SMU Football Coaches...

[ponyfan777]

Ok look, Bennett, Cavan, Rossley, Gregg, Collins and even Meyer, did some things I didn't like. Coach Jones tries an on-side kick and it failed, but he made up for it by pulling KP and tossing in J.J. Please remember that IF it wasn't for June Jones our ponies would not have been in a bowl game the last 2 seasons. June Jones is the best SMU coach in many, many years. He has a plan, now just sip on your beers and watch it play out this season.

[Junior]

Not sure how putting in McDermott "made up for" the onsides kick?

First, the QB switch came before the kick.

Second, why do you believe that putting in McDermott was a stroke of genius?

I don't disagree that there's a method behind the madness, but you can't honestly expect everyone to just shut up and wait til it plays out completely.

[redpony]

I actually thought the idea of an on-side kick was brilliant- unfortunately the result wasn't because of the flubbed kick. The ags had no idea we might do it and we could have had great field position.
We just have to trust this coaching staff.

GO PONIES!!!

[ponyte]

I like the idea of the onside kick. If nothing else, other teams for the rest of the year will have to prepare for it. And if it worked, and we score, it would have been a stroke of genius. We had to play near perfect FB against A$M and create some breaks. Didn't happen last Sunday but it doesn't mean the year is over. Adding a few winkles into our game plan will make it more difficult of other teams to predict us. And we still have several tough teams on our schedule.

[ponyboy]

It was one game. I liked the team's attitude. Just grow from the experience and continue to improve.

Beat UTEP

[DiamondM75]

If we had an IPF, we would have won that game.

[The PonyGrad]

If we had an IPF, we would have won that game.

[Warbow]

I think you guys are expecting to much from June Jones. Although a good coach for a Non AQ school, don't expect him to lead you back to being a top ten program again. JJ's system (Run & Shoot) has a horrible record against AQ schools who pound the football on your defense. If SMU is unable to stop a team's run game, it will be in for a long night and a possible blow-out loss. That's just the way the run & shoot is geared to. It's either a 3 and out or quick scores or turn-over's. That plays havoc on your defense.

With Jones, SMU will be one of the top Non-AQ teams around but when it comes to playing the "Big Boys" don't expect much. In fact, expect the worst....

JJ's track record against these type of teams at Hawaii was horrible.

1999: 62-7 USC
2002: 58-31 Boise St.
2003: 61-32 USC,
2004: 69-3 Boise St, 70-14 Fresno St. 51-20 UTEP
2005: 63-17 USC, 41-24 Wisconsin, 46-14 La Tech, 42-14 MIchigan St.
2007: 41-10, Georgia

[PonyTime]

UTEP and LA Tech being included in the "Big Boys", "These Type of Teams" list made me laugh . . .

[Junior]

UTEP and LA Tech being included in the "Big Boys", "These Type of Teams" list made me laugh . . .

beat me to it

[Warbow]

UTEP and LA Tech being included in the "Big Boys", "These Type of Teams" list made me laugh . . .

beat me to it

Just wanted to point out those losses because of the types of running game (power backs) they had at the time. You should note: Hawaii had a 8-5 record that year.

[sbsmith]

I think you guys are expecting to much from June Jones. Although a good coach for a Non AQ school, don't expect him to lead you back to being a top ten program again. JJ's system (Run & Shoot) has a horrible record against AQ schools who pound the football on your defense. If SMU is unable to stop a team's run game, it will be in for a long night and a possible blow-out loss. That's just the way the run & shoot is geared to. It's either a 3 and out or quick scores or turn-over's. That plays havoc on your defense.

With Jones, SMU will be one of the top Non-AQ teams around but when it comes to playing the "Big Boys" don't expect much. In fact, expect the worst....

JJ's track record against these type of teams at Hawaii was horrible.

1999: 62-7 USC
2002: 58-31 Boise St.
2003: 61-32 USC,
2004: 69-3 Boise St, 70-14 Fresno St. 51-20 UTEP
2005: 63-17 USC, 41-24 Wisconsin, 46-14 La Tech, 42-14 MIchigan St.
2007: 41-10, Georgia

Thanks for the info, after 3 years clearly none of us has any idea what this guy is capable of.

[PerunaPunch]

I actually thought the idea of an on-side kick was brilliant- unfortunately the result wasn't because of the flubbed kick. The ags had no idea we might do it and we could have had great field position.

Agreed. They fell for it, a player simply didn't execute.

If nothing else, other teams for the rest of the year will have to prepare for it.

Hadn't thought about that. Good point!

I think you guys are expecting to much from June Jones. Although a good coach for a Non AQ school, don't expect him to lead you back to being a top ten program again...

