No awards banquet for '08 team!

[ProudMama]

June Jones made several comments at the season, that players were doing just the bare minimum. He said he had NEVER seen the weight room empty during the middle of the day, at any place he had ever been. Mabey that has something to do with, winning two games in two seasons.

That's because June Jones has NEVER coached student athletes at a school with SMU's academic expectations. These guys have mandatory weights/ practice/ film/ meetings in the morning and in the afternoon. Isn't the middle of the day when they go to class? Class might not have been as critical at Hawaii, but I remember lectures being fairly important if you wanted to pass Finance. June seems to not have any kind of problem throwing kids under the bus for lack of work ethic, "ingrained loser mentality", breaking team rules etc. Isn't it part of his job to teach these kids what it takes to win? I'm not a coach, but I didn't know harping about your lame players in the paper or on the Hawaii 5.0 Sports Radio Network was a winning motivational technique.

They have the morning sessions so they have the time during the day for academics. If someone cuts class, they are warned first, then suspended. I have no problem with JJ's philosophy on accountability and responsibility. Time management is part of growing up. JJ has a gentle personality, treats his student athletes like men, and many of them currently are in man-training.

As the mother of a kid that was suspended I must first state that Coach Jones is not "throwing kids under the bus for lack of work ethic". These young men know what they need to do and if they choose not to then discipline is in order. I heard Coach Jones once say that in the pros you don't miss practice and events because there's hundreds of other players that would just love to take your place. That is true at the college level as well. When I think of how fortunate Evan is to have gotten this opportunity the responsibilty that comes with it seems nominal. And yes, they are currently in man training....which is working. I have seen my son mature this past semester and make a strong commitment to fulfill his responsibility. For that I say thank you Coach Jones...your gentle personality is a gift from God and I wouldn't want anyone else to be in the position to teach my son to be a man.

Mrs. H

[ALEX LIFESON]

Very well put ProudMama, thank you for your input. And tell Evan not to cut his hair!

Fear the June Jones Air Force!

[Get_Some_Ponies]

Proud Mama. Isn't Evan sitting in class during the middle of the day? Or at least isn't that where he should be? I have a third party relationship with some current players and from what they say they're sitting in class during the middle of the day.

June Jones saying "I've never seen an empty weight room in the middle of the day" is throwing somebody under the bus. Going on the Hawaii radio network and saying none of his current kids could make the Hawaii team is throwing them under the bus.

[ProudMama]

Proud Mama. Isn't Evan sitting in class during the middle of the day? Or at least isn't that where he should be? I have a third party relationship with some current players and from what they say they're sitting in class during the middle of the day.

June Jones saying "I've never seen an empty weight room in the middle of the day" is throwing somebody under the bus. Going on the Hawaii radio network and saying none of his current kids could make the Hawaii team is throwing them under the bus.

Actually I'm not sure he meant exactly the middle of the day. Yes, the kids should be in class then. I do know that Evan is in the weight room when he's supposed to be, whatever time that is. I did not hear the radios show so I really can't comment.

[High Horse]

Back in the fall, when the statement was made that players were never in the weight room during the middle of the day, I was not sure how exactly that was supposed to happen. Practice is at 7 followed by classes beginning at maybe 10 to 11 and then back to the stadium to watch film at 3-4. Players are required to take 15 hours with the possibility to drop back to 12 to remain eligible. You do the math. I'm not sure where the extra time to hit the weight room is. Remember with travel they also have to make up tests and quizzes that they may have missed and it's a strike to cut class. SMU does a wonderful job of selling the student/ athlete image, but there seems to be a certain amount of disdain that their athletes might actually have to study and attend class.Certainly, there are no easy jock majors, and there might be the heart of the problem. Note the priority placed by the term in identifying these guys as "student/athletes" is not athlete/students.

[huskerpony]

I didn't hear Jones's entire statement, but my guess would be that he could likely have been referring to the spring or the summer as well. There is some strength training that goes on during the season as well, but my guess would be that he was referring to many of the players commitment during the off-season.

There seems to be a lot of hyper-defensiveness about this statement from some though. However, the argument about what a tough school SMU is doesn't wash......Stanford, Northwestern, Wake Forest, Vanderbilt, Rice, Notre Dame, Illinois, Michigan, Cal, UVA--all rigorous academic institutions with very respectable athletic programs and much more successful football programs than SMU in recent years. (Some more athlete friendly than others, obviously, but the majority of them are at least more difficult from a grading scale perspective.)

And football players don't miss that much class. It is the sport that misses the fewest number of classes BY A LONG SHOT. Games are on Saturdays. And there are usually no more than 6 road games per year--and a lot of SMU's travel is within Texas. I assume that the team doesn't leave a day early to get over to Ft. Worth. So the idea that the football players are taking make-up quizzes from the 5 or 6 days of class they missed and therefore don't have time to get in the weight room............i think you are grasping at straws.

So can we assume that--1) the coach is upset with at least a few of the players commitment to training, 2) he was making a simple statement to try to motivate his players to work harder, or 3) both of the above?

[Get_Some_Ponies]

I assume that the team doesn't leave a day early to get over to Ft. Worth. So the idea that the football players are taking make-up quizzes from the 5 or 6 days of class they missed and therefore don't have time to get in the weight room............i think you are grasping at straws.

So can we assume that--1) the coach is upset with at least a few of the players commitment to training, 2) he was making a simple statement to try to motivate his players to work harder, or 3) both of the above?

Actually I think they do roll out to Fort Worth the night before TCU. They stay in a hotel the Friday night before home games. But in all honesty that isn't that much different than any other student taking a road trip over the weekend and it's not like student athletes are short on academic support so I don't feel immensely sorry for the fellas or doubt they can succeed academically.

I agree with you that it's probably a motivational technique and fully admit that I wouldn't know the first place to start with coaching a team. However at times it didn't appear like Jones was all that interested in taking a real shot at it last year. The stuff from the radio, the weight room comments, benching the best offensive player to roll with an unprepared QB, not letting the scout team and red shirt guys dress out for home games like in prior years, the rinky dink post game thing after the USM game, etc. start to add up and I don't think they add up to the culture of winning he's talking about having.

Again, I admit I wouldn't know how to run a D-I football program, but I do know how to build teams and I do know how to get people vested in a vision and it's generally not by repeatedly telling anyone who'll listen that my team belong to a shocking "culture of losing." As a leader it's my job to set the tone and to set the culture and let's be real: SMU grads and boosters aren't a bunch of losers. I haven't encountered a lot of Cox or Deadman grads that were ok with losing.

USC sucked before Pete Carroll showed up and he had them competing hard for him within about 15 minutes. Granted he had better athletes but it was about getting them to buy into his system. At $2M per Jones can't get a bunch of 18-24 year old kids to buy into his? There's no former Mustangs or Cowboys around that he could have brought in to get this thing going? Using J Will as an occasional third quarter option fodder/ BLM sack absorber was going to work? If the plan was just to weed out the old players and start over with the new recruits and that's the way this thing gets fixed long term I guess it's worth it but I would imagine the Circle of Rich Guys were expecting a little more in the interim. I know I and a lot of alumni were. Hell, Peruna was. Anyone see the giant dump he laid out on the 50 at the end of the last game?

Looking forward to this thing tomorrow and to next season and the end of this depressing garbage.

[ALEX LIFESON]

They do not travel to Ft Worth, the night before the game.