My thoughts on... June's thoughts

[JasonB]

1) As June has always said, he has a staff of really good analysts who like to watch game film, find the kids they think fits the system great, and then make offers to those kids. They also like to have the kids in camp so that they can see them in person and get to know personalities.

2) June likes to recruit kids who are a fit with the personality of the team.

3) We are going to hold scholarships to the end every year and see what happens in the transfer market. More players are going to graduate early with two years to play and look to move like GG did. And there are always the players like Gresham that pop up at the last minute, or what happened with Army Prep.

- The strategy plays to the strengths of the coaching staff. A lot of caches with scouting background, and for some of them they did this method for years in Hawaii.
- If you are going to try to be the "underdog", you have to have a great locker room, and this strategy plays to that.
- I think the third strategy is really good and really important. It sounds like we may get some transfers in the Spring, and I wonder if that is why all our Guards are leaving school early.

- In the "old days" the first point worked. There wasn't a lot of tape on younger players, or a lot of tape in general, and they weren't offered early anyways. So, you had plenty of time to see them play their first games of the season and then make an offer based on how they look.

- That is no longer the case, however. Most coaching staffs form good relationships with high school coaches, who tell them in advance "this guy is going to be good". The school then offers that player without seeing them on tape.

- SMU's response to that is the camps. Try to get Juniors out to camp who will start for the first time in the Fall, evaluate them before there is tape, and offer them out of camp, before they play a game. It also allows them to judge the kid's personality and see if they will fit in with the team.

- Overally, I don't disagree with the "tapes don't lie" philosophy. I also agree that you have to make sure the kids mesh well with the team. However, there are two improvements that I would suggest:

1) The camps are going to happen too late to get in early on the next new superstar player. The coaches are going to point out to other recruiters who the gem is going to be, and other coaches will jump on that gem before you get your look. One way around this is to attend practice, and look at the kids in practice yourself. Evaluate the teams in person, get a good look at the kids. If you value your own eyes over the opinions of a HS coach or a list service, then you have to get out to practice to get in early. That also allows you to meet the coaching staff and learn about the kids' personality, which doesn't come out on game film. The other option (and I don't know if this is legal) is to start offering Sophmore Camps instead of Junior Days. Get a bunch of kids out there a year early and start offering those kids on the spot.

2) When evaluating the tape, and you know that everyone in the country is looking at the left tackle, who is really good, but you notice that the right guard is really good... it is fine to take a look at the right guard. But why not go ahead and offer the left tackle for sh!ts and grins? Just throw it out there and see what happens. It costs nothing, and it is what Baylor, Tech, Cincy, and Houston all do. Just do it. If they bite, then learn a bit about the personality and back off if they are jerks. Make a point of offering the best players on the team, regardless of who else is looking at them. The record of this staff turning 2 star athletes into NFL players is awesome. Just think about how good the team would be if we for whatever reason were able to land a couple of super studs to pair with them.

I think there might be some adjustments being made in this direction; I think there was a comment last night about Mason or someone running around looking at 2015 kids all fall.

For the record, the "at our level" rubbed me the wrong way as well. I get it - we aren't Texas, and we aren't playing in that conference. And we don't have unlimited resources, so we don't want to spend a ton of time going after players we probably aren't going to get. But the thing is, I don't want to give up *trying* to get back to that level. I don't care if it is just a cursory try. At least give it a wild shot! That was frustrating to hear.

[San Antonio Mustang]

Good post and I hope you are correct that there are adjustments being made, but I for one have given up on June's recruiting. Unlike some, I have not given up on the players he has recruited nor the ability of his staff to coach them up. I do want SMU to be nationally competitive and I do not think June's recruiting style will get us there.

[malonish]

I'm a fan of every player that signs the dotted line to play for us. I do hope June tries to land high star, high offer players though.

[PonySnob]

Just wish his strategy worked better when we played better teams......

[Rebel10]

You don't need a ton of money to go after local players. That is an excuse you are providing. We are within a 100 mile radius of some of the best talent out there. The head coach not having been to Cedar Hill has nothing to do with money. Metroplex coaches saying we are the worst at recruiting and one of the hardest to deal with and that has nothing to do with money. USF is not Florida, Florida State or Miami yet they go for the best players when they visit the high schools. Their head coach personally visits the local high schools. It is an investment in time not money and it has paid off as they have a bunch of recruits with quality offers that will help in a couple of years and they are in the same conference as SMU. As an example it would not have cost a bunch of money to offer Gresham before had had committed to anyone.

[78pony]

To your points JasonB:

I appreciate your opinions, but try as you might, you still haven't convinced me that the world is flat (or that this coaching staff has given us any hope after 6 years that they can/know how to function like a competent, top 50 level staff).

Point by point:

1). Much less effort required in watching film someone else must submit vs actually getting in your car/plane for an in-person visit.

Camp. The kid comes to you. Coach goes to office/field. No extraordinary effort required.

2). Coincidentally, the low hanging fruit?

3). Really solid strategy used by all in the top 20. We can always hope that more army prep level kids will fall into our laps. I'm guessing that there was a reason these kids were at army prep, and not at Tuscaloosa or Baton Rouge or Columbus preps.

If you are counting on transfers, might as well tell the world you have little choice but to roll the dice and hope.

4). Camps - too late in the spring.

