JJ discussion on Houston radio this morning

[ponyinNC]

but CB did do this...

While at Hawai'i, Brennan grew dreadlocks to better bond with his wide receivers, and learned enough Samoan so that he could use it to call plays from the line of scrimmage; Hawai'i has a number of players of Samoan descent.

[Phxfan]

Hawaii lists at least 35 JUCO/College Transfers including the two best players Colt Brennan(Colorado) and Jevon Bess(Oregon St) With 78 Polynesians many of which never grew up in the United States you can expect many other borderline kids. It is amazing how many on this board marvel at the exploits of Coaches who recruit the lowest common denominator under NCAA Rules but then claim, despite 20 years of evidence, that those same players are not needed at SMU.

SMU does not want to recruit sociopathic/psychopaths. GWB has a criminal record and he got a pass. The JW thing could have gone much higher if the powers that be wanted it to be. Mike Tyson got a day in jail for a DUI with cocaine and nearly hitting a police car in Maricopa county, Phoenix AZ. Joe Arpio Americas toughest sheriff??? Kurt Bush (NASCAR) was blasted and the machine broke per Sheriff Arpio. So forget the the jail thing. Your Dr.s can evaluate a questionable recruit.

[TheBestAvailable]

Excuse my ignorance, but does Hawaii have academic standards to contend with? Has JJ ever recruited to a situation similar to SMU? Seems like JJ has a unique situation at Hawaii. How do we know it will translate to Dallas?

Hawaii doesn't have SMU's academic standards but they were winless the season before June took over. They went 9-4 his first year with those same winless athletes and haven't looked back since.

Even with an open door policy, Hawaii, Boise, Navy, etc. aren't getting 4 & 5 star athletes. They are signing 1,2 and 3 stars just like SMU. They just have a system implemented by their coaches that puts those players in a position to succeed.

[TheBestAvailable]

Hawaii lists at least 35 JUCO/College Transfers including the two best players Colt Brennan(Colorado) and Jevon Bess(Oregon St) With 78 Polynesians many of which never grew up in the United States you can expect many other borderline kids. It is amazing how many on this board marvel at the exploits of Coaches who recruit the lowest common denominator under NCAA Rules but then claim, despite 20 years of evidence, that those same players are not needed at SMU.

What type of athletes did Hawaii have the year they went winless and why did they suddenly become good enough to win 9 games in June's first season? Does that have something to do with COACHING Stallion? Just asking?

Fill me in expert.

[Stallion]

Don't have time for a full report but the goal of June Jones was to restablish the ties to the unbelievable crop of Polynesians who formerly went to Hawaii but by then had scattered to places like BYU, Arizona, Nebraska and wherever. His predecessor had 17 Polynesians. June Jones has 76-79 on this year's roster. Rivals doesn't know a thing about the Tongans and Samoans or even those playing in Hawaii-that's why they fly under the radar with 2 stars. Anybody who has watched Hawaii over the years knows some of the kids are outstanding athletes especially at OLM, DLM and LB. There are probably more Polynesian Samoans and Tongons in the NFL per capita than any other group-and Rivals missed most.

[PK]

Hawaii lists at least 35 JUCO/College Transfers including the two best players Colt Brennan(Colorado) and Jevon Bess(Oregon St) With 78 Polynesians many of which never grew up in the United States you can expect many other borderline kids. It is amazing how many on this board marvel at the exploits of Coaches who recruit the lowest common denominator under NCAA Rules but then claim, despite 20 years of evidence, that those same players are not needed at SMU.

What type of athletes did Hawaii have the year they went winless and why did they suddenly become good enough to win 9 games in June's first season? Does that have something to do with COACHING Stallion? Just asking?

Fill me in expert.

Perhaps he brought in 22 JUCOs and D-1 transfers to bolster the talent level.

All this speculation on who we are waiting for is fun, but hardly of any real value. We are SMU ... why wouldn't 90% of the successful coaches out there not be interested in a school that has gained a reputation of being a coaching graveyard. Of course the coaches that have been sent to oblivion by this school were for the most part first time head coaches and had to operate under sever limitations.

Any experienced head coach with a successful record would be welcome as far as I'm concerned with whatever baggage he has included...and I would be very surprised if we got one without baggage. It does us no good to try to compete head to head with BCS schools for our coach, even with our war chest, so yes we will be the last to get a new coach. We will be picking from the table scrapes, but so what? The person we get will still be better than what we have had IMHO.

[Pony^]

Any experienced head coach with a successful record would be welcome as far as I'm concerned with whatever baggage he has included...and I would be very surprised if we got one without baggage.

