Wes Suan coached at Hawaii for nine years before following June Jones to SMU (photo by SMU athletics).

Of all of the new assistant coaches on June Jones’ staff at SMU, perhaps the hardest to figure out is running backs coach Wes Suan. After all, if the perception that Jones-coached offenses throw the ball all the time is true, what role do the running backs play?

First of all, the idea that the offense is all-pass, no run is inaccurate; Hawaii’s prolific offense actually ran the ball on nearly 31 percent of its 942 plays from scrimmage in 2007. It’s not the 50-50 balance that some coaches claim to seek from their offenses (and rarely achieve), but it’s not like running backs are just decoys with muscles and mouthguards … which means Suan is more than merely a choreographer of innocent bystanders to Jones’ aerial circus.

“My guys are just as important to this offense as any other position,” Suan said. “The total success of the offense is dependent upon all 11 positions performing at a high level. Everyone talks about the quarterback and receiver positions, but ours is just as important.”

Suan’s running backs will play three major roles in the offense. The most visible, of course, will be when they run the ball, but they also will catch passes out of the backfield, and they are vital to the new offense’s blocking schemes.

The longtime running backs coach also coached offensive line for a year at Hawaii, and stresses pass protection to his running backs (photo by Webmaster).

“We’re deeply involved with protection,” Suan said. “That’s why you’ll see us in practice, working with (offensive line) Coach (Dennis) McKnight and his guys.

STRONG FINAL IMPRESSION

Some skeptics have suggested that by having just one season in the new offense, starting running backs DeMyron Martin and Andrew McKinney don’t have time to fully absorb the nuances of the offense and become integral cogs in Jones’ offense. Suan disagrees.

“We came into a situation here where we’ve got guys with a lot of ‘want-to,’” Suan said. “Nobody wants to leave his institution with a losing image. Everyone wants to graduate as winners, and we’ve got a couple of guys with a lot of talent, and a lot of pride. DeMyron and Andrew are very strong, tough, hard-working guys, and they’re picking things up quickly. They can do a lot in this offense this year.”

Suan doesn’t argue the fact that the SMU offense will rely heavily on the pass — “that’s what we do,” he said — but he pointed out that the respect opponents must afford the passing game actually makes his running backs more effective.

“In most offenses, when you have the running backs and the traditional passing game, teams will look for the run first,” he said. “They’ll bring seven, eight, sometimes even nine guys to the line. In our offense, because they (opposing defenses) have to defend the pass, it opens a lot of things up. We’re going to get a helmet on everyone, and we’ll see five, six guys at most up front. So our guys might not get as many carries as some running backs, but they have a chance to be far more effective. They get through one hole, and they’ll find some room to run.”

STICKING TOGETHER

When Suan was a freshman running back at Linfield College in tiny McMinnville, Ore., he was introduced to a local hotshot high school quarterback named June Jones, with whom he quickly became good friends.

“June was the best golfer in our group of friends, and I was the worst,” Suan said. “So when we went out to play, he and I got paired up a lot.”

The friendship forged on the links led to long-standing desire to work together. After serving as an assistant coach and assistant athletics director at Linfield for 19 years, Suan joined Jones on the Hawaii staff, coaching running backs in eight of his nine seasons, and offensive line in the other.

“I love Linfield, and it was a great place to work, but it was a dream to coach at the Div. I level,” Suan said. “Coaching with June is a great professional opportunity. When he got the job here at SMU, I knew I wanted to come with him.”

Suan hopes special teams ace Andrew McKinney can play fullback with a "calm intensity" (photo by Travis Johnston).

Suan said that Jones’ national reputation as an offensive mastermind has been well-received, but he said that when he is out recruiting (Suan recruits the Arlington, Grand Prairie and Mansfield areas), it is SMU that he sells most easily.

“It’s easy to sell the institution, the tradition this place has,” Suan said. “When you recruit a player, you never really know the final result. You usually have a pretty good idea about players, but you never really know what their successes andd failures will be. But when you explain to them about the bigger picture — that graduating from SMU means you’re walking out with such a good degree — that’s something most places can’t offer. That sells itself.”

Of course, being able to point to Jones and his offense that put up an average of 43.4 points per game at Hawaii in 2007 doesn’t hurt, either, even when talking to running backs who might not get as many carries in this offense as they might elsewhere.

“Football players basically want to win,” Suan said. “When a running back looks at this type of offense, he sees an offense that is going to get the ball in his hands — sometimes running, sometimes by the pass — and will score a lot of points and win a lot of games.

“Put it this way: Barry Sanders had one of his best rushing years when June Jones was his offensive coordinator. After he retired, he said the only way he’d come back was if June was his offensive coordinator again. When a guy like Barry Sanders says that, it says all you need to know about playing running back in this offense.”

PONIES ON THE RUN

Suan said he has discussed the 2007 season with Martin, the top rusher among the returning running backs with just 458 yards and the frustration Martin sometimes felt.

“We talked about last year, and what to do with it,” Suan said. “The key to being an effective running back in this offense is being receptive to even the small details of the position. I’ve had a lot of running backs in the last nine years. If he gives me the work ethic, I can give him my knowledge about what made my (Hawaii) guys successful, and he can be successful with in offense.”

Suan said he is intrigued by the prospect of what he can get from McKinney, the fifth-year senior who has built his reputation as a favorite among PonyFans in part because of his kamikaze style on special teams.

“It’s kind of a contradictory term, but what we really need from Andrew is ‘calm intensity,’” Suan said. “He has to have the intensity that lets him run downfield at 100 miles an hour like he wants to kill someone, but he also has to be under control so he can make plays.”

Suan said the maturity and focus that comes with seniority should help Martin and McKinney lead a surprisingly effective SMU running game this season.

“Those two guys, I think they have a sense of urgency, because it’s their last year playing here,” he said. “They’ve each got one more year to perform for SMU. They want this team to be the team that makes SMU winners again.”

Suan said he also likes what he has in a pair of young reserves: Chris Butler and Ben Goldthorpe.

DeMyron Martin was the leading rusher in 2007 among SMU's returning running backs (photo by Travis Johnston).

“Chris is a great athlete who will help us right away,” he said. “He’s got a great work ethic, and he has all those intangibles you want: the work ethic, the commitment to doing everything he needs to do to get better, and the attention to details.

“Ben is a big guy (6-2, 240) who is the kind of guy I always look for — guys who will work hard and play any position you ask, just to play the game. He’s a pretty good athlete, a hitter, a tough guy with a great work ethic.”

The final weapon in Suan’s ground arsenal is senior speedster Jessie Henderson, whose duties this season, Suan said, will extend beyond special teams.

“Jessie’s a guy who has the ability to make a lot of big plays,” Suan said. “He has great quickness and vision, and when he gets in the open field, he’s exceptional — he’s going to make a lot of people say ‘wow.’”

Suan said durability is always a concern with a player of Henderson’s diminutive (5-9, 170) stature, but said Henderson’s main asset will go a long way toward helping him survive the rigors of his final college season.

“In all my years of coaching, I’ve found that the best way to stay healthy is to not get hit,” Suan laughed. “Jessie is a guy who can slip tackles and avoid contact, and he’s strong enough to run through arm tackles. After all, we’re not going to get an agreement from the other team not to hit him — it’s the nature of the beast.

“But we’ve got some powerful guys who can run, can catch and can protect. They can hit us, because we’re going to hit back.”