Some info on JJ's offense that SMU fans might not know

[Garret]

My parents have been season ticket holders for over 30 years to UH (I'll use UH when I mean the University of Hawaii) games and I was raised a UH fan. I've seen many coaches come and go at UH and SMU fans are blessed to be getting June Jones. There are some things that you should know that I haven't seen reported in the Texas press or on this forum.

1. JJ's offense *does* have a running game. The 2007 season is NOT a good indicator for SMU fans, as UH had lost all of its top RBs and had its QB and 3 NFL-quality WRs returning. If you look at 2006, Nate Ilaoa had 990 yards rushing (7.6 yards per carry) and the only reason he didn't reach 1,000 yards was that he missed several full games and several parts of other games due to injury. The right RB can go over 1,000 in this offense, as there is a lot of open space and he often just has to beat one defender for a long gain. Other times the rushing load gets split between 2 or 3 RBs, with their total going well over 1,000 yards rushing.

2. JJ's offense does *not* require huge running backs. Michael Brewster, from Houston, was just 5'6" and 180 pounds and rushed for 772 yards (6.4 yards per carry) and had 273 receiving yards in 2004. In 2003, Brewster, West, and Bass were all around 180 pounds and combined for about 1100 yards rushing. UH also had a 266 pound RB (Keliikipi) in 2003 who had his yards also. As long as the RB can block, he can play. JJ's offense can go with jumbo-sized backs (as long as they have some speed in the open field) or with quick backs (as long as they can block adequately) that can make big gains when in the open field.

3. Has anyone pointed out that the top two RBs at UH in 2006 were both drafted by the NFL? Reagan Mauia was a backup DT that JJ converted to RB, where he was the backup to Nate. Reagan was drafted by the Dolphins and started the entire season at FB. So, the backup RB started the entire season at FB in the NFL!

Nate was taken by the Eagles and could have done well...if he could have gotten his weight down. JJ had to really get on Nate to get him to lose enough weight to have the quickness to be productive at UH...once he left Hawaii he apparently gained some weight in the offseason (which he did every year while at UH) and Philly was very direct with him when they told him he needed to lose weight. He never got to the weight they wanted, and they cut him.

4. UH's offensive line had a LOT of trouble against Georgia as I'm sure all SMU fans know. However, UH played with undersized offensive tackles all year who were in their first year of starting. What might not be known by SMU fans is that THREE offensive lineman in 2006 graduated and went to the NFL. *Both* tackles went to the NFL--Esera to Miami and Uperesa to Cinci. Samson Satele was a 2nd-round pick and the starting center for Miami all season, and was one of only TWO players Miami has that was praised by Dr. Z from SI and one of the ONLY players Miami has seems to have graded out well by NFL experts. Hawaii doesn't tend to have the same amount of quality depth as big name schools...losing 3 starters to the NFL at one time was going to hurt them. I believe that the Sugar Bowl would have been very different if UH had their 2006 offensive line...because the WRs were *open* (I was there to see it).

One of the returning starters on the OL from 2006 will be going to the NFL this year because he was a senior. Hercules Satele was also a first team All-American, a nice honor for UH and for Hercules. UH did fine with the interior of their OL this year, but their first-year tackle starters struggled this season...and were undersized, with the 6'1" guy (AhSoon) struggling the most.

5. JJ's offense does *not* have a TE, and I was sad to read how a mother of a current SMU TE is a poster on this board. He could be moved to tackle, RB, or DE depending on his size and what best suits his abilities. If he has more than one season left, he'll probably find his spot in the system...if he's a senior this season then he really could be hurt by the coaching change.

6. JJ shifts people around based on something he seems to be able to "see". I already mentioned how he moved a backup DT to RB and that RB is now going to have a long career in the NFL. He also moved two basketball players who were perfect TE sizes and changed them to DEs.

