be able to tell my kids face-to-face. I was scared to do death that I wouldn’t be able to do that. I told the kids this morning that this was the worst possible time that I could ever think of having this issue. But more than anything, a coach has a responsibility to tell the kids first.

“I thought about waiting until Monday. But then all I kept thinking of is the worst thing a coach can do is not let their kids hear it from them first.”

Brown leaves SMU with the best winning percentage of any SMU coach that coached for more than one season (.707). His 94-39 record included an American Athletic Conference championship and NCAA Tournament berth in 2014-2015.

The school started 18-0 last season before ultimately finishing second in AAC play. SMU missed the postseason due to a self-imposed postseason ban on the heels of an NCAA investigation into academic improprieties. Brown also missed nine games last season and the program was docked nine scholarships over a three-year period as a result of the NCAA investigation.

“Coach Brown was able to accomplish so much in his four years on the Hilltop, including leading us to our first conference title since 1993,” Hart said in a statement. “He has left his mark on SMU basketball, and we are thankful for what he’s done.”