Our position on a coach's baggage is a little reminiscent of the line in Charlie Wilson’s War when -- after Charlie departs an audience with Pakistani President Zia ul-Haq -- he states, “I was told I had character flaws by a guy who hung his predecessor in a military coup.â€

[Dr Death]

How many on this board would have wanted a convicted rapist admitted to SMU? Brennan has of course been a model parolee and has apparently turned his life around since getting to Hawaii. But that begs the question, because all of that is hindsight which is of course 20/20. Would SMU admit a convicted rapist and offer him a football scholarship?

You may want to investigate the actual facts about Colt Brennan before posting such dribble again.

Fact: Brennan did not rape anyone, was not convicted of rape, nor did he ever threaten to rape anyone. He was charged with Trespassing and a charge of Unlawful Sexual Contact was thrown out by the court for lack of evidence.

Fact: Brennan was never offered a scholarship at Hawaii. He was told by June Jones he would have to walk on. Which he did.

Now that we have that little situation cleared up, here are some things you'll need to know about June Jones;

Following the 1998 season, where he finished as the head coach for the San Diego Chargers, taking over after Kevin Gilbride was fired during the year, Jones was offered a huge contract to remain in San Diego as the head coach. He turned that offer down so that he could return to Hawaii, to become their head coach. This has been a life long dream for him.

He makes a little over $800,000 per year, and just a few weeks ago when local businessmen raised $110,000 to give to coach Jones as a way of thanking him for all he has done for the University and the state of Hawaii, Jones turned around and gave that money to all of his assistants.

It is reported that he gets offers every single year to return to the NFL as an offensive co-ordinator. He always turns those offers down.

Clearly, the man is not motivated by money.

Please don't take this as a personal affront to SMU, but I rather doubt Jones would be interested in the vacancy there at all. He has already said he has zero interest in UCLA. It isn't because there is anything wrong with UCLA or SMU, it is because Hawaii means so much to him. And for a man not driven by financial gains, what more can be offered to lure him away?

Personally, I feel that the future of June Jones will be decided by what happens next week in the Sugar Bowl. If Hawaii loses he will remain at his dream job and continue to coach the team he loves. If Hawaii wins, particularly if they win with an awesome performance from his offense, there just may be an NFL offer awaiting him.

The opportunity would have to be just right, but if he were to be able to coach an NFL team and draft Colt Brennan, a QB he is very high on and has compared to the likes of Jim Kelly, Warren Moon and Jeff George, QB's he has worked with during his career, then I believe he may be tempted to leave Hawaii.

If that opportunity doesn't materialize, then he will remain at Hawaii. This is not Bobby Petrino or Nick Saban we're talking about. Jones is a good and decent man and a man of his word.

Someone suggested he would use SMU as leverage against Hawaii. That person obviously has no clue about who June Jones is. He has built Hawaii up to where they are now because he believes in his methods and he has done it with a $50,000 dollar a year recruiting budget.

That is NOT a misprint; $50,000.

He has been at Hawaii since 1999, and if not for him, their football program may not even exist anymore, as talk was ripe that they were going to drop it altogether in 1998.

Best of luck to SMU in finding a good, high quality coach for their program. I just do not believe you, or any other college, has any chance at all in signing June Jones.

[ALEX LIFESON]

Thanks Hawaii fan. You might want to start raising some funds, to improve those facilities that JJ complains about, and your current players say they're ashamed of.

[Dr Death]

Thanks Hawaii fan. You might want to start raising some funds, to improve those facilities that JJ complains about, and your current players say they're ashamed of.

While it's true the facilities are bad and in need of a complete overhaul and remodeling job... I don't see how that has anything to do with the topic at hand. If it is your belief that Jones will leave Hawaii for SMU because he'll have a better office and nicer facilities, you need to re-read the part about his not being motivated by money.

In fact, knowing the way Jones is, he'll probably tell the school AD to take the money they may offer him as a raise and spend it on the facilities.

Since you brought it up it should be noted that this is just another obstacle that he's been able to rise above since arriving in Hawaii. He took over a team that had lost 18 straight games and was ranked 118th out of 118 in offense. His first year they won 9 games and finished # 2 in the country in offense. The single greatest turn around in NCAA history.

But it also further illustrates how much he loves Hawaii. That he's remained there despite less than wonderful conditions and poverty level recruiting funds and achieved all that he has is a testament to his abilities as a coach and leader. And it also puts on display how much he cares for Hawaii.

[Eagle01]

Excuse my ignorance, but does Hawaii have academic standards to contend with? Has JJ ever recruited to a situation similar to SMU? Seems like JJ has a unique situation at Hawaii. How do we know it will translate to Dallas?

Hawaii doesn't have SMU's academic standards but they were winless the season before June took over. They went 9-4 his first year with those same winless athletes and haven't looked back since.

Even with an open door policy, Hawaii, Boise, Navy, etc. aren't getting 4 & 5 star athletes. They are signing 1,2 and 3 stars just like SMU. They just have a system implemented by their coaches that puts those players in a position to succeed.

Navy has an open door policy?!? When did that happen?

