SMU Extends June Jones Contract

[blackoutpony]

The devil is in the details, folks. Maybe I'm naive, but a three-year extension is only as good as the guarantees in the contract.

June was going to get paid for 2014 no matter what, right? If you fire him, you have to pay him AND the salary of the new coach and staff. That's a lot of lettuce to eat, even for SMU boosters. It's not fiscally responsible to make that kind of a move at a school that doesn't have big TV dollars coming in.

I would be willing to bet this is an extension in name only. The three years is for recruiting purposes, so that the few recruits who are interested in us don't get scared off. If you extend June just one year, that sends a message that he isn't going to be sticking around.

I would also be willing to bet none of the money past 2014 is guaranteed, and there is either no buyout or a minimal one. And I'm betting that after the 2014 the season the public climate will be more conducive to fire "the coach who brought SMU back from the dead."

Sometimes you have to take a step backward to move forward.

I'm glad this is how you "feel".

SMU has done nothing to make me think they are this smart whatsoever. Turner doesn't care.

[Grant Carter]

The devil is in the details, folks. Maybe I'm naive, but a three-year extension is only as good as the guarantees in the contract.

June was going to get paid for 2014 no matter what, right? If you fire him, you have to pay him AND the salary of the new coach and staff. That's a lot of lettuce to eat, even for SMU boosters. It's not fiscally responsible to make that kind of a move at a school that doesn't have big TV dollars coming in.

I would be willing to bet this is an extension in name only. The three years is for recruiting purposes, so that the few recruits who are interested in us don't get scared off. If you extend June just one year, that sends a message that he isn't going to be sticking around.

I would also be willing to bet none of the money past 2014 is guaranteed, and there is either no buyout or a minimal one. And I'm betting that after the 2014 the season the public climate will be more conducive to fire "the coach who brought SMU back from the dead."

Sometimes you have to take a step backward to move forward.

I'm glad this is how you "feel".

SMU has done nothing to make me think they are this smart whatsoever. Turner doesn't care.

Why did you put "feel" in quotes but not "think"?

[peruna11]

[SMUer]

This might be a smart move but it isn't the right move. None of our recruits are worth worrying about and this publically communicates a weakness and apathy towards building a winning program which will be more injurious to the program than the cost buyout would be.

[Rebel10]

I may give Hart a chance because it sounds like he is raising expectations for June in his quote. That means he has the means to hold him accountable.

[Pugilistic Pony]

Wow. I get accused of blasphemy to SMU for pointing out a few facts as I see them, yet, on this thread, we have many ready to turn their backs on their alma mater over a football coach. DRAMA QUEENS!!!!

[PK]

We can only hope that conditions and performance requirements were included in the extension including a huge upgrade in recruiting efforts and results.

[SMU89]

The devil is in the details, folks. Maybe I'm naive, but a three-year extension is only as good as the guarantees in the contract.

June was going to get paid for 2014 no matter what, right? If you fire him, you have to pay him AND the salary of the new coach and staff. That's a lot of lettuce to eat, even for SMU boosters. It's not fiscally responsible to make that kind of a move at a school that doesn't have big TV dollars coming in.

I would be willing to bet this is an extension in name only. The three years is for recruiting purposes, so that the few recruits who are interested in us don't get scared off. If you extend June just one year, that sends a message that he isn't going to be sticking around.

I would also be willing to bet none of the money past 2014 is guaranteed, and there is either no buyout or a minimal one. And I'm betting that after the 2014 the season the public climate will be more conducive to fire "the coach who brought SMU back from the dead."

Sometimes you have to take a step backward to move forward.

^^^^This is the most intelligent analysis of the situation in this entire thread. Agree completely.

^^^^^Agree with your analysis of the analysis.

[ghost]

It is done by people in the know so why don't we focus on each of us doing whatever we can to support the teams the best we can so they can't blame the fans next time. If SMU had better fan support and attendance then maybe we could attract better candidates for the football position.

