Thad Speaks: Thaddeus Matula on Shane Buechele's potential QB greatness

Thaddeus D. Matula is no stranger among SMU circles. An Emmy and Peabody Award-winning director, Matula is responsible for directing the highly successful ESPN documentary "Pony Excess," which focused on the death penalty in the 1980s.

Matula is a fan of all things SMU, and he took time out of his busy schedule to speak with The HillTopics for a five-part extended question-and-answer session.

TODAY'S QUESTION:

The Dave Campbell Texas Football cover guy is Shane Buechele. You've seen a lot of SMU quarterbacks in your time. Where does Buechele rank among the greats?

I was at my folks house when I checked my phone and got the news about the Dave Campbell's cover. I checked, and I don't really remember what I said, but it was sudden, and it was loud. I had to remind myself again that this was all really happening.

Last season wasn't a dream. I had fun describing to my folks what a big deal this was, and even though we had such a great season last year, there was still an unreality to it. I really was not prepared for us to have a player on the cover of Dave Campbell's Texas Football -- now or ever. I just hadn't had that mindshift completely happen to a "we are a real deal program again."

And this is likely that sign. Okay, so ...

Where do I start with Shane Buechele? It is a special thing to be able to root for the son of one of your favorite baseball players. There was nothing better than the "Boooooooo" chant as Steve Buechele stepped up to he plate at Arlington Stadium.

Second, how great is it just to live in a world where this question is asked? Let me tell you, pretty great. Because literally, just asking "where does Shane rank amongst the greats?" already implies an answer. Among them.

Versus other SMU QBs? Of the guys to come before, the best I've seen has been Lance McIllhenny ... but they don't compare at all. I know I was alive for Mike Ford, but I don't remember him on the field. Mike was pretty special but we were, to put it lightly, running back-heavy, and Ford was a pro-style QB. So him giving way to the shifty-smooth McIllhenny to power the Pony Express backfield had to be the way to go.

Ramon Flanigan was a favorite of mine mainly because it seemed like he was the only good thing we had going. Mike Romo will always be special to me. I'll never forget the last minute heroics of Jerad Romo resulting in 1310 The Ticket's Homer Call of the Year Award. Recently, that freshman year for Kyle Padron was lightning in a bottle. (What a special, special season that was! He could never reclaim that form.) Garrett Gilbert was such an amazing talent ... it's a shame that we didn't have a better cast around him when he was on campus.

I can't compare him to Bobby Wilson or to Bob Finley of the 1935 National Championship team, any of the backs and receivers during the "aerial circus" of the 1920s, Chuck Hixson or Dandy Don. Because I haven't seen those guys play in anything other than clips. The 1920s guys I've only read about. Hixson I only know because of his connection to Jerry LeVias. It's hard to compare greatness you’ve seen to greatness you can only imagine.

There is reason to believe he could walk out of here right up there with Lance, Dickerson and James, Kyle Rote, and all the rest in the SMU pantheon. I would love to see it. If we were somehow to improve on last year, we'd likely use Shane Buechele as the benchmark of this era.

Where does that leave us? Here's the thing. Shane is just a natural leader. Couple that with him playing at Texas in Austin -- where they look to their student athletes to be civic leaders in a city that snuck up on us all to become a big city. He shifted into Dallas with this idea that he had to not only lead the team but do his part in the community.

Early on in the pandemic when, after Shane and his girlfriend Paige Vasquez (they met while students at Texas and she now works for the Mavericks) completed their fundraiser, you remember that scene of them having that check presentation ceremony in front of the firehouse?

That ... that was as important as any of his exploits on the field in terms of the program stature's in the community and his legacy, how he will be perceived for years to come, in SMU lore.

The image of him and the mayor with that giant check was nothing like anything I have seen that has happened in my life with the program. I'm sure when I was a tiny kid players from those early '80s teams might have been seen in leadership positions in the community, but I don't remember it.

That image ... the only thing I can compare it to is scanning through old pictures of Doak Walker. Yup, I just said it. Doak Walker. And I am on record as having said it before.

Now I'm not saying that he's Doak or Dickerson or any of our other NFL Hall-of-Famers. Yet. And I know we fizzled a bit late last season. The season is set up perfectly for an undefeated run. And it's killing me that the season is jeopardy. If there is a full season and we stay healthy, we're looking at the possibility of him topping 4,000 yards and 40 touchdowns.

And then we're not just talking Davey O'Brien. We're talking Heisman. And it kills me even more to think of playing this season without fans. Do you know how electric Ford would be this season if we could have fans in the stands?

This could be the year that we finally become Dallas's team again. And it's because we have someone like Shane who can handle a spotlight and a leadership role in a city.

So yeah, when it comes down to it, I'm hoping for a vaccine and a season starting in January. Because I want to be in the stadium when it happens. I want the whole city to be in the stadium when it happens.

THAD SPEAKS ON ...

COVID-19 and college football (July 27)