Mojica considered six schools before settling on SMU, including USC, Georgetown, UC-Davis (offer) Syracuse and Brown (photo by David Mojica).

When he was hired in January as SMU’s new head coach, June Jones acknowledged that one of his immediate challenges was to put together a recruiting class with Signing Day just a few weeks away. But he also said that part of his success at Hawaii was due to the performances of some players who had walked on and become productive players for the Warriors — a plan he said he hoped to duplicate at SMU with players like Robert Mojica.

Mojica played a multitude of positions — running back, strong safety, nickel back, linebacker, punt returner and kick returner — for the Mater Dei (Calif.) Monarchs, long considered one of the top high school teams in the nation. Mojica will join the Ponies as a slot receiver. Mojica will report as a preferred walk-on when the Ponies open preseason workouts Aug. 4.

Mojica’s list of accomplishments is as lengthy as the list of positions he played for Mater Dei. He stands 5-feet-10-inches tall and weighs 175 pounds, has been clocked as fast as 4.54 in the 40-yard dash. He rushed for 447 yards on 68 carries (6.57 yards per carry), caught 15 passes for 184 yards. Including a 51-yard punt return for a touchdown and two kickoff returns on which he averaged 33.5 yards, Mojica accounted for 774 all-purpose yards and seven touchdowns. On defense, he added 60 tackles, five sacks, a fumble recovery and a pair of interceptions.

Mojica starred as a running back and safety at Mater Dei, but will line up with the Ponies as a slot receiver (photo by David Mojica) (photo by David Mojica).

Mojica, obviously, is a versatile athlete, but that trait extends beyond the gridiron. He also starred on the Mater Dei soccer team, earning All-Trinity League, all-county and All-CIF honors as a forward; coupled with his All-Trinity League football honor, Mojica is the only athlete in the league aside from track/cross country runners to earn all-league recognition in two sports. He also played center field on the school’s baseball team, and ran the 100-meter dash (best time 11.2), the 200 (23.0) and was a member of the team’s 4x100 relay.

Because of his ability to adapt to so many positions at Mater Dei, Mojica said he doesn’t worry about the adjustments he’ll have to make as he learns the slot position in the new SMU offense — which is very similar, he said, to the offense Mater Dei runs. The players he looks up to — the list includes Chicago Bears special teams ace Devin Hester, San Diego Chargers running back LaDainian Tomlinson and used to include Atlanta quarterback Michael Vick — all are fast, but making them even more effective than their raw speed is their sudden burst of acceleration that allows them to make people miss. That, Mojica said, is a trait he and those players share.

“I’m more quick than I am fast,” he said. “I can run, but I also can make you miss. The coaches thought I can be effective in the slot, where they said they like shifty guys who can run — that’s me.”

Yet for all of his athletic prowess, Mojica said academics came first when it came down to his selection of a college. A member of the National Honor Society and the California Scholarship Federation, Mojica applied to SMU along with five other schools: UC-Davis (which offered him a football scholarship), USC, Syracuse, Georgetown and Brown.

The multi-talented Mojica earned All-Trinity League recognition in football and soccer (photo by David Mojica).

“It was weird — recruiting was kind of a roller-coaster,” Mojica said. “I applied to SMU just to apply. I didn’t know I wanted to play football at SMU, but I talked to (Mater Dei offensive line) Coach (Joe) Medlin, and he talked a lot about SMU. He played there, and he said he loved it, and said it was a beautiful place to go to school.

“He also knew some of the coaches — Coach (June) Jones, Coach (Dan) Morrison — from when they were at Hawaii, and he talked about what great guys they are. Coach Medlin said I’d love the campus and I’d love the people I met there, and he was right.”

Mojica came to Dallas in the spring to visit the campus, and watched a practice, which coupled with his research on SMU as a university overall, sold him on where he wanted to end up.

“I loved the campus, I loved the city, and I loved what I saw at practice,” he said. “People were actually excited as they practiced. So I liked that, and the more I learned about the school, the more I learned about what a good academic school it is. I had no idea the business school is so prestigious.

“I’m excited — I can’t wait to get there.”