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The mere mention of the offense head coach June Jones brought with him from Hawaii to SMU tends to get wide receivers excited as they envision themselves playing a part in the attack that brought national attention – not to mention numerous victories – to the Hawaii program. When Jones was introduced last year as the Mustangs’ new coach, players and fans alike began to envision Ford Stadium as a launching ground for countless passes aimed at a fleet of quick, end zone-bound targets.

A’Darius Medford admits that he was just like everyone else when Jones was hired: eager to get started and see what he could do in his new coach’s high-flying offense. But almost as soon as he began working in the new system, his season was over.

Early in last year’s spring drills, Medford was working on a punt return drill with special teams coach Frank Gansz. He planted his left foot and twisted … and then felt pain.

“I knew something was wrong,” Medford said. “I didn’t feel a pop, so I thought it was just a sprain. Then I had an MRI done, and it showed something else.”

What it showed was a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his left knee. Medford was done for the spring, and likely for the entire 2008 season.

A'Darius Medford played in four games as a freshman in 2007 (photo by Travis Johnston).

It often is said that when a new coach takes over a team, everyone is a rookie, since nobody has any tenure or seniority built up with the new staff. Such was the case with the 2008 Mustangs, and like every other receiver on the SMU roster, Medford had been hoping to be a part of the rotation of receivers in the new offense, but that wish had to wait.

“It was so hard, because I wanted to get out there,” Medford said. “I worked hard in rehab, and got back to the point that Coach Jones took me with the team to UCF (Oct. 4), and took me to the other road games, too.”

Medford, who appeared in four games in his freshman season in 2007, is now back. Having already used his redshirt season in 2006, he spent the offseason working to strengthen his leg and on catching passes – a skill that has not gone unnoticed by his teammates.

“I never got to work with him last spring, obviously, but when he came back in the fall, he was making great catches,” quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell said. “(Derrius) Bell told me that before he got hurt, (Medford) had the best hands on the team. I didn’t get much of a chance to work with him, because he was working with the scout team, but now you can see it. If you get the ball near him, he’s going to make the catch.”

Medford expects to be able to play either slot receiver position, but so far he is working at the “Y” (right slot) in Jones’ four-receiver scheme. Without having had a season in the new offense, he’s as anxious as anyone to prove his value to the team.

“I feel really good,” he said, estimating that his speed and leg strength are “probably about 85 percent” of where they were before he got hurt.

While his teammates were learning as they played their first season in Jones’ offense, Medford was reduced to the role of a studious observer. He would have preferred to be on the field, of course, but said his forced absence from the lineup actually made him more diligent in his study of the new system.

“It made me more dedicated to watching film and learning the plays,” he said. “I wasn’t out there on the field with everybody, but I was learning what the coaches were teaching. It made me more of a student.”

Now Medford is getting the chance to put what he learned to use on the field, and his offseason work and first practice have been encouraging, to himself and to those around him.

“He’s a good athlete, he knows how to run all the routes, and he catches the ball well,” Mitchell said of Medford. “I don’t know where he fits in the rotation of receivers, but so far, he looks good.”