With Jones, SMU will be one of the top Non-AQ teams around but when it comes to playing the "Big Boys" don't expect much. In fact, expect the worst....

JJ's track record against these type of teams at Hawaii was horrible.

I disagree completely. The reason the rest of the football watching universe respects Jones is because he's able to take marginal teams and turn them into winners. I remember watching that Sugar Bowl game where Hawaii looked like a bunch of children compared to Georgia. Common sense tells us that at some level of talent disparity, all the scheming and coaching in the world isn't going to overcome bigger/stronger/faster –– especially against really good coaching staffs like the one in college station, who you might be interested to know or might recall, also have more than a few NFL skins on the wall.

Like somebody in another thread mentioned, with the possible exception of Chris Petersen, June Jones very well might be the best coach in the business.

The reason I believe we saw the onside kick is because Jones had a pretty good idea that at some point we'd need a momentum changer. Although his plan worked (when you consider the fact the all the Aggies took off down field), June rolled the dice and a player let him down.

Throughout his career Jones seems to have always taken over "project" teams. I for one am dying to see how high this program can go in Jones' system with top calibre recruits like the ones who're starting to take notice of SMU.

[Insane_Pony_Posse]

I think you guys are expecting to much from June Jones.

Depends how you define "too much".
First things first....
Most of us like going from zero bowls in 20 years to back2back bowls.
Most of us like watching SMU improve from 1,2,3 wins to 7 or 8 wins a year.
Most of us also realize that today we are not an elite program...
but how many schools are an elite program?....Not Many!

don't expect him to lead you back to being a top ten program again.

We'll deal with that later...
First & foremost June Jones is lifting SMU out of a hell hole.
You have to first lift the program from the dead before thinking "Top 10".
Thats what June is doing..teaching us..the players, the school, the fans to win again.
Orsini is working on a better conference...it all takes time
It's a journey...it's gonna have it's ups and downs...but progress is being made
I am enjoying the ride from the hell we've been thru for 20 years...

After a few years of getting in bowls, winning 7,8,9,10 games
SMU wont be "SMU-WHO?" anymore...we will be on recruits radar again.
By that time June will have laid the foundation of SMU being a known winning school
So June Jones wont be able to beat Ok, AL, USC, Ohio State, UT & Florida every year...
so what?....how many do that anyway?...that would be a good problem to have!
when June retires a new coach will be handed a revived known program
who knows if the run&shoot would be a part of the system at that point?
we've got to win CUSA regularly before getting depressed about June not beating Alabama & OK!

[Warbow]

I think you guys are expecting to much from June Jones.

Depends how you define "too much".
First things first....
Most of us like going from zero bowls in 20 years to back2back bowls.
Most of us like watching SMU improve from 1,2,3 wins to 7 or 8 wins a year.
Most of us also realize that today we are not an elite program...
but how many schools are an elite program?....Not Many!

don't expect him to lead you back to being a top ten program again.

We'll deal with that later...
First & foremost June Jones is lifting SMU out of a hell hole.
You have to first lift the program from the dead before thinking "Top 10".
Thats what June is doing..teaching us..the players, the school, the fans to win again.
Orsini is working on a better conference...it all takes time
It's a journey...it's gonna have it's ups and downs...but progress is being made
I am enjoying the ride from the hell we've been thru for 20 years...

After a few years of getting in bowls, winning 7,8,9,10 games
SMU wont be "SMU-WHO?" anymore...we will be on recruits radar again.
By that time June will have laid the foundation of SMU being a known winning school
So June Jones wont be able to beat Ok, AL, USC, Ohio State, UT & Florida every year...
so what?....how many do that anyway?...that would be a good problem to have!
when June retires a new coach will be handed a revived known program
who knows if the run&shoot would be a part of the system at that point?
we've got to win CUSA regularly before getting depressed about June not beating Alabama & OK!

Agreed. I made those comments after reading this forum. Seems a lot of your fans were expecting a victory against aTm, a top ten team.

Like I said before, JJ will lead you guys out of the cellar and maybe to a top 25 finish 2 out of 10 years. If you are expecting more, good luck. The best thing that can happen for SMU is replacing JJ AFTER he attains several .500 plus seasons in a row. Then hire someone to take you to the next level.

The Run & Shoot offense will never produce a top 10 team. JJ may get you the athletes on offense but the key is the defense. You got to have some serious depth on defense to sustain the repercussions of the Run & Shoot offense. Even some of the best SEC schools don't have that type of depth.

Just a question for you, how many AQ schools has JJ beaten since his arrival at SMU?