Jones Making adjustments at SMU
Posted: Mon Apr 07, 2008 11:14 amhttp://starbulletin.com/2008/04/07/sports/story02.html
KEEPING UP WITH JONES
Making adjustments at SMU
By Mark Wangrin
Special to the Star-Bulletin
DALLAS » Last summer, Dan Morrison sat in the office of the offensive coordinator at SMU teaching the intricacies of the run-and-shoot offense.
Little did he know seven months later he'd be sitting in the same office, teaching the intricacies of the run-and-shoot offense.
Just sitting on the other side of the desk. The business side.
For Morrison and the other three Hawaii assistants who followed June Jones to SMU in January, that's only part of the long, strange trip it's been over the last few months.
» They've learned this rebuilding job is different than some of the others.
"The thing that separates this place is that I've never been at a place with such a burning desire to win like they used to. This place isn't Marshmallow Tech," receivers coach Jeff Reinebold said. "They've got tradition."
» They've learned what ice scrapers are for (clearing windshields) and that board shorts aren't the best when it's snowing.
"The other guys laugh at us when the temperature's in the middle 60s. Our blood's a little thin after all that time in Hawaii," Morrison said.
» They've learned to never say never.
"Every year since our first year at Hawaii in 1999, June has gotten calls from colleges to NFL teams," said offensive line coach Dennis McKnight. "After the first couple years and June didn't respond, we knew he had a deep love for Hawaii. We knew we'd be there for a long while."
» Wes Suan, who coaches running backs, learned there's some pretty good golf to be played in Dallas.
Still, the move may be the most profound for Morrison. When he was in Dallas last summer it was to visit his stepdaughter Nikki, who had married former SMU defensive back Donald Mitchell and settled in Dallas near the SMU campus. Mitchell introduced him to then-coach Phil Bennett, who asked him to speak to his offensive staff about the Warriors offense.
"It was kind of weird, but the last time we were here before that, Nikki and Donald were talking about starting a family," Morrison said. "When we came back here last summer, I went with my daughter to see her sonogram. My granddaughter, Melia Grace Mitchell, was born on Aug. 2, 2007."
In Hawaii, Morrison had ohana, the extended family that comes with living in the islands. His wife had been born and raised there, and he'd lived there 22 years.
"It would have taken a lot to pry us out of there."
Then his daughter had a baby and Jones took the SMU job.
"My assistants starting giggling at me," he joked. "I had just kind of fallen into it."
While Morrison is just as at home as he was in Hawaii, it's taken some adjustment time for Reinebold and McKnight.
"My first three weeks I had to leave breadcrumbs to find myself back home," Reinebold said. "We got here, they handed us car keys and told us to hit the road. My first night I had to stay in a hotel because I couldn't find the place where they'd put us up."
Reinebold, though, knew of SMU from having worked with Ron Meyer and Whitey Jordan.
"They said that if anybody ever went back into that place and got something going they could be great again," he said. "They just need a guy to come on board and be the marshal of the parade."
McKnight said that guy is Jones.
"June is kind of the guy who designs your backyard, puts in the garden, the fountain, the flowers. He's not the guy who comes in and edges and cuts the grass. He's not a maintenance guy."
The coaches said they all felt fiercely loyal to Jones and that's why they left Hawaii. But they all said it wasn't easy, because of their players -- whom they treated like family -- and the people on Oahu.
"They've got no phoniness, don't care what kind of car you drive or where you live," McKnight said. "They just think about having fun and living life."
KEEPING UP WITH JONES
Making adjustments at SMU
By Mark Wangrin
Special to the Star-Bulletin
DALLAS » Last summer, Dan Morrison sat in the office of the offensive coordinator at SMU teaching the intricacies of the run-and-shoot offense.
Little did he know seven months later he'd be sitting in the same office, teaching the intricacies of the run-and-shoot offense.
Just sitting on the other side of the desk. The business side.
For Morrison and the other three Hawaii assistants who followed June Jones to SMU in January, that's only part of the long, strange trip it's been over the last few months.
» They've learned this rebuilding job is different than some of the others.
"The thing that separates this place is that I've never been at a place with such a burning desire to win like they used to. This place isn't Marshmallow Tech," receivers coach Jeff Reinebold said. "They've got tradition."
» They've learned what ice scrapers are for (clearing windshields) and that board shorts aren't the best when it's snowing.
"The other guys laugh at us when the temperature's in the middle 60s. Our blood's a little thin after all that time in Hawaii," Morrison said.
» They've learned to never say never.
"Every year since our first year at Hawaii in 1999, June has gotten calls from colleges to NFL teams," said offensive line coach Dennis McKnight. "After the first couple years and June didn't respond, we knew he had a deep love for Hawaii. We knew we'd be there for a long while."
» Wes Suan, who coaches running backs, learned there's some pretty good golf to be played in Dallas.
Still, the move may be the most profound for Morrison. When he was in Dallas last summer it was to visit his stepdaughter Nikki, who had married former SMU defensive back Donald Mitchell and settled in Dallas near the SMU campus. Mitchell introduced him to then-coach Phil Bennett, who asked him to speak to his offensive staff about the Warriors offense.
"It was kind of weird, but the last time we were here before that, Nikki and Donald were talking about starting a family," Morrison said. "When we came back here last summer, I went with my daughter to see her sonogram. My granddaughter, Melia Grace Mitchell, was born on Aug. 2, 2007."
In Hawaii, Morrison had ohana, the extended family that comes with living in the islands. His wife had been born and raised there, and he'd lived there 22 years.
"It would have taken a lot to pry us out of there."
Then his daughter had a baby and Jones took the SMU job.
"My assistants starting giggling at me," he joked. "I had just kind of fallen into it."
While Morrison is just as at home as he was in Hawaii, it's taken some adjustment time for Reinebold and McKnight.
"My first three weeks I had to leave breadcrumbs to find myself back home," Reinebold said. "We got here, they handed us car keys and told us to hit the road. My first night I had to stay in a hotel because I couldn't find the place where they'd put us up."
Reinebold, though, knew of SMU from having worked with Ron Meyer and Whitey Jordan.
"They said that if anybody ever went back into that place and got something going they could be great again," he said. "They just need a guy to come on board and be the marshal of the parade."
McKnight said that guy is Jones.
"June is kind of the guy who designs your backyard, puts in the garden, the fountain, the flowers. He's not the guy who comes in and edges and cuts the grass. He's not a maintenance guy."
The coaches said they all felt fiercely loyal to Jones and that's why they left Hawaii. But they all said it wasn't easy, because of their players -- whom they treated like family -- and the people on Oahu.
"They've got no phoniness, don't care what kind of car you drive or where you live," McKnight said. "They just think about having fun and living life."