My rationalization of the JJ Program

[SMU 86]

We're not going to win the AAC

Now hold on a minute. Don't look at non conference.

[couch 'em]

Tired of hearing that June's offense is some magic offense you can't defend when done correctly.

It was a great system for doing more with less talent when everyone's defense was designed to stop power run offenses. Having speedy little WRs was amazing when every LB amd safety was a bruiser designed to kill a fullback. This is not that era. Everyone is running spread offenses, everyone has WRs with choice routes. Defenses are faster and play schemes designed to stop it. The novelty is gone. It is now a combination of the offense coordinator bearing the defensive, like every other team, and exploiting personnel advantages, like every other team.

[ponyinNC]

We're not going to win the AAC

agreed. LV, Cincy, UCF, all way better.

UH looks good under O'Korn. Uconn hung with Michigan.

UCONN lost to Michigan and lost to Towson and Maryland.

I think Uconn lost by 7 IIRC. Yes they lost to FCS, but we almost did as well. Maryland looks tough. In any case, they seem to be getting better. We seem to be getting worse.

[mustangxc]

We also just played our toughest opponent of the season. No worries here.

[ponyinNC]

We also just played our toughest opponent of the season. No worries here.

honest question - could we have hung with Michigan and lost by 7??

[blackoutpony]

We also just played our toughest opponent of the season. No worries here.

honest question - could we have hung with Michigan and lost by 7??

[Stallion]

Applebowden did!!!!!!!
(Akron for those not paying attention)

[mustangxc]

I have no idea, but I don't think Michigan could hang with Texas A&M in College Station.

[Mustangs_Maroons]

I have no idea, but I don't think Michigan could hang with Texas A&M in College Station.

I agree with you, but we wouldn't be able to hang with Michigan either.

[PK]

June got out of Hawaii right when Colt Brennan graduated. Smart move as he obviously saw what was about to happen.

So you're saying Gale Gilbert is SMU's Colt Brennan?

He's not trying to get out of here. He has Burcham ready to go. But even I have to admit that waiting for recruits to line up at your door in Texas is probably not the best idea at any of the state's schools. You have to go hard after them. And as I said in another post, I think he can do it if some adjustments are made.

To the best of my knowledge this is only JJ's second position as a college coach or at least as a head coach. In Hawaii he probably didn't have to do much recruiting as Hawaii was the only D1 school around and every HS football player in Hawaii probably came begging to play. I'm not sure he even knows how to recruit. He certainly didn't have to do it as an NFL coach. So why do you think he can do it if some adjustments are made. Will he even know what adjustments need to be made?

[SMU 86]

I have no idea, but I don't think Michigan could hang with Texas A&M in College Station.

MSU?

[SMU 86]

June got out of Hawaii right when Colt Brennan graduated. Smart move as he obviously saw what was about to happen.

So you're saying Gale Gilbert is SMU's Colt Brennan?

You know on second thought it would be a good time to leave if he knows Burcham will not be as good as Gilbert. Interesting suggestion to ponder.

[CalallenStang]

This is not a defense, it is how I think it works, for both good and bad.

Tenet No. 1: We do what we do. Used as a rallying cry by the June-haters on this board, to me this phrase embodies JJ's philosophy of football. His is a system of offense that, he believes, when run correctly nullifies large parts of what opposing defenses do. If the offense is on the same page, they react to what the defense is showing, and do whatever is open. It is, like communism, a wonderful principle. It did wonders in Hawaii. It brought moderate success to SMU, which in comparison to what had come before must be considered a boon. "We do what we do" is not a vacant, lazy refrain, it is the central idea behind the coach we hired, and it has been more or less consistent throughout his time here. But it has not brought us the success we hoped it would.

Tenet No. 2: Repetition. The whole system is, by all accounts, simple in concept but difficult in practice. The same players doing the same things over and over again until it is second nature. The more fluent a player is, the more productive. This is why we see the same players used time and time again (until this year). I believe that this is why the number of players used in games has been so limited, and I also believe that this has hurt our attractiveness to recruits in the WR and possibly QB positions. It is very much an all eggs in one basket approach. And it is linked to tenet No. 3.

