DMN spanks June

[ALEX LIFESON]

http://collegesportsblog.dallasnews.com ... ason.html/

[fifty]

It's about time. June didn't fall on the grenade. He saw it, threw it into his camp and ran. And got paid 2million for it.

[goldenstang]

Its EJ, he has said all this for awhile.

[redpony]

Good article. And then we have this troll Billy Embody who is still obviously drinking the JJ koolaid and pimping for his friend. Who is he? If he is with Scout or Rivals I would cancel my subscription immediately. Here is the response he tweeted last night to another tweet about JJ.

" SMU News ‏@PonyUpSports 15h15 hours ago @KerryBrooke The entire story is JJ gave up after ASU fiasco, quit on program, didnt recruit, left with worst team maybe in cfball history"

"Billy Embody ‏@BillyEmbody 14h14 hours ago @PonyUpSports @KerryBrooke Left out the 4 straight bowl games, 2 wins, multiple players in the NFL, etc all without recruiting "

[Digetydog]

Good article. And then we have this troll Billy Embody who is still obviously drinking the JJ koolaid and pimping for his friend. Who is he? If he is with Scout or Rivals I would cancel my subscription immediately. Here is the response he tweeted last night to another tweet about JJ.

"SMU News ‏@PonyUpSports 15h15 hours ago @KerryBrooke The entire story is JJ gave up after ASU fiasco, quit on program, didnt recruit, left with worst team maybe in cfball history"

"Billy Embody ‏@BillyEmbody 14h14 hours ago @PonyUpSports @KerryBrooke Left out the 4 straight bowl games, 2 wins, multiple players in the NFL, etc all without recruiting "

I think that you have misconstrued Embody's views on Junesus from one tweet. He was/is not a June apologist. In that tweet, he was pointing out what June did correct and what he did not do - recruit.

If you read his entire timeline (or his site), he is generally critical of June's performance.

[Comet]

Bill Embody sees June like the rest of us (well most of us - the sane ones).

[PSCA]

While I can't argue with anything that EJ stated in his article ... I have a hard time reading anything this dude puts out, because I am not a fan of his. I think he is a smug, semi-disingenuous, and a arrogant little s---. He never was a fan of JJ's from very early on, and you could tell JJ felt the same. Again, not arguing his points. I can tell you, while he was a SMU reporter, very few if any of the players liked him, or the way he when about his business.

As far as Billy, na .. he has never been a JJ sympathizer IMO. He also played on the team for a year or two at the start of JJ's tenure. He has hammered him too. Pointing out he went to 4 bowls (3 wins) a div title and played for a conf title etc. etc, does not make you a fan or supporter, just makes you a fair and balanced reporter ... something I do not think EJ is. To EJ supporters, family/friends, it is just MO

[NavyCrimson]

Gosh!!! I love those retro-unis!!!!

Huh?? Aren't they a little late???!!!

Just last year, about this time, the whole $%%$ DMN was saying how lucky we were to have JJ!!!

Now they're changing their tune???

Does this paper have any credibility anymore???????????? Any?????????????

[1983 Cotton Bowl]

Well, you have to give June credit for one thing. . .he gets inside your head. Love June or hate him, PFs are still talking about him, still fulminating about how he left the program, still wondering if anyone else in the wider world sees through the myth and understands his failings here, and still obsessing about whether he will get another job and where.

Here is my two cents on June (for what little its worth). I think it helps to view his tenure in the wider context of how the program has developed since Caven was fired in 2001. At that point, the program was flat on its back, talent-wise, university support-wise, conference affiliation-wise, and perception-wise. Bennett came in and had a rough go for the first couple of years, but was able to slowly build it up. By the mid-2000's we took a step up in conference and were on the brink of a small bowl, but we blew that and Bennett subsequently lost his mojo. But I think in the mid-2000s Bennett did show that you could at least make SMU into something other than a perennial 2-10, 1-11, or 0-12 team. June must have seen that.

Enter June Jones after Bennett crapped out. June came here in 2008 when the program was once again in the dumps (but overall program-wise, in much better shape than when Bennett inherited it). June took the team built largely by Bennett and turned it around. He changed the attitude, he won some games, put some guys in the NFL, and basically got the program to the next level from where Bennett had. We finally got over the hump and made it to a bowl. In fact, we made it to 4 straight, which was a good accomplishment (even if they weren't necessarily the bowls we'd love to see the Ponies play in). We took another jump up the conference ladder. And he raised the profile of the program further than Bennett had and demonstrated (to a greater extent than Bennett) that SMU is not necessarily the coaching graveyard that it was perceived to be for so many years.

Like Bennett, June peaked and then crapped-out. His long-term failures in recruiting were his undoing, as we all know very well. But without the accomplishments of Bennett in the mid-2000's and the University's increased commitment, I don't think we'd have gotten June in 2008. Likewise, without June's accomplishments from 2008-2012 and the vastly more robust University support that came to fruition during his tenure, we would not have landed Morris. Now its up to Morris to put it all together and get the program to the next level.

