June in Shreveport

[ponyte]

First question ask of Coach Jones was about the academic disappointments lately. Two issues addressed in the answer.

SMU will have a commitment to academically support athletes this fall. This has been lacking and has taken many folks working to make this happen. He feels this will better help current athletes and avoid academic casualties in the future.

The admissions process.

Coach Jones believes that SMU has lost for so long that the institution has to learn what it takes to win and stay a winner. This has been a learning process for the school. He feels that the current process has been addressed and in the future, what happen to the two young men will "never happen again.”

Coach Jones feels the best talent in the conference will be UAB, ECU and UH. UCF also but we don't play them.

He thinks there is a possibility that realignment will continue and that SMU is being proactive and will have options.

I have not seen or heard a person more enthused about SMU as an institution. Jones is genuinely impressed and I don’t get the impression he plans to leave anytime soon.

Coach Jones stated one of his goals it to make SMYU a top team and have the culture and processes needed to continue that after he leaves.

And he is very excited about the incoming Fr. Class. And he is very excited about the upcoming season. NO predictions just feels good about the year.

[expony18]

did anyone ask if he's signed his extension? apparently not since that thread got deleted

[davidpaul123]

Thanks for the update ponyte

[Insane_Pony_Posse]

"Coach Jones believes that SMU has lost for so long that the institution has to learn what
it takes to win and stay a winner. This has been a learning process for the school. He feels
that the current process has been addressed and in the future, what happen to the two young
men will "never happen again.”

Interesting..."NEVER AGAIN! I like that...Also interesting that not only
the players, but the school has to learn how to win. I might add some fans also have
to learn how to win and have it beat in their thick loser mentality skulls....lol.

"I have not seen or heard a person more enthused about SMU as an institution. Jones is genuinely impressed and I don’t get the impression he plans to leave anytime soon"

Great news! I hope June and his killer staff are here to guide us through
rough seas for many years in the future. We all know what rough seas are
like with Bozos in charge. Thanks for posting ponyte

[ponyscott]

Thanks Ponyte, good stuff....JJ has got a good attitude and a great resolve.

[Junior]

Great info, ponyte. Thanks for posting.

[ponyte]

Jones said he had a similar situation at UH when he first arrived. He had problems with admission. UH had lost for so long that the institution had to learn what it took to win and support a winner.

He did feel the admission situation would be used against us in recruiting but that he and his staff could overcome that.

[OC Mustang]

In all due deference to ponyte, the first question was not about the academic disappointments, althought ponyte's comments are generally on. Coach Jones gave several answers to questions that were lengthy.

The first two questions were, in order:
1) Do you have from the University all of the material support and facilities necessary to take SMU to President Turner's and AD Orsini's stated goal of getting to and staying within the top 25 in football?

2) part a) what happened to the two young commitments such that they were told so late in the process? and b) how will it affect recruiting?

I would know the questions because I actually was the guy who asked question #1, and the guy next to me, also incidentally from Marshall, asked question #2, both parts. And yes, I carefully planned my question (and even told John Spaulding, the Regional Development guy, earlier in the week so that Coach wasn't caught flat-footed)...but I didn't plan #2.

The short answer to #1 is 'yes, but we are new to winning..." (see ponyte's comments).
The answer to #2, part a, was essentially that they fell through a gap in the admission/recruiting process that could and would be fixed and wouldn't occur again. He said it happened at Hawaii too. The short answer was the only answer to part b, and that was (and he looked dead-serious when he answered) "yes, other schools will use it to recruit against us, and [he and the other SMU coaches] will need to overcome it...and [they] plan to do so."

I agree with ponyte on all points already stated. The only opinion I would add was the sense that this SNAFU was just that, a SNAFU. Coach Jones gave the impression, or rather, I took away from his comments the impression that he knew gaps existed in the recruiting/admissions process, but it wasn't something he could explain to the university that recruits could fall through the gaps in the process. It wasn't intentional, but unfortunately for these young men, the demonstration of the gaps was the only way to prove that changes needed to be made. It wasn't a political point necessarily about the need for a two-tiered admission process or something like that; it was almost like an engineering problem. Leak exists in pipe. Can't prove leak is in pipe until water is running through it. I think everybody in the process understands that you can't tell commitments at that late date that they aren't admitted. It's just wrong. However, you don't talk up leaks outside the engineering group because it doesn't help solve the problem.

Just my two cents. I may be reading all of this wrong...I dunno.

But it was an awesome visit. Glad he came. Looking forward to Tyler.

[Stallion]

Logically, if you stick with a player not yet projected to be a qualifier after signing date(what I've always called a "late qualifier") there should be a clear explanation and communication of the expectations to be admitted post signing date. But on close cases you might not know until the end of the recruits last semester because of the Core GPA component of the Sliding scale, the need to complete 16 core classes or the need to retake the SAT/ACT. The other side of the coin is that you might lose some of those kids BEFORE signing date. It happens all the time. I've pointed out for years the amazing coincidence of academic questionmarks decommitting from Conferences that do not allow non-qualifiers(like the Big 12) to schools in conferences that don't limit non-qualifiers.

[Mexmustang]

I just wish we would make immediate exceptions for the two young men, that would be accompanied by a personal appology from the President of our university--do two new students really make a difference? Thanks for the comments. June is a bigger man that I would have been.

[The PonyGrad]

Wow, UAB will be a top talent?!

[LakeHighlandsPony]

I just wish we would make immediate exceptions for the two young men, that would be accompanied by a personal appology from the President of our university--do two new students really make a difference? Thanks for the comments. June is a bigger man that I would have been.

I am with you Mex. I dont understand how this cant be fixed, apology issued and move down the road.

[ponyte]

UAB was the first team he mentioned. I was rather surprised. He said ECU always had talent but the new coach was an unknown. Jones mention the two Fr running backs with very high regard. One he said reminded him of Earl Campbell and the other Eric Dickerson. He also saId he feels that SMU has filled the gaps they needded to fill.

[reddevil]

To echo the sentiments above, it simply doesn't make sense that this issue was merely a snafu, although it makes sense that would be the spin. It seems that a snafu is something that could be easily corrected whereas an administrative regulation is something that would not be compromised. Also if this problem was know to exist why couldn't the coaching staff avoid it altogether instead of subjecting the school and program to such embarrassment and creating yet another recruiting hurdle. That being said I consider jj to be forthright. Thus, considering his explanation of the situation, it seems plausible that he anticipated the situation and allowed it to occur in order to force some future action by the administration or to reveal their true colors. I think the true stance of the
administration with respect to athletics has once again been revealed. It remains to be seen if any profilactic measures will be taken to avoid these problems in the future.

[PerunaPunch]

June is a bigger man that I would have been.

Yep.
But this ain't his first rodeo either.