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I personally don't blame JJ for seeking other employment, that is his right. It was handled wrong, but that is not my issue with JJ.

He brought a winning culture to SMU, for that I am extremely grateful. By the force of his personality, he probably helped along much needed changes to our Model, for that I am grateful.

My issue with JJ is I don't think he can take us to the next level. It would require too much work on his part. If would mean not going to Hawaii to watch golf tournaments but instead recruit during that critical month of December after his recruiting class has gone to heck. It would mean not hiring / retaining old cronies on his staff who have zero track record of successful recruiting.

Let's see how recruiting does over the next few months. Any reasonable person should acknowledge that a repeat of this years' class would be a disaster for SMU.

And for those of you who think that without JJ SMU would still be a Bottom 10 team, you have a pretty low opinion of a pretty great school. As Craig James said on Halloween night when SMU was playing UAB in front of an empty Ford, 'this school should be a dominant force in the non-BCS world'. He was right, just as we should be a dominant force in the BE. That isn't going to happen with a team full of this years' recruits.

SoCal_Pony wrote:I personally don't blame JJ for seeking other employment, that is his right. It was handled wrong, but that is not my issue with JJ.

He brought a winning culture to SMU, for that I am extremely grateful. By the force of his personality, he probably helped along much needed changes to our Model, for that I am grateful.

My issue with JJ is I don't think he can take us to the next level. It would require too much work on his part. If would mean not going to Hawaii to watch golf tournaments but instead recruit during that critical month of December after his recruiting class has gone to heck. It would mean not hiring / retaining old cronies on his staff who have zero track record of successful recruiting.

Let's see how recruiting does over the next few months. Any reasonable person should acknowledge that a repeat of this years' class would be a disaster for SMU.

And for those of you who think that without JJ SMU would still be a Bottom 10 team, you have a pretty low opinion of a pretty great school. As Craig James said on Halloween night when SMU was playing UAB in front of an empty Ford, 'this school should be a dominant force in the non-BCS world'. He was right, just as we should be a dominant force in the BE. That isn't going to happen with a team full of this years' recruits.

HEYO! Gold sticker.

Jones won't be here in 24 months so let's just ride this thing out. We ought to be pretty salty next year if we can hold up on the offensive line. Have a nice 8-4 or 9-3 type of season and say adios to CUSA, transition to the Big East, then say adios to June. The SMU job is 100000x times better in 2013-2014 than it was in 2006-2007. We have so much more to offer and the program is in so much better shape. June got this thing headed in the right direction no question. But we will need someone else to take it to the next level i.e. Top 25, conference titles, Top 40 recruiting classes, etc.)

SoCal_Pony wrote:And for those of you who think that without JJ SMU would still be a Bottom 10 team, you have a pretty low opinion of a pretty great school. As Craig James said on Halloween night when SMU was playing UAB in front of an empty Ford, 'this school should be a dominant force in the non-BCS world'. He was right, just as we should be a dominant force in the BE. That isn't going to happen with a team full of this years' recruits.

SMU was a great school when we were in the Bottom 10. People who believe we'd still be a bottom 10 team w/o JJ (and I don't think there are that many) likely don't have a low opinion of the school, they probably have a low opinion of our willingness to compete and competency in finding the right people to help us do so based on our post DP history. The fact that we're not in the bottom 10 anymore is a result of 3 things: 1) CofC putting forth a commitment to the program and putting together a war chest to hire a good coach. 2) Steve Orsini and company hiring the right coach for the job. 3) Changes being made to admissions policies to allow us to recruit and compete on a more level playing field.

Point 1 & Point 3 are huge and can't be discounted, but you can't discount the hiring of the right man either. The commitment to spend more and compete on a level field immediately gives us a boost but it doesn't guarantee success. The right person has to steer the ship in the right direction and that was June Jones. We needed a coach who wasn't afraid to fail. This was a HUGE risk/reward job when we hired Jones. We needed someone who had a history of rebuilding programs, and Jones fit the bill. He took a huge gamble on us and it's paid off for both parties. Hopefully it will continue to do so.

It's possible we could've made a dud hire that might have been able to realize some limited success due to the changing of the system, but not taken us much further. You need look no further than our basketball program to realize that past success doesn't guarantee the future. We made a splashy hire with Doherty and the program is no more nationally relevant today than it was before his arrival. I know we shelled out more $$ for Jones than Doherty, but the point rings true. People were excited when Doherty was hired because of his past success at ND and having a former UNC head coach on our bench but where has it gotten us? You still have to get the right person for the job; we did with JJ.

The success we have had over the last 3 years are a direct result of Jones' coaching ability and recruiting ability. It seems like some on this board would contend that a monkey could take this football program to its current status just because we're in a great market with a newly leveled playing field and that's simply not the case in my opinion. Jones is not solely responsible for this program's success by any means but he's had a large (probably the largest) hand in where we are now, and I'm excited to see where we go from here.

Mountain Mustang wrote:

SoCal_Pony wrote:And for those of you who think that without JJ SMU would still be a Bottom 10 team, you have a pretty low opinion of a pretty great school. As Craig James said on Halloween night when SMU was playing UAB in front of an empty Ford, 'this school should be a dominant force in the non-BCS world'. He was right, just as we should be a dominant force in the BE. That isn't going to happen with a team full of this years' recruits.

SMU was a great school when we were in the Bottom 10. People who believe we'd still be a bottom 10 team w/o JJ (and I don't think there are that many) likely don't have a low opinion of the school, they probably have a low opinion of our willingness to compete and competency in finding the right people to help us do so based on our post DP history. The fact that we're not in the bottom 10 anymore is a result of 3 things: 1) CofC putting forth a commitment to the program and putting together a war chest to hire a good coach. 2) Steve Orsini and company hiring the right coach for the job. 3) Changes being made to admissions policies to allow us to recruit and compete on a more level playing field.

Point 1 & Point 3 are huge and can't be discounted, but you can't discount the hiring of the right man either. The commitment to spend more and compete on a level field immediately gives us a boost but it doesn't guarantee success. The right person has to steer the ship in the right direction and that was June Jones. We needed a coach who wasn't afraid to fail. This was a HUGE risk/reward job when we hired Jones. We needed someone who had a history of rebuilding programs, and Jones fit the bill. He took a huge gamble on us and it's paid off for both parties. Hopefully it will continue to do so.

It's possible we could've made a dud hire that might have been able to realize some limited success due to the changing of the system, but not taken us much further. You need look no further than our basketball program to realize that past success doesn't guarantee the future. We made a splashy hire with Doherty and the program is no more nationally relevant today than it was before his arrival. I know we shelled out more $$ for Jones than Doherty, but the point rings true. People were excited when Doherty was hired because of his past success at ND and having a former UNC head coach on our bench but where has it gotten us? You still have to get the right person for the job; we did with JJ.

The success we have had over the last 3 years are a direct result of Jones' coaching ability and recruiting ability. It seems like some on this board would contend that a monkey could take this football program to its current status just because we're in a great market with a newly leveled playing field and that's simply not the case in my opinion. Jones is not solely responsible for this program's success by any means but he's had a large (probably the largest) hand in where we are now, and I'm excited to see where we go from here.

Thank You Sir for sharing your Wisdom.. I hope this helps those in need of understanding what has happened since Jones arrival and gives them the confidence to trust and support the new recruits, the team and the coaching staff.

I think a large amount