So yes, June left in an ugly way. Yes, June did some things (ASU, lack of recruiting, lack of outreach to the SMU community, abandoning the team to get more sleep, etc) that justifiably pissed us off, and yes, it was definitely time (and more likely passed time) for June to go. But in the end, I like to step back and view things in the long-term. And I think when you do that the June Jones era at SMU was largely a step in the right direction.

That's my piece on June. I will speak no more on this subject save to wish him the best in his future endeavors (which, for the record, I do not believe will include coaching at the D-1A level again).

[ghost]

Those close to the program could see it coming even with some success from the bowl games. Instead of taking advantage of the situation coming from Hawaii and hitting the Texas high school coaches offices and building up the egos of the Texas high school coaches, He preferred to kick back and think he would get enough guys coming to him. Might have worked but his football camp in the summer at SMU was a joke. No evaluation and poorly organized compared to others in Texas. SMU higher ups should have demanded he work or fire him for cause. Instead they let the program go on a rapid downslide from average to one of the worst football programs, at any level, in the nation. Shame on him and SMU. Sad that some fine young men on this team and some good coaches will remember their final days at SMU this way. On the other hand, maybe it was better to implode this way over a 2-3 year period rather than withering away over a 8-10 year period with 3 or 4 wins a year which caused the SMU people to act drastically. Still, the SMU potential is there but as Bum said "potential just means you ain't done it yet".

[Digetydog]

Well, you have to give June credit for one thing. . .he gets inside your head. Love June or hate him, PFs are still talking about him, still fulminating about how he left the program, still wondering if anyone else in the wider world sees through the myth and understands his failings here, and still obsessing about whether he will get another job and where.

Here is my two cents on June (for what little its worth). I think it helps to view his tenure in the wider context of how the program has developed since Caven was fired in 2001. At that point, the program was flat on its back, talent-wise, university support-wise, conference affiliation-wise, and perception-wise. Bennett came in and had a rough go for the first couple of years, but was able to slowly build it up. By the mid-2000's we took a step up in conference and were on the brink of a small bowl, but we blew that and Bennett subsequently lost his mojo. But I think in the mid-2000s Bennett did show that you could at least make SMU into something other than a perennial 2-10, 1-11, or 0-12 team. June must have seen that.

Enter June Jones after Bennett crapped out. June came here in 2008 when the program was once again in the dumps (but overall program-wise, in much better shape than when Bennett inherited it). June took the team built largely by Bennett and turned it around. He changed the attitude, he won some games, put some guys in the NFL, and basically got the program to the next level from where Bennett had. We finally got over the hump and made it to a bowl. In fact, we made it to 4 straight, which was a good accomplishment (even if they weren't necessarily the bowls we'd love to see the Ponies play in). We took another jump up the conference ladder. And he raised the profile of the program further than Bennett had and demonstrated (to a greater extent than Bennett) that SMU is not necessarily the coaching graveyard that it was perceived to be for so many years.

Like Bennett, June peaked and then crapped-out. His long-term failures in recruiting were his undoing, as we all know very well. But without the accomplishments of Bennett in the mid-2000's and the University's increased commitment, I don't think we'd have gotten June in 2008. Likewise, without June's accomplishments from 2008-2012 and the vastly more robust University support that came to fruition during his tenure, we would not have landed Morris. Now its up to Morris to put it all together and get the program to the next level.

So yes, June left in an ugly way. Yes, June did some things (ASU, lack of recruiting, lack of outreach to the SMU community, abandoning the team to get more sleep, etc) that justifiably [deleted] us off, and yes, it was definitely time (and more likely passed time) for June to go. But in the end, I like to step back and view things in the long-term. And I think when you do that the June Jones era at SMU was largely a step in the right direction.

That's my piece on June. I will speak no more on this subject save to wish him the best in his future endeavors (which, for the record, I do not believe will include coaching at the D-1A level again).

If June had left for ASU, I think that things would have been fine as the new coach could have built upon his successes. Unfortunately, we didn't have the stones/money to cut ties when we should have.

[SMUstangs22]

Perhaps Tom Mason has not been contacted about another job because his defense was terrible as well.

[fifty]

Mason had a dominant defense in general. Sucked this year but it's sad that people have such a short memory. One year you're a genius, the next year you're an idiot.

[PSCA]

Sports is not a what have you done for me lately game ... it's a what have you done for me in the last 5mins game. Every coach knows, the ultimate results based gig. Mason's "D" is the reason IMO we went to 4 straight bowls and won 3. In 2011 the "D" was the 26th best overall rated in the Nation, dropped into the 60's in 2012, but in 30's vs the run. Had this years "D" been 2011, or maybe even 2012 ... maybe CM gives him a look. But, it was not, so he is now looking.

Mason may not be Kirby Smart, but he is a good DC, and a better person. He will land a gig. JJ changed a lot of things internally after the ASU deal, the impact was felt everywhere and touched everybody.

[SMU2007]

Mason had a dominant defense in general. Sucked this year but it's sad that people have such a short memory. One year you're a genius, the next year you're an idiot.

Does this look dominant to you?

Defensive ranking by points allowed:
2014: #127
2013: #100
2012: #54
2011: #40 (best year)
2010: #59