[ftworthmustang]

“I appreciate the opportunity to continue the work we began six years ago. There is no place I’d rather be than here at SMU,” Jones said. “I am proud of the progress we have made thus far, but many goals remain unfinished, including restoring SMU football’s championship tradition.”

“Coach Jones and his staff have successfully engineered our football program’s journey from relative obscurity to competitive relevance,” Hart said. “Under their direction, we have participated in a conference championship game a school-record four-consecutive bowl games. We look forward to partnering with Coach Jones as we now set our sights on the next phase of our rise to prominence: establishing SMU football as a championship program. Coach Jones and his staff share and embrace the high expectations for our program and the challenge of taking SMU football from good to great.”

This was written to reassure those who don't follow the program in detail like most of on here. Has nothing to do with reality. It is all lip service to keep the majority onboard. I'm sure it was released today to prevent the fans who know what is going on from storming (so to speak) the AD's office, since they are closed.

[peruna11]

It is done by people in the know so why don't we focus on each of us doing whatever we can to support the teams the best we can so they can't blame the fans next time. If SMU had better fan support and attendance then maybe we could attract better candidates for the football position.

Larry Brown gets it. I don't know why June and many on here expect fans to show up without a worthy product on the field. There is no better example of cart before the horse.

Larry's quote from D Magazine this week:

The only thing missing was the fans. But I’m hopeful we’re going to have a better team and get the students more involved. Since we’re the only Division I team in Dallas, you’d like to have people in the community want to follow us. But that’s on us. It’s not on the people. We’ve gotta be a good enough team and play the right way, where people want to see us play. That’s our goal.

Anyone blaming fans for anything should be fired.

[ponyinNC]

It is done by people in the know so why don't we focus on each of us doing whatever we can to support the teams the best we can so they can't blame the fans next time. If SMU had better fan support and attendance then maybe we could attract better candidates for the football position.

Larry Brown gets it. I don't know why June and many on here expect fans to show up without a worthy product on the field. There is no better example of cart before the horse.

Larry's quote from D Magazine this week:

The only thing missing was the fans. But I’m hopeful we’re going to have a better team and get the students more involved. Since we’re the only Division I team in Dallas, you’d like to have people in the community want to follow us. But that’s on us. It’s not on the people. We’ve gotta be a good enough team and play the right way, where people want to see us play. That’s our goal.

Anyone blaming fans for anything should be fired.

Spot on post

[blackoutpony]

It is done by people in the know so why don't we focus on each of us doing whatever we can to support the teams the best we can so they can't blame the fans next time. If SMU had better fan support and attendance then maybe we could attract better candidates for the football position.

Larry Brown gets it. I don't know why June and many on here expect fans to show up without a worthy product on the field. There is no better example of cart before the horse.

Larry's quote from D Magazine this week:

The only thing missing was the fans. But I’m hopeful we’re going to have a better team and get the students more involved. Since we’re the only Division I team in Dallas, you’d like to have people in the community want to follow us. But that’s on us. It’s not on the people. We’ve gotta be a good enough team and play the right way, where people want to see us play. That’s our goal.

Anyone blaming fans for anything should be fired.

Yup, yup. Right on

[EastStang]

While I think JJ may have played out his string here. I can't say that this is a surprise. He's done some good things while here and made some mistakes. Hopefully, next year he gets some class A recruits and we pull off some upsets next year. I'm worried about the QB position right now. We looked kind of weak after GG went down and we need to do better next year or we'll be dead meat.

[sbsmith]

While I think JJ may have played out his string here. I can't say that this is a surprise. He's done some good things while here and made some mistakes. Hopefully, next year he gets some class A recruits and we pull off some upsets next year. I'm worried about the QB position right now. We looked kind of weak after GG went down and we need to do better next year or we'll be dead meat.

How many "Class A" recruits do you think are going to commit to a lame duck HC that probably doesn't even know where their high schools are located?