Tim Hundley and Dan Morrison just might be twins … or at least separated at birth … have they ever been seen in the same place at the same time?

OK, that's an exaggeration, but they do have similarities. Hundley and Morrison share top billing among assistant coaches on June Jones’ new staff at SMU, or at least top billing in title, anyway. Hundley is the Ponies’ new assistant head coach/defense, while Morrison is the team’s assistant head coach/offense.

But neither comes across immediately as a football coach. Think “football coach” and you might picture … new offensive line coach Dennis McKnight — a vocal, demonstrative man who looks like he retired as a player a couple of weeks ago. Morrison and Hundley are the quietest teachers on the staff. Walk by an SMU practice, and you will not hear their voices — ever. Sit in their offices, and you’ll find yourself leaning forward just to hear their thoughtful-but-whispered words. Sit with either for a moment, and it’s clear that at their very core, these two men are teachers.

Hundley has coached in 10 bowl games ... so far (photo by Webmaster).

One other similarity: as accomplished as they are, the each defer to another coach when accolades start getting handed out. Morrison readily acknowledges the offense belongs to Jones and Jones alone. Despite his “assistant head coach” label, Hundley — who also coaches the SMU linebackers — quickly defers top billing, as well.

“That title is something June gave me — I don’t know, maybe it’s a seniority thing,” Hundley said, laughing. “But I don’t care about titles. My job here is to do everything I can to help make (defensive coordinator) Tom Mason’s defense effective.”

Hundley and Mason should work well together, in part because they embrace similar defensive philosophies. Beyond the 3-4 alignment each teaches as a base defense, they believe in relentless pressure on the quarterback and aggressiveness in the secondary.

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For his specific position, however, questions remain while Hundley solidifies the rotation. Two of last season’s starters, Wilton McCray and Tony Hawkins, have graduated, but weakside linebacker and 2007 defensive MVP Will Bonilla returns after tying for the team lead with 82 tackles. Strongside linebacker Pete Fleps showed massive improvement in the spring and emerged as the starter at the end of spring workouts.

Potentially the biggest improvement comes in the middle, where Justin Smart takes over after a debut season in which he played defensive end and earned a spot on the Conference USA All-Freshman team. Whereas previous coaches wanted the SMU linebackers to have speed above all else — including at the expense of needed size — Hundley said he likes having a bulkier presence in the middle of the defense.

“I like what Justin did in the middle this spring,” Hundley said. “He’s a little bit bigger guy, and very strong. But he’s also a really smart guy — he played there in high school, too — and he’ll make a lot of our calls. He picked that up pretty well this spring, and he’s going to do a great job with that.”

Hundley acknowledges that other players, presumably including newcomers, will be in the mix in the Ponies’ linebacker rotation this season. Given the option, Hundley — like most coaches — prefers his linebackers to be fast. But equally important, they must learn fast. His schemes rely on the linebackers' ability to allow the defensive linemen in front of them to occupy blockers, after which the linebackers are expected to fly to the ball to make plays.

Hundley has recruited six players who have earned All-America honors (photo by SMU athletics).

Talk to Hundley about the defenses with which he has worked in the past — he spent the last four years as defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at UTEP, where his defense ranked 17th in the nation last year in turnover ratio — and he takes immense pride in the havoc they have created.

Of course, the performances of his defenses are not his greatest source of pride. He lights up when talking about his wife, Pam, and his sons, Nick — a catcher for the San Diego Padres who hit his first two Major League home runs in the last couple of weeks — and Jake, a graduate student at UCLA.

But he clearly is passionate about defense, and after recruiting six players who earned All-America status and coaching in 10 bowl games — so far — it’s clear he’s passionate about winning, too. It’s why he’s able to defer to Mason and take satisfaction in the end result rather than worrying about who gets credit for what.

“June (Jones) has put together a really incredible staff here,” Hundley said. “There’s not a coach on this staff who doesn’t know about winning and how to get this team there — it's why we’re all here.”