OMG! I'm defending June Jones....I think

[Mitch McConnell]

Regarding Texas, perhaps the coaching staff is still confronting some barriers -- as a whole -- and back-to-back bowl appearances still doesn't lend itself to getting the program in serious contention for the top players.

Back-to-back bowl appearances do improve the image of the school, but as for barriers? Of course: they're called Texas, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, etc. So until we get to the level that we can go toe-to-toe with those programs on the recruiting trail, we have to get the best players possible, regardless of where they're from, so we can win more and then compete with anyone for recruits ... from anywhere.

... Is June Jones admitting he can't do what it took Franchione/Patterson 1/2 year to get rolling in Texas with their coaching staffs filled with experienced Texas recruiters...

He is admitting nothing of the sort. He and his staff are simply identifying the best players they can get — picking their recruiting battles, as it were. When he can win other (in-state) battles, our coaches will pick those fights, too, and will win some of them. But it's a waste of time and resources to go after guys who don't take SMU seriously and inexplicably have their hearts set on wearing the vomit-colored uniforms in Austin.

Ignoring where our recruits are coming from, are we not gettting the job done?

Look, if you're going to bring logic into the conversation, you're really going to deflate the arguments of those who just want to complain for the sake of complaining.

Wow

[Stallion]

Didn't Surfer Dude tweet last year we were about to start kickin' the [deleted] out of Texas in recruiting pretty soon.

[RGV Pony]

I'm wondering...if Klemm is to SMU as Orgeron is to USC, does Orgeron have a disproportionate # of offers/commits etc as Klemm does? I've always heard that Orgeron is the recruiting king

[ponyboy]

Didn't Surfer Dude tweet last year we were about to start kickin' the [deleted] out of Texas in recruiting pretty soon.

I swear you are not able to type a word without about a thousand agendas peeking out from under it. It's more than a little tiresome as it'd be kind of nice to have an actual conversation some time.

You seem to think that if we're not recruiting well in Texas we are doomed. Can you give a little data to back it up for the geniuses out here who don't understand why zip code determines athletic ability?

[Cadillac]

It seems to me that the basis for the perceived need to recruit locally is based more on economics and logistics than anything else. It is cheaper and easier to drive over to Skyline to check out the talent and make inroads than it is to fly out to LA (either the city or the state lol). From that perspective, it really does boggle the mind that from appearances, SMU has decided to go another direction. I do not know what has caused this shift, but it certainly doesn't appear to be an accident.

The offshoot of this, to my mind anyhow, is that if you have a finite budget, and you are targeting more athletes from farther away, you won't be able to recruit as many. That seems like basic math to me. Clearly in this day and age of digital media, you can accomplish a lot for a little in the film room, but you still want to get out there and meet these men before you can choose between who gets a nod and who doesn't. The difference in numbers could be why we're showing fewer reported offers than our competition. This reflects right back to the first point as to why recruiting locally (especially in the talent rich DFW area) is the preferred method of building a team.

With regard to Klemm being the main recruiter, I wonder if he's really just acting as the closer on these kids. I really don't think that Klemm is watching film of Chris Davis to see if he likes how he runs his routes. There's a ton of work going into scouting and choosing these athletes. Klemm makes the calls, takes the flights, and shakes the hands of more than the rest of the staff. But that doesn't mean that everyone else is sitting on their asses waiting for retirement.

So, I'm not sure I understand the first point (not focusing on more local recruiting), but I have no problem with the second one (Klemm being the face of SMU recruiting).

Please flame away, it's what we do best lol.

-CoS

[Mexmustang]

I think you have good points to make, but for me, that for seven coaches to have only 5 offers out in Texas, that includes one SMU commit and another player that announced SMU was not on his top 3, what are they waiting for? They only have 3 working offers in the state? It is also my feeling that June is making those evaluations, along with Mason, not other position coaches.

[ponyboy]

I won't address the economics of the cost of gas or whatever, recruiting locally versus recruiting further away. That seems immaterial. And don't tell me about volume: Scattershooting a bunch of offers has never been a good strategy. You target fits to your program, your system.

Look, I guess the end results will show in February. We will have good football players or we won't. They'll have addresses from Uptown or Taipai, neither of which seems to matter in terms of whether they can play.

[Cadillac]

I don't disagree that February will bear this out, and I'm sure no matter how it turns out, these threads will be dug up to prove the point one way or the other.

I just find it puzzling that one of the richest football hots pots in the country apparently doesn't have the "fits to the program" I'm less concerned about saying the staff is right or wrong, and more concerned for trying to understand their strategy here.

-CoS

[stc9]

I know the Texas mentality, "If it is not from Texas, its Sh$t". But really, who cares where we find players.

First off I love SMU and want what best for the Program and School. We can have disagreements on what is best or what is the best way to go about things. But where we get our recruits is a silly thing to keep bringing up. Our program is moving in the right direction - Finally.

Think of Texas Recruiting in the follwoing way. SMU has a 25 year legacy of not caring anything about football. Every High School Coach in Texas knows this. Every player in the State of Texas knows this. Go back a couple of years and we were 1 and 11. Every prospect in Texas knows this. Look at our direct competition for prospects. They are either in an AQ Conference or several years ahead of us in building a serious program (Houston & TCU). Now look at our indirect competition - The SEC, The rest of the Big XII (-2), and the Big Ten. Now add in our academic requirements.

One .500 season and one winning season doesn't erase these hurdles.

If the coaching staff mines other areas and is successful, what is the issue other than the Texas mentality.

As far as Klemm making all of the offers, I can think of several rational explanations for this. How about he is the one who is reporting to Rivals and Scout? Someone suggested he is the one who closes the deal. How about he makes initial contact and then turns them over to the position coach? The staff gives the player and HS Coach Klemms contact information as the person to follow up with if they have any questions. What if JJ wants to show how important Klemm is so he can get work out a raise?

JJ might be a loyal guy, but he is not a stupid guy. He isn't going to tolerate one guy doing all of the work or put all of his access to recruits in one person's hands. SMU can be outbid for Klemm's services. SMU outbid Hawaii after all.

[Corso]

I know the Texas mentality, "If it is not from Texas, its Sh$t". But really, who cares where we find players.

You are exactly right.

I have yet to hear a legitimate reason why we HAVE TO get Texas players. Maybe the elite players in Texas are not interested, meaning the players we're recruiting in California are (BLASPHEMY ALERT) better players.

[Stallion]

Yes you have. There has never been a successful Texas college football team not built overwhelmingly on Texas football players. That's the argument that has never been refuted. Give me one exception-just one. Take your time. The fact you don't know that basic fact reveals much about the credibility of your opinion on a subject you apparently know nothing about. There are 200 Division 1A prospects in our backyard-380 in Texas. Get off your lazy [deleted], do your job, sell Dallas, SMU and the program and recruit them-or go hire someone who can

[ponyboy]

Your logical ignorance is staggering. The onus is on you to show what zip code has to do with talent.

[Stallion]

So I guess you don't have one exception from any Texas team in the history of College Football. Thanks for playing

[ponyboy]

So I guess you can't explain what zip code has to do with talent. Thanks for playing.

[RGV Pony]

So I guess you don't have one exception from any Texas team in the history of College Football. Thanks for playing

I guess if June proves prophetic, we'll be able to cite 2012 SMU