A perfect example of this is Ikaika Alama-Francis. He walked on to the UH basketball team and had very little playing time. Ikaika didn't play football in high school, but his Dad had a long NFL career (backup to Bart Starr). JJ took that walk-on skinny basketball player (who was a perfect TE size) and saw a DE. Through a lot of hard work on Ikaika's part, he bulked up, became a 2nd-round NFL draft pick in 2006, and will apparently be starting for the Lions in 2008.

7. By the way, lots of people might have felt that UH's DL was overmatched in the Sugar Bowl...though they actually didn't do that badly after they got used to being in such a big game (they stopped Georgia for quite some time until the TD Georgia scored on defnese and they were put in bad positions due to turnovers and offensive struggles). I should point out that BOTH starting DEs from the 2006 UH team were drafted by the NFL. Detroit took Ikaika and Cleveland took Mel Purcell.

When a mid-major team loses BOTH DEs, BOTH OTs, BOTH RBs, their C who was the leader of their team, and 3 others who made it to NFL camps (Baltimore, Jets, Raiders), there has to be some dropoff at some positions. To lose all of that and end up 12-0 and in a BCS bowl was amazing!

8. JJ's best defensive teams have been with Greg McMackin as his defensive coordinator. McMackin knows how to coach a D to mesh with JJ's type of offense, and he did far better than Glanville did. It is too bad for JJ that it seems that UH will hire McMackin for their head coaching job, but that is great for UH! McMackin is by far the best choice to replace JJ...though UH would love to have JJ back!

9. Jeff Reinbold has been UH's best recruiter in years (decades). He applied for the head coaching job, but withdrew his application in support of McMackin. He might be a candidate for SMU defensive coordinator...but he does love Hawaii. Reinbold has opened the floodgates for the "Texas pipeline" to UH...did you realize that at times the entire defensive secondary for UH was from the state of Texas?

10. June Jones, Wes Suan, and Dan Morrison will leave Honolulu to fly to Dallas on Sunday. I hope that you treat them well at SMU, as they are great people, excellent coaches, and I wish them well.

Sorry for the long post, but I hadn't seen a lot of this mentioned before...and I think that SMU fans might want to know this. I will still support UH, but SMU will become my 3rd favorite team.

[PlanoStang]

This is VERY VERY IMPORTANT

Does he do the swinging gate on extra point attempts

[TheBestAvailable]

Welcome to PonyFans! Great Post. Thanks for the information.

My parents have been season ticket holders for over 30 years to UH (I'll use UH when I mean the University of Hawaii) games and I was raised a UH fan. I've seen many coaches come and go at UH and SMU fans are blessed to be getting June Jones. There are some things that you should know that I haven't seen reported in the Texas press or on this forum.

1. JJ's offense *does* have a running game. The 2007 season is NOT a good indicator for SMU fans, as UH had lost all of its top RBs and had its QB and 3 NFL-quality WRs returning. If you look at 2006, Nate Ilaoa had 990 yards rushing (7.6 yards per carry) and the only reason he didn't reach 1,000 yards was that he missed several full games and several parts of other games due to injury. The right RB can go over 1,000 in this offense, as there is a lot of open space and he often just has to beat one defender for a long gain. Other times the rushing load gets split between 2 or 3 RBs, with their total going well over 1,000 yards rushing.

2. JJ's offense does *not* require huge running backs. Michael Brewster, from Houston, was just 5'6" and 180 pounds and rushed for 772 yards (6.4 yards per carry) and had 273 receiving yards in 2004. In 2003, Brewster, West, and Bass were all around 180 pounds and combined for about 1100 yards rushing. UH also had a 266 pound RB (Keliikipi) in 2003 who had his yards also. As long as the RB can block, he can play. JJ's offense can go with jumbo-sized backs (as long as they have some speed in the open field) or with quick backs (as long as they can block adequately) that can make big gains when in the open field.

3. Has anyone pointed out that the top two RBs at UH in 2006 were both drafted by the NFL? Reagan Mauia was a backup DT that JJ converted to RB, where he was the backup to Nate. Reagan was drafted by the Dolphins and started the entire season at FB. So, the backup RB started the entire season at FB in the NFL!

