Former Southern Methodist University football standouts Eric Dickerson and Craig James recently shared their thoughts as the SMU Mustangs experience a period of success reminiscent of their celebrated “Pony Express” era in the early 1980s. The team is coming off consecutive 11-win seasons and is currently ranked ahead of its matchup against Baylor.
Reflecting on SMU’s turnaround since Dickerson previously called for the school to end its football program in 2014, both Pro Football Hall of Fame Enshrinee Dickerson and James observed that current achievements prompt comparisons to their own period with the Mustangs. That time was marked by dominance, particularly from 1981 through 1984, when the team had a record of 41-5-1.
When asked if today’s Mustangs could compete with his teams from the ‘80s, Dickerson said, “Oh, no. They couldn’t handle that.”
Dickerson highlighted another facet often overlooked: “Let me tell you something. First of all, people talk about us and the Pony Express, but people don’t realize what our defense was. We had one of the meanest, dirtiest defenses in college football. They loved to hit. I mean, Blaine Smith, Wes Hopkins, Harvey Armstrong, Gary Moten . . . (…) Michael Carter (… ) Michael Carter (… ) Russell Carter. They had some nasty guys on that defense, and they loved to inflict pain.”
James agreed that high-level competition at practice contributed significantly to their performance: “We were the best back then (… ) So when we went on the field and played against Pitt or someone like that, we were seeing at least that in practice (…) SMU is getting there, but they’re not there yet.”
Both Dickerson and James have been promoting the Pony Express Award—an honor determined by peer vote recognizing outstanding teammate duos—inspired by their own partnership as running backs.
They also touched on issues surrounding NCAA investigations in past decades which resulted in severe sanctions for SMU—including receiving what became known as “the death penalty”—and drew attention to stories such as how Texas A&M boosters allegedly provided Dickerson with a car during recruiting: “Whoever gave it to him (… ) he took good care of it,” James recalled.
Despite changes brought by modern name-image-likeness (NIL) regulations enabling student-athletes to be compensated today far beyond what players like them ever received (officially or otherwise), Dickerson commented: “Aw, man! Who knows? Probably make a couple million dollars.” To which James added: “Well (…) I know that it would have been more than we did get.” According to them on campus now NIL simply stands for “Now it’s legal.”
The two Mustang legends maintain that while history matters—and today’s team has made significant progress—the legacy established by earlier generations sets a standard current players continue striving toward.
