A perspective on this Season

[sbsmith]

hell, go out and get lane kiffin.. hes a name, he's young, and hell be hungry to prove his naysayers wrong, and most importantly hell put a premium on recruiting. imagine kiffin and staff recruiting texas hard.. we'd become relevant with kiffin-type recruiting

His coaching worries me, the way he lost control of his team is a big red flag.

[Rebel10]

Remember you don't show your full hand in preseason.

smh.

[SoCal_Pony]

Get this Turner and Hart have nothing to do with June Jones' arrogant and lazy refusal to actually do his job. Turner would have been very happy if he got what he bargained for-but June jones did not perform an essential part of his job-Recruiting. Ridiculous.

I think that sums it up best.

And for those supporters who feel there is too much vitriol thrown JJ's way, think about this....it is one thing to try and fail (I place PB & Doh in this category); it is quite another thing when you fail due to arrogance and laziness.

I keep thinking back to all those silly posts saying 'JJ didn't think he'd have to recruit', 'maybe BE membership will get him to recruit', 'maybe the bowl success', 'maybe the loss of Klemm', 'maybe the hiring of Phillips','maybe the embarrassment of ASU', 'maybe the firing of Orsini', 'maybe the new AD', 'maybe the contract extension', 'maybe being shown up by LB', 'maybe, maybe, maybe'.

We are in Year 6!!!!!! What does it possibly take to get this man to recruit?????? (And when I say this man, I include his staff, for which he is responsible). Now, I don't care to know what buttons could be pushed for him to do what he should have done from the get-go. I want him out.

And for the record, I think the man can coach.

[Greenwich Pony]

Living in Connecticut, I'm sort of out of the loop on the program, other than what I can catch on TV. It seems like even though we are still talent-deficient compared to who we have been playing, that we are in games until we just give up. As I have said elsewhere, I think if we played with a little fire and heart, we should have beaten either tech or tcu, and certainly not been blown out. That aside...

What I really don't understand is why June seems to have given up, not just on SMU but his career as well. When he got here and took us to two bowls, we all knew that we'd probably be a stepping stone to his next bigger gig. I wasn't angry about ASU (though not real happy with some of the stories of him recruiting for ASU on our dime) and never really understood why that deal fell apart like it did. Maybe there is something behind the scenes, but it seems to me that if June had just hustled and kept us around 8-4 or 9-3 after that (which with some fire and minimally increased recruiting seems like he could have done it), bigger programs would continue to line up at the door. I'm sure SMU was a harder gig than he thought it would be and I'm sure that the recruits he thought would line up didn't, but Jones is not a dumb man and he's not a bad coach. He has proven that he can win here, and it is obvious (so obvious that it is extremely frustrating) that he could do more here but for some reason doesn't. It would seem like if he wanted a bigger paycheck and a better program, he could have made it happen. Not all pieces seem to fit.

[ponyte]

What many might take is lack of effort late in a game, might actually be fatigue. Fatigue from not having depth to keep players fresh. Lack of depth from inability to recruit and coach up enough players to provide depth.

Which is what many feel is a major flaw in the current system. We haven’t recruited enough players to have the depth needed to be competitive late in a game.

To be sure this has been an issue for many SMU teams. It wasn’t until 1980 that Meyer recruited enough players to have depth to compete late in the game. We have not had that kinda of depth in the post DP period.

We didn’t have that depth with Fry or Smith prior to Meyer.

And it would g a long way in improving our competiveness if we could improve our depth. Just note, it took Meyer 5 years to get to the point his teams had enough depth to compete. And Meyeer had recruiting advantages that few coaches in the country enjoyed.

Recruiting depth at SMU is historically difficult and will continue to be a challenge for the next coach. And it is another reason I don’t envy those that will decide who the next coach is. Because it will be one difficult job for whoever gets it.

[PerunaPunch]

Agreed. You'll be heard pressed to find many kids who choose to walk-on at a school as expensive as SMU.

Let me rephrase: Due to the high cost of attending SMU, the pool of quality walk-ons is GREATLY reduced.

[1983 Cotton Bowl]

Good thoughts from Greenwich, Ponyte, and Punch. Personally, I'm ready to see a change. June has taken this as far as it's going to go under him. He was an amazing hire in 2008. The Hawaii Bowl win in 2009 was something I was beginning to wonder if I would ever see from SMU football. And the win in Fort Worth in 2011 was great. So I have no ill will towards June. But at this point the program is not moving forward. The team this year, in year six, has a lot of deficiencies that probably shouldn't be there at this point.

[PoconoPony]

He did analyze a lot of videotapes in his office that recruits sent him...that's how we stole Bo-Levi out from under the nose of Texas and A&M.