Nate was taken by the Eagles and could have done well...if he could have gotten his weight down. JJ had to really get on Nate to get him to lose enough weight to have the quickness to be productive at UH...once he left Hawaii he apparently gained some weight in the offseason (which he did every year while at UH) and Philly was very direct with him when they told him he needed to lose weight. He never got to the weight they wanted, and they cut him.

4. UH's offensive line had a LOT of trouble against Georgia as I'm sure all SMU fans know. However, UH played with undersized offensive tackles all year who were in their first year of starting. What might not be known by SMU fans is that THREE offensive lineman in 2006 graduated and went to the NFL. *Both* tackles went to the NFL--Esera to Miami and Uperesa to Cinci. Samson Satele was a 2nd-round pick and the starting center for Miami all season, and was one of only TWO players Miami has that was praised by Dr. Z from SI and one of the ONLY players Miami has seems to have graded out well by NFL experts. Hawaii doesn't tend to have the same amount of quality depth as big name schools...losing 3 starters to the NFL at one time was going to hurt them. I believe that the Sugar Bowl would have been very different if UH had their 2006 offensive line...because the WRs were *open* (I was there to see it).

One of the returning starters on the OL from 2006 will be going to the NFL this year because he was a senior. Hercules Satele was also a first team All-American, a nice honor for UH and for Hercules. UH did fine with the interior of their OL this year, but their first-year tackle starters struggled this season...and were undersized, with the 6'1" guy (AhSoon) struggling the most.

5. JJ's offense does *not* have a TE, and I was sad to read how a mother of a current SMU TE is a poster on this board. He could be moved to tackle, RB, or DE depending on his size and what best suits his abilities. If he has more than one season left, he'll probably find his spot in the system...if he's a senior this season then he really could be hurt by the coaching change.

6. JJ shifts people around based on something he seems to be able to "see". I already mentioned how he moved a backup DT to RB and that RB is now going to have a long career in the NFL. He also moved two basketball players who were perfect TE sizes and changed them to DEs.

A perfect example of this is Ikaika Alama-Francis. He walked on to the UH basketball team and had very little playing time. Ikaika didn't play football in high school, but his Dad had a long NFL career (backup to Bart Starr). JJ took that walk-on skinny basketball player (who was a perfect TE size) and saw a DE. Through a lot of hard work on Ikaika's part, he bulked up, became a 2nd-round NFL draft pick in 2006, and will apparently be starting for the Lions in 2008.

7. By the way, lots of people might have felt that UH's DL was overmatched in the Sugar Bowl...though they actually didn't do that badly after they got used to being in such a big game (they stopped Georgia for quite some time until the TD Georgia scored on defnese and they were put in bad positions due to turnovers and offensive struggles). I should point out that BOTH starting DEs from the 2006 UH team were drafted by the NFL. Detroit took Ikaika and Cleveland took Mel Purcell.

When a mid-major team loses BOTH DEs, BOTH OTs, BOTH RBs, their C who was the leader of their team, and 3 others who made it to NFL camps (Baltimore, Jets, Raiders), there has to be some dropoff at some positions. To lose all of that and end up 12-0 and in a BCS bowl was amazing!

8. JJ's best defensive teams have been with Greg McMackin as his defensive coordinator. McMackin knows how to coach a D to mesh with JJ's type of offense, and he did far better than Glanville did. It is too bad for JJ that it seems that UH will hire McMackin for their head coaching job, but that is great for UH! McMackin is by far the best choice to replace JJ...though UH would love to have JJ back!

9. Jeff Reinbold has been UH's best recruiter in years (decades). He applied for the head coaching job, but withdrew his application in support of McMackin. He might be a candidate for SMU defensive coordinator...but he does love Hawaii. Reinbold has opened the floodgates for the "Texas pipeline" to UH...did you realize that at times the entire defensive secondary for UH was from the state of Texas?

