Warbow wrote: He couldn't even afford a 1/2 tank of gas to make a 20 minute trip to the North shore of Hawaii to visit Hawaii's football powerhouse High school Kahuku. Instead he burned his bridges with the coaches there and was then not welcomed on the North shore.
I believe he was worth it. We went to four bowls and won three (Does he have the best SMU bowl record of all coaches?). We did play for a conference championship.
We had none of those post -DP with any coach.
And all the previous coaches have left the program in a mess. That is one big reason they got fired or 'resign'. So he really didn't leave the program much different than any other post DP coach.
It was nice, real nice, having 4-5 years of not being the worse program in the nation year in and year out. For one brief period, we won, went to bowls and weren't a total embarrassment. Prior to Jones nothing comes close to that level of success.
It wasn't Jones' fault we played in the WAC or CUSA. And he may have helped us get into the AAC. It may not be a big time football conference but it is a powerhouse MBB conference. So overall an improvement for the entire department.
The question wasn't hiring him, but when to separate from him. After the ASU issue? After last season? One can only speculate.
But unlike any other time we have looked for a new Fb coach, this time there we have a significantly better pool interested in the job than only other post DP time.
Where is the gang of 5 or 10 who strongly supported JJ until the very end? This gang led by Mexmustang claiming we just didn't understand JJ and his method of recruiting. The gang that had an excuse for each recruit without any other offers. The gang with an excuse for every strange off the field move by JJ. The gang who tried to make us critics look like the worst fans ever. How dare we question JJ?
Now that it is painfully obvious to everyone he royally screwed over this university, where is the gang now?
SMU-12 NCAA appearances, 1 Final Four 2014-15 & 2016-17 AAC Men's Basketball Champs
I think there is just a gang, myself included, that wasn't going to judge until the results came in. Once the results started coming in, everyone was fine with the change.