I simply cannot imagine a collection of supposedly educated adults over 40 years of age not being able to better recognize their own shortcomings and learn any more than they have from past failures. Any changes, and I agree there are some being implemented, are much more than likely born of a butt chewing - not self recognition/ownership of underperformance - failure.

[blackoutpony]

Serious question, are you related to June or something? Do you have a hula class with him? What a crock of [deleted].

When watching his press conference, it was clear he didn't even know the players that he had just signed. "That Mitchel kid. The brown kid. That kid from some high school who plays well". With the exception of the Army Prep LB from Hawaii. Oh yes, June knew all about him and where he was from on the island and basically got a boner because he was from Hawaii.

It's so obvious he cares so little for recruiting and SMU. I would say he should go back to the NFL so he doesn't have to do that, but his offense has been garbage while at SMU expect for last year when Mumme basically fixed it for him.

[PonySnob]

We are a basketball school now.

[SMU2007]

Wasn't a huge complaint towards Bennett and co regarding them completely giving up on top talent? I feel that we started to offer better players but in the past couple years have gone back to the why try philosophy

[SMU2007]

We are a basketball school now.

Long live Larry. Thank you for giving me a reason to continue to follow smu sports

[HorsePower]

Serious question, are you related to June or something? Do you have a hula class with him? What a crock of [deleted].

When watching his press conference, it was clear he didn't even know the players that he had just signed. "That Mitchel kid. The brown kid. That kid from some high school who plays well". With the exception of the Army Prep LB from Hawaii. Oh yes, June knew all about him and where he was from on the island and basically got a boner because he was from Hawaii.

It's so obvious he cares so little for recruiting and SMU. I would say he should go back to the NFL so he doesn't have to do that, but his offense has been garbage while at SMU expect for last year when Mumme basically fixed it for him.

Just stop. Not hating JJ does not mean nepotism. So he disagrees with you -- chances are the truth is somewhere between what the sunshiners see and what the hate mongers see.

[EastStang]

I like the low hanging fruit approach. Phil Bennett and his brother were locked into the DISD and we got beat in recruiting by everyone. We are a national university, not a Dallas University. Kids come to SMU from all over the world. We need to improve our Dallas roots and hopefully through hoops we might pull a Georgetown (where every gang banger in DC has a Hoyas cap on). But the fact remains, that we are not in a conference with natural SW rivals, and we are not going to be from what it appears. We can't and won't pay players (unlike some other schools near us). So, June goes after players that June feels will fit our team from where ever he can find them including eastern Europe. He needs that to translate into wins on the field. If he does, the criticisms will wane. If he doesn't, he rear will get right toasty.

[Rebel10]

So, June goes after players that June feels will fit our team from where ever he can find them including eastern Europe.

You forgot to add players that fit his system that are not that hard to get. USF is in the same conference. I wonder how they are getting a bunch of players with BCS offers. If you try hard you tend to get better results imo. I like the prejudice remark you made about SMU and Georgetown you jerk. Also, Bennett was not locked into DISD. That is what USF is doing and with a new coach at that.

http://rivals.yahoo.com/usf/football/re ... 14/usf-655

[JasonB]

The post was long, but I think that if you read the last points I made, it would become clear that I believe there are some obvious failings in the way we recruit.

I realize that "You are either with us or against us" has become quite popular, but just because you don't steamroller someone doesn't mean you are related to somebody.

I am not trying to convince people to back Jones. In fact, I am saying that while there is some merit behind what he said and what his staff does, those philosophies are not going to get us to the next level.

From what I heard on Wednesday, I am hopeful that they have actually made some changes to the recruiting process. But we will see.

You know, it isn't like the coaches sit behind a podium at these events. They are all out and about, and approachable. They all went there knowing they would be facing some hard questions and were braced for the worst. All you had to do was show up and ask them questions. But I don't think any of you did. I didn't see it if it happened. And not a lot of people there actually wrote down questions to ask. I thought it was cool that the moderator actually asked questions straight up that you guys wimped out on.

Personally, I got to spend some time talking to Eric Daniels and Mason and find out some of their thoughts and concerns going into next season. You guys on the other hand, were just planted behind a keyboard, hating away. I think my experience was probably just a little better.

[Rebel10]

The post was long, but I think that if you read the last points I made, it would become clear that I believe there are some obvious failings in the way we recruit.

I realize that "You are either with us or against us" has become quite popular, but just because you don't steamroller someone doesn't mean you are related to somebody.

I am not trying to convince people to back Jones. In fact, I am saying that while there is some merit behind what he said and what his staff does, those philosophies are not going to get us to the next level.

From what I heard on Wednesday, I am hopeful that they have actually made some changes to the recruiting process. But we will see.

You know, it isn't like the coaches sit behind a podium at these events. They are all out and about, and approachable. They all went there knowing they would be facing some hard questions and were braced for the worst. All you had to do was show up and ask them questions. But I don't think any of you did. I didn't see it if it happened. And not a lot of people there actually wrote down questions to ask. I thought it was cool that the moderator actually asked questions straight up that you guys wimped out on.

Personally, I got to spend some time talking to Eric Daniels and Mason and find out some of their thoughts and concerns going into next season. You guys on the other hand, were just planted behind a keyboard, hating away. I think my experience was probably just a little better.

" asked questions straight up that you guys wimped out on."

I didn't hear the moderator ask why JJ does not personally visit local high schools.