The Sound of Silence

[Treadway21]

I have never seen a fan base so united in the pursuit of one goal...

I give you the pursuit of returning to Pony Express blue as our main look

Also ignored - we are sticking with red right?

[Mustangsabu]

I understand frustrations with JJ, but this nonsense that he is devoted to ruining SMU and that his actions are determined by what will hurt SMU the most just make the posters on this board look like numpties.

And then there is the idea that it is harder to support SMU football if they "keep" June than it was when we were "keeping" Cavan or Bennett is even more unbelievable. Whatever happens, the SMU football program will be trying to win. If June stays and gets his way and they extract themselves from some of the OOC schedule and get an easier schedule, that won't be the worst thing.

I think too many people on here are too close to the situation. The likes of Gosselin are looking at this in some ways much more objectively. June's tenure has not been all we hoped for, but look at the stats. Pretty much every record in SMU history is held by a JJ team.

[StallionsModelT]

I don't know what more evidence you need that SMU is not serious about competing in football. The only people who want to keep this carousel of mediocrity going just happen to be the only people that matter (RGT, Hart, CoC). These individuals are going to kill SMU football once and for all. We will likely finish DEAD LAST in recruiting in our conference for 2014 after a very poor year in 2013. You are abot to see just how thin we are at so many positions.

As I've said, the fact that SMU is even entertaining an extension is laughable to the point of absurdity. The ramifications of bringing back Jones will be felt in full force next year as we have crowds under 5K. SMU has ZERO INTEREST in football. As long as the team isn't 2-10 the powers that be are happy as clams.

[ponyinNC]

I understand frustrations with JJ, but this nonsense that he is devoted to ruining SMU and that his actions are determined by what will hurt SMU the most just make the posters on this board look like numpties.

And then there is the idea that it is harder to support SMU football if they "keep" June than it was when we were "keeping" Cavan or Bennett is even more unbelievable. Whatever happens, the SMU football program will be trying to win. If June stays and gets his way and they extract themselves from some of the OOC schedule and get an easier schedule, that won't be the worst thing.

I think too many people on here are too close to the situation. The likes of Gosselin are looking at this in some ways much more objectively. June's tenure has not been all we hoped for, but look at the stats. Pretty much every record in SMU history is held by a JJ team.

I don't think Jones is trying to "ruin" SMU - I just think he and his staff are lazy recruiters that take the easy way out by recruiting kids WITH NO OTHER D1 OFFERS!! That fact alone would get him fired at almost every other school out there. Half of our 2014 class have ZERO D1 offers. Does that compute?

Expectations change as success is experienced. When your child gets older and makes his/her way from elementary school to high school - do you continue to grade them based on what they did in 4th grade? Of course not! You change the expectations as the child matures. Same thing goes for a football program.

SMU relaxed recruiting restrictions. SMU paid Jones $2M per year for certain goals. You do not compare those goals to the same ones you had with Bennet/Cavan, who were paid less than $600k at the time and could barely get kids admitted.

Apples to oranges my friend. You are confusing the issue a bit (IMHO).

[ponyboy]

That's a fair response to abu, I think. As long as we remember *who* changed expectations -- and that all the whining in the world isn't going to drive JJ out of town or help the kids on the team. Smile and if you can't enjoy the ride, at least look at the rear view mirror for a while and enjoy remembering how far we've come under June. Gnashing of teeth and snarkiness helps in no way at all. We will have a new coach in a year.

[redpony]

Our recruiting class this year will likely be in the bottom 25. Just another indication of how little this admin cares about providing a quality fball program.

[redpony]

We will have a new coach in a year.

Of course with this admin there is no guarantee that we will have a new coach in a year. Besides, next year we will probably finish in the bottom 3 of our conference. A real impressive resume for moving up to the big boys table in the future. Right??????????????

[ponyinNC]

That's a fair response to abu, I think. As long as we remember *who* changed expectations -- and that all the whining in the world isn't going to drive JJ out of town or help the kids on the team. Smile and if you can't enjoy the ride, at least look at the rear view mirror for a while and enjoy remembering how far we've come under June. Gnashing of teeth and snarkiness helps in no way at all. We will have a new coach in a year.

I think that is fair - especially about the rear view. Perspective does help, but it also can cloud the issue. After all, I can remember when I was yound and fit and didn't need to use Rogaine everyday - those are fond memories for sure. But the reality is - I am not young anymore, and I have to change my expecttaions accordingly.

[StallionsModelT]

Teams that will have a better recruiting class than SMU in 2014:

UNT
UTSA
Texas State
Rice
New Mexico
Tulsa
Tulane
La Tech
Marshall
Temple
UConn
Wyoming
Colorado State


Now you tell me if this program is really doing everything it can to win?