Tenet No. 3: Conference games are more important. When he came here, June was charged with winning bowls and winning championships. His approach has reflected those goals. OOC games play a role in making bowl games, but not in winning championships. And OOC provide opportunities to gain much needed repetition in the system and, also too often in our case, blood new offensive playmakers. The ATM game is a prime example. Other teams had had success running the ball but we threw the ball over 60 times. Why? Because this was a warmup game. This was about getting better. The TCU game is largely the same. Rutgers is where this team needs to come together and play well.

Tenet No. 4: Recruits will come. Being in Texas was going to make June's system to the greatest hotbed of talent in the country. Texas. The players would come. The single-most problematic tenet as I see it. While June's ability to improve players has helped enormously, there is clearly evidence that our development as a team has been limited by simply not having the depth of quality needed to take us to the 10-11 win arena. But this was not the focus. I don't believe that SMU was hiring June for anything but the quick turnaround system. There was always the uncomfortable question of who would succeed him and how you follow that program. One need only look at Hawaii to see how quickly it can all fall apart.

This is, in part at least, how I believe our program approaches the season, and the game of football itself. And it has brought success to the program that had not been seen in a long time. In my opinion it was the right kind of idea. Bring in a system that can turn things around quickly and get us to prominence. 2010 - C-USA Championship game. The closest we have come to a championship. And a game our defense played very well in and gave our O the chance to win. A chance we didn't take, but up until that point I think it fair to say things were really trending up. We had not won a single "marquee" game, but we were very competitive in almost all the others.

And 2011 started so well. 5-1. We'd beaten TCU. We had humbled UCF. We were showing up in the "also receiving votes" category in the rankings. We had, unknown to us all, peaked. I think we all need to temper what we have witnessed since then with the realization that we had actually seen a pretty meteoric rise. And we also need to realize that 2011 and 2012 were winning seasons with impressive bowl victories, so it is not like we have collapsed totally. But there is a different feel to the state of the program. JJ's ASU nonsense clearly shows that he was ok with leaving. But he didn't, but he will doubtless have noted the decided change in attitude towards him. Gone are the lavish luncheons where boosters chuckled and oohed as he showed us what minor alterations were needed to have put up 70 points the Saturday before. Gone even are the Ozona evenings where the workday was no longer to be wagered against hearing JJ's thoughts on the week and it could be enjoyed over beverages and in a much smaller setting. Gone now are the horses he championed. It is clear that bowl games are no longer enough.

He has one challenge left. Win the AAC, and take us to a BCS bowl, and it appears to me that he has gambled all on that. He is all in on GG leading a passing attack that none can stop. Had we beaten Tech, I slightly wonder if the approach since would be different, but I think that really on October 5th it starts. 8-0 in conference and hope Louisville loses a game. It's that simple.

I sat through our practice game at College Station, and I suspect I may sit through another on Saturday, but if he delivers the AAC I will be okay with that.

If he doesn't we will only be looking backward and upward at where we were when we kicked off at Southern Miss in 2010. And it will be the standard on which I will judge him.

When the season is over.

Nice post and it precisely outlines why we need to thank June but move on - his approach does not align with what our heightened expectations are. And our expectations should be constant improvement and competing for national championships.

I will challenge #3, though: Tulane 2012.

[PonyKai]

In regards to his thoughts on recruiting - his style - isn't there someone running the Athletic Department who should, when vetting potential candidates to take over the football program, ask a tough question or two about that little thing called recruiting? Call it something else; keeping kids home, whatever. Not to say June wasn't a very good hire in 2008, but he obviously held those views on recruiting, which run completely counter to successful tenures in Texas college football. So our then-AD either didn't ask the questions, or was fine with June's answer. Which, without knowing anymore information, gives me pause about the ability of our then-AD to understand some of the requirements to building a successful football program in the state of Texas.

[sbsmith]

To the best of my knowledge this is only JJ's second position as a college coach or at least as a head coach. In Hawaii he probably didn't have to do much recruiting as Hawaii was the only D1 school around and every HS football player in Hawaii probably came begging to play. I'm not sure he even knows how to recruit. He certainly didn't have to do it as an NFL coach. So why do you think he can do it if some adjustments are made. Will he even know what adjustments need to be made?

June didn't recruit well at Hawaii either (top talent always left for the mainland). He routinely hid behind Hawaii's budget issues though some of their fans saw through that bs and called him on his disinterest in recruiting. He won't have a clue on how to make adjustments, he couldn't even deal with Klemm so how does anyone expect him to deal with an entire staff of recruiters.