NY Pony wrote:This guy is so bad in interviews, it's amazing he's had the jobs he's had. Could you imagine sitting across the table from June with him as a candidate, he can't have been impressive.
Strangely enough, I've heard he is GREAT in one-on-ones with recruits and parents for in-home visits. I know some guys who were recruited by several Big 12 and SEC schools in addition to SMU, and they said JJ was great with parents and does a solid sales pitch in private conversation. Talks up his NFL ties, the values and culture of the program, how you can get a great education and how he doesn't put up with behavioral BS. They said they and their parents came away very impressed with him
It's too bad he doesnt give a [deleted] about recruiting unless Rick holds his feet to the fire- he could actually be good at it if he cared
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East Coast Mustang wrote:Strangely enough, I've heard he is GREAT in one-on-ones with recruits and parents for in-home visits. I know some guys who were recruited by several Big 12 and SEC schools in addition to SMU, and they said JJ was great with parents and does a solid sales pitch in private conversation. Talks up his NFL ties, the values and culture of the program, how you can get a great education and how he doesn't put up with behavioral BS. They said they and their parents came away very impressed with him
And yet he can't seem to close the deal with hardly any of them...............
FWIW, having covered the Mustangs of nearly 20 years, I wouldn't necessarily disagree with Jones on this.
The downside is that I also realize that every head coach at every conference pre-season press conference across the nation talking up the silver linings of their teams. So while we may indeed have more talent across the board, it seems to me that we also have more than our usual share of question marks coming into the season (which is saying something).
This year is a total crapshoot IMHO.
"ItΓÇÖs hard to overstate how impressive SMU has been on the recruiting trail since the ACC announced the Mustangs would be joining the leagueΓÇ¥ ΓÇôΓÇô The Athletic
No proven QB, no game changer at RB (unless Gresham is a beast from day one), no consistent deep threat at WR, average OL, good experience and depth in the front seven, and a carnival of clowns in the secondary.
No proven QB, no game changer at RB (unless Gresham is a beast from day one), no consistent deep threat at WR, average OL, good experience and depth in the front seven, and a carnival of clowns in the secondary.
No proven QB, no game changer at RB (unless Gresham is a beast from day one), no consistent deep threat at WR, average OL, good experience and depth in the front seven, and a carnival of clowns in the secondary.
I think he knows what talent he has. He has consistently said for 2-3 years they are getting better, bigger athletes. So this is very consistent with what he has said for a while. What he does NOT know, nor do we, how many of those better athletes will perform as very good football players. We can speculate all day long, but no one will really know till October.
ponyswim wrote:We can speculate all day long, but no one will really know till October.
Which really sucks when you consider that by the time we get to October we realistically could be 0-4 and a good chunk of what little fanbase there is will have already packed it in for the season.
"I don't think anyone around the country has any idea how good we are going to be." - Coach Justin Stepp