To receive an offer of appointment to the Naval Academy, an applicant must obtain a nomination from an official source. There are many nomination sources and applicants are encouraged to apply to all available sources. This normally includes a U.S. Representative, two U.S. Senators and the Vice President of the United States.

Source: http://www.usna.edu/Admissions/steps4.htm

[Chuck Norris]

How many on this board would have wanted a convicted rapist admitted to SMU? Brennan has of course been a model parolee and has apparently turned his life around since getting to Hawaii. But that begs the question, because all of that is hindsight which is of course 20/20. Would SMU admit a convicted rapist and offer him a football scholarship?

You may want to investigate the actual facts about Colt Brennan before posting such dribble again.

Fact: Brennan did not rape anyone, was not convicted of rape, nor did he ever threaten to rape anyone. He was charged with Trespassing and a charge of Unlawful Sexual Contact was thrown out by the court for lack of evidence.

Fact: Brennan was never offered a scholarship at Hawaii. He was told by June Jones he would have to walk on. Which he did.

Now that we have that little situation cleared up, here are some things you'll need to know about June Jones;

Following the 1998 season, where he finished as the head coach for the San Diego Chargers, taking over after Kevin Gilbride was fired during the year, Jones was offered a huge contract to remain in San Diego as the head coach. He turned that offer down so that he could return to Hawaii, to become their head coach. This has been a life long dream for him.

He makes a little over $800,000 per year, and just a few weeks ago when local businessmen raised $110,000 to give to coach Jones as a way of thanking him for all he has done for the University and the state of Hawaii, Jones turned around and gave that money to all of his assistants.

It is reported that he gets offers every single year to return to the NFL as an offensive co-ordinator. He always turns those offers down.

Clearly, the man is not motivated by money.

Please don't take this as a personal affront to SMU, but I rather doubt Jones would be interested in the vacancy there at all. He has already said he has zero interest in UCLA. It isn't because there is anything wrong with UCLA or SMU, it is because Hawaii means so much to him. And for a man not driven by financial gains, what more can be offered to lure him away?

Personally, I feel that the future of June Jones will be decided by what happens next week in the Sugar Bowl. If Hawaii loses he will remain at his dream job and continue to coach the team he loves. If Hawaii wins, particularly if they win with an awesome performance from his offense, there just may be an NFL offer awaiting him.

The opportunity would have to be just right, but if he were to be able to coach an NFL team and draft Colt Brennan, a QB he is very high on and has compared to the likes of Jim Kelly, Warren Moon and Jeff George, QB's he has worked with during his career, then I believe he may be tempted to leave Hawaii.

If that opportunity doesn't materialize, then he will remain at Hawaii. This is not Bobby Petrino or Nick Saban we're talking about. Jones is a good and decent man and a man of his word.

Someone suggested he would use SMU as leverage against Hawaii. That person obviously has no clue about who June Jones is. He has built Hawaii up to where they are now because he believes in his methods and he has done it with a $50,000 dollar a year recruiting budget.

That is NOT a misprint; $50,000.

He has been at Hawaii since 1999, and if not for him, their football program may not even exist anymore, as talk was ripe that they were going to drop it altogether in 1998.

Best of luck to SMU in finding a good, high quality coach for their program. I just do not believe you, or any other college, has any chance at all in signing June Jones.

I guess word is stirring in Hawaii. I expect a lot more of this stuff

[Cadillac]

Following the 1998 season, where he finished as the head coach for the San Diego Chargers, taking over after Kevin Gilbride was fired during the year, Jones was offered a huge contract to remain in San Diego as the head coach. He turned that offer down so that he could return to Hawaii, to become their head coach. This has been a life long dream for him.

I could be wrong, but I don't recall Jone's even being in the running after the 1998 trainwreck.

-CoS

[Pony^]

Following the 1998 season, where he finished as the head coach for the San Diego Chargers, taking over after Kevin Gilbride was fired during the year, Jones was offered a huge contract to remain in San Diego as the head coach. He turned that offer down so that he could return to Hawaii, to become their head coach. This has been a life long dream for him.

I could be wrong, but I don't recall Jone's even being in the running after the 1998 trainwreck.

-CoS

Jones has a different recollection:

http://troop75.typepad.com/troop_75/200 ... riors.html

[Dr Death]

Following the 1998 season, where he finished as the head coach for the San Diego Chargers, taking over after Kevin Gilbride was fired during the year, Jones was offered a huge contract to remain in San Diego as the head coach. He turned that offer down so that he could return to Hawaii, to become their head coach. This has been a life long dream for him.

I could be wrong, but I don't recall Jone's even being in the running after the 1998 trainwreck.

-CoS

Jones has a different recollection:

http://troop75.typepad.com/troop_75/200 ... riors.html

You beat me to it... was just going to post this exact thing. There is one typo in the beginning, when it says it was December 1999, it should read December 1998.