Correction: MLM was headed to Hawaii and jj and not TU or A & M. He followed JJ to SMU.

[PoconoPony]

What many might take is lack of effort late in a game, might actually be fatigue. Fatigue from not having depth to keep players fresh. Lack of depth from inability to recruit and coach up enough players to provide depth.

Which is what many feel is a major flaw in the current system. We haven’t recruited enough players to have the depth needed to be competitive late in a game.

To be sure this has been an issue for many SMU teams. It wasn’t until 1980 that Meyer recruited enough players to have depth to compete late in the game. We have not had that kinda of depth in the post DP period.

We didn’t have that depth with Fry or Smith prior to Meyer.

Excellent point, but how do you get depth when your 2013 class has 8 kids on scholarship who did not receive one single offer from another program???? It is and always has been about recruiting and our last 2 classes are undistinguished at best and 2014 is more of the same.

And it would g a long way in improving our competiveness if we could improve our depth. Just note, it took Meyer 5 years to get to the point his teams had enough depth to compete. And Meyeer had recruiting advantages that few coaches in the country enjoyed.

Recruiting depth at SMU is historically difficult and will continue to be a challenge for the next coach. And it is another reason I don’t envy those that will decide who the next coach is. Because it will be one difficult job for whoever gets it.

[ghost]

Makes one wonder what happened in the big victories over Nevada and Fresno in the Hawaii Bowls and TCU two years ago. How did those happen? We Have looked so poor so many games, especially offensively, and then those happen giving fans hope! I don't think it really matters since not enough people care. Without fan and Dallas support 6-6 is probably good and it isn't just the coaches fault. Can a few rich people actually keep a D1 program going when only a few thousand more people actually care enough to go to the games?

[SMUer]

He did analyze a lot of videotapes in his office that recruits sent him...that's how we stole Bo-Levi out from under the nose of Texas and A&M.

Correction: MLM was headed to Hawaii and jj and not TU or A & M. He followed JJ to SMU.

Well he told us he found him on videotape...correction: he watched recruit submitted tapes at Hawaii. I was being sarcastic about A&M...BLM being from Katy, Tx and all.

[SMU2007]

oh geez-blame the AD and the administration-the last retreat of the June Jones cheerleaders, Get this Turner and Hart have nothing to do with June Jones' arrogant and lazy refusal to actually do his job. Turner would have been very happy if he got what he bargained for-but June jones did not perform an essential part of his job-Recruiting. Ridiculous. I'm trying to give some of you the benefit of the doubt because you don't have all the information we have but I'm sorry June Jones never earned his paycheck

Stallion- when did you completely give up on June? Just curious how long you gave him before realizing he was just cashing a check since you always have a good perspective on recruiting.

[couch 'em]

He did analyze a lot of videotapes in his office that recruits sent him...that's how we stole Bo-Levi out from under the nose of Texas and A&M.

Correction: MLM was headed to Hawaii and jj and not TU or A & M. He followed JJ to SMU.

Well he told us he found him on videotape...correction: he watched recruit submitted tapes at Hawaii. I was being sarcastic about A&M...BLM being from Katy, Tx and all.

imagine if we had Justin Willis that first year of JJ. What could have been!

[Mustangsabu]

I can understand the frustration at the results this season but the personal attacks on June are ignorant in the extreme. There is no evidence he is simply cashing a paycheck. The fact that he does not recruit in the manner which many of the aficionados on this board wish does not mean that he is not putting effort into his job. There is no evidence whatsoever that JJ at SMU has not done exactly what he did every day at Hawaii. His demeanor is no different on the sidelines, his approach to coaching is the same on the practice field. I could be wrong but I haven't heard anything that would make me think June has changed. You can talk about ASU, and I wanted him gone right then, but he did the same thing to Hawaii except he actually got the job. There is, however, considerable evidence that the fans have given up. I hope the kids don't read this drivel because the day they give up will be the saddest day. I've learned not to expect our fans to have any fight. Finger pointing is much easier.

I hate where our team is at right now, and June has to take responsibility for it. But for the millionth time I believe we need to get behind the team for this season, see where it ends, and make sure the kids know that we want them to succeed. Too many people in this board would rather bolster their attacks on June than support the team. You may not like June, you probably don't know him personally. You may not think June is good at his job, it's probably not a job you have ever attempted to do. You probably think someone else can do better, I hope you are right, but evidence is scarce. What you can do is support the team. That is something everyone on this board can do.

If it weren't for events in DC right now I'd say ponyfans were the biggest babies in the nation.

Support our team. Amidst the chaos there have been some really good players emerging and they are capable of winning some games.

[smusportspage]

I agree with so much on this thread I think I have come down with some sort of psychosis.