[Big Hoss]

I understand frustrations with JJ, but this nonsense that he is devoted to ruining SMU and that his actions are determined by what will hurt SMU the most just make the posters on this board look like numpties.

And then there is the idea that it is harder to support SMU football if they "keep" June than it was when we were "keeping" Cavan or Bennett is even more unbelievable. Whatever happens, the SMU football program will be trying to win. If June stays and gets his way and they extract themselves from some of the OOC schedule and get an easier schedule, that won't be the worst thing.

I think too many people on here are too close to the situation. The likes of Gosselin are looking at this in some ways much more objectively. June's tenure has not been all we hoped for, but look at the stats. Pretty much every record in SMU history is held by a JJ team.

I don't think Jones is trying to "ruin" SMU - I just think he and his staff are lazy recruiters that take the easy way out by recruiting kids WITH NO OTHER D1 OFFERS!! That fact alone would get him fired at almost every other school out there. Half of our 2014 class have ZERO D1 offers. Does that compute?

Expectations change as success is experienced. When your child gets older and makes his/her way from elementary school to high school - do you continue to grade them based on what they did in 4th grade? Of course not! You change the expectations as the child matures. Same thing goes for a football program.

SMU relaxed recruiting restrictions. SMU paid Jones $2M per year for certain goals. You do not compare those goals to the same ones you had with Bennet/Cavan, who were paid less than $600k at the time and could barely get kids admitted.

Apples to oranges my friend. You are confusing the issue a bit (IMHO).

GREAT summary. Especially like your changing expectations comparison.

People think we should just settle for mediocrity. Remember that commercial a few years ago with all the kids saying things like "I want to climb my way up to middle management"? That sounds exactly like what people are trying to tell us we should be happy with.

If we were competitive game in/game out, and were still only winning 7-8 games, then maybe I'd feel differently. But our poor performance just shows that the team is not being adequately prepared, which to me means that something is off. I can't say for sure that Jones has basically quit on the job, but he certainly isn't blowing us away with his results.

[max the wonder dog]

Our recruiting class this year will likely be in the bottom 25. Just another indication of how little this admin cares about providing a quality fball program.

While JJ Tweets about his golf buddy:

June Jones ‏@CoachJuneJones 1h
video http://www.pgatour.com/webcom/leaderboa ... .2013.html …

It's like he's trying to get fired.

[StallionsModelT]

Bennett, Cavan, etc. didn't even have a realistic chance to win. SMU bent over backwards to accomodate June Jones and he rewarded that with a slap in the face w/ the ASU stunt and publicly airing out his dirty laundry re: IPF, tutors, etc. all while pocketing roughly $10M and never winning more than 8 games against garbage competition.

[LA_Mustang]

I understand frustrations with JJ, but this nonsense that he is devoted to ruining SMU and that his actions are determined by what will hurt SMU the most just make the posters on this board look like numpties.

And then there is the idea that it is harder to support SMU football if they "keep" June than it was when we were "keeping" Cavan or Bennett is even more unbelievable. Whatever happens, the SMU football program will be trying to win. If June stays and gets his way and they extract themselves from some of the OOC schedule and get an easier schedule, that won't be the worst thing.

I think too many people on here are too close to the situation. The likes of Gosselin are looking at this in some ways much more objectively. June's tenure has not been all we hoped for, but look at the stats. Pretty much every record in SMU history is held by a JJ team.

I get what you're saying and I respect the fact that you're sticking to your guns but you just refuse to accept or see the major problem. JJ and this staff either refuse to recruit or are unable to recruit and that is EVERYTHING! in college football, I don't know how many times it has to be said. Everything JJ does well and everything he has done for SMU is trumped by that one simple fact. See Texas. Mack was everything for UT and Austin for a decade but his inability to recruit a top level QB in the last few years cost him his job. It doesn't mean Mack is a bad coach or that UT doesn't appreciate what he did, just like JJ here, but that university understands what it takes. It's the reality of big-time college football.

If we retain JJ it very well could be fatal. To suggest otherwise is simply ignoring the facts. And to suggest that an IPF is going to magically make everything right is covering up what this program is truly missing - a bulldog. A coach and a staff that eats, drinks and sleeps SMU football. A staff that is everywhere selling SMU 24/7. A staff that never stops. A staff that is never satisfied. See Gary Patterson and the TCU staff.

Personally, I believe we are already too late. TCU figured it out at the right time and got a seat but our lackadaisical attitude towards building a BCS program has finally cost us, IMHO.

[Grant Carter]

Or jj is purposely waiting until the last possible moment so that the quality choices are already gone by the time he announces. Just another way to screw SMU.

I would like to know how many people really think this is the case.

[redpony]

+1,000 LAM- couldn't agree more. What is worse is the fact that casper and rgt have been deluged with emails etc. complaining about jj and they don't have the cajones or desire to make a change.