10. June Jones, Wes Suan, and Dan Morrison will leave Honolulu to fly to Dallas on Sunday. I hope that you treat them well at SMU, as they are great people, excellent coaches, and I wish them well.

Sorry for the long post, but I hadn't seen a lot of this mentioned before...and I think that SMU fans might want to know this. I will still support UH, but SMU will become my 3rd favorite team.

[ALEX LIFESON]

Wow, thanks for your post!

[Pony^]

Great post!

So what is your other favorite team? Hawaii, ???, SMU.

[Garret]

Great post!

So what is your other favorite team? Hawaii, ???, SMU.

By the way, no swinging gate. In fact, UH had a lot of special teams problems until they got a decent special teams coach--Dennis McKnight, who also was a BIG upgrade as their OL coach (Wes Suan, who will be SMU's RB coach, was the previous OL coach).

Dennis McKnight was both the special teams and OL coach, and was better at each job than anyone else UH had. He's the most animated person on the sidelines for UH and has the credibility of a long NFL career. McKnight apparently will announce tomorrow if he'll be going to SMU or staying with UH. I would give him just one of the 2 jobs unless SMU doesn't have a great coach at either position.

I lived in Texas for 9 years because I got 2 degrees from a certain Texas college...but that isn't a very popular one on this board so I'd hate to be an outcast already! I love Dallas and spent a lot of time there since I had a girlfriend who lived there.

[StallionsModelT]

You went to TCU didn't you. Its cool dude. I bet every poster on this board has friends that went to TCU.

[Dutch]

^thebestavailable:
did you need to quote that entire post just for a one line quip agreeing with him?

[Garret]

You went to TCU didn't you. Its cool dude. I bet every poster on this board has friends that went to TCU.

Nope, I went to a school that doesn't play SMU. My biggest problem with that school is that they were afraid to play Hawaii--they played UH when UH was down, but pulled out of a game with UH once UH got better. I guess I gave away which school that was...

I saw SMU play in the 80s when I was an undergrad. I worked in California for 4 years, then went back to for a graduate degree in the 90s when SMU was in the WAC...so I saw SMU play my 2nd favorite team in the Southwest Conference and play my favorite team in the WAC! I haven't seen SMU play since they went to C-USA, though I saw a lot of other C-USA teams in the Hawaii Bowl.

I guess I'll be *really* unpopular now, but I like Austin more than Dallas...especially when I was a college kid!

[PonyLove]

Whorns...lol....welcome anyway..

[Garret]

Whorns...lol....welcome anyway..

Thank you...I know that team isn't popular but I love their Engineering school. Plus, they bought me for both my BS and PhD degrees, so I was happy to go there on their money.

By the way, one BIG selling point that JJ used in Hawaii is that his NFL contacts would give their recruits a shot in the NFL. And he delivered on that promise, which made that recruiting pitch better than better. Last year UH had 5 players drafted (by far a record) and 10 total seniors ended up in NFL camps. I believe 8 players from the 2006 team stuck with NFL teams all season...impressive when you consider that UH was basically starting with poorly rated draft classes (rated around #75) and no real 3- or 4-star players out of high school.

The 2007 team will probably have Colt, Bess, Grice-Mullins, Rivers, Satele and Lafaele drafted, with Patek and several others drafted late or getting free agent deals. You *know* that JJ will use that in his recruiting pitches at SMU!

[Junior]

Actually, I would be an upgrade over the previous special teams coach.

Heck, so would Kiki.

[Canadian Mustang]

lots of people love the Horns on this board - Thad for example.

[Ponymon]

Actually, I would be an upgrade over the previous special teams coach.

Heck, so would Kiki.

What "special teams coach"? Bennett didn't believe in one!

[that's great raplh]

^thebestavailable:
did you need to quote that entire post just for a one line quip agreeing with him?

good point

try reading ponyfans on a blackberry not easy with huge quotes