by Garret » Sun May 01, 2011 10:45 am
JJ sold the NFL angle while he was at Hawaii and it was a significant benefit for his recruiting, even convincing players like Colt Brennan to walk on at Hawaii instead of taking a scholarship to San Jose State. In addition to having a SMU player taken each year he has been there, JJ can also point to the players he recruited and coached at Hawaii that have been taken in the draft recently.
Draft Year, position, player name, round, and draft team:
2007: DE Ikaika Alama-Francis (walk-on to the basketball team who JJ convinced to walk-on for football)--2nd round Detroit Lions
C Samson satele--2nd round Miami Dolphins
2008: RB Reagan Mauia (converted from a backup DL)--6th round Miami Dolphins
DE Mel Purcell--6th round Cleveland Browns
RB Nate Ilaoa--7th round Philadelphia Eagles
2009: DE David Veikune--2nd round Cleveland Browns
QB Colt Brennan--6th round Washington Redskins
2010: CB Ryan Mouton--3rd round Tennessee Titans
LS Jake Ingram--6th round New England Patriots
2011: Slot Greg Salas (was tearing things up on the scout team in JJ's last year in Hawaii, but redshirted since the starting 4 WRs were all seniors and really good)--4th round St. Louis Rams
Slot Kealoha Pilares (started at RB on JJ's final season in Hawaii)--5th round Carolina Panthers
It took JJ 7 years at Hawaii, but he finally got the depth at receiver to the point where Salas could redshirt even though everyone knew he could be productive right away. SMU doesn't have the depth to do that yet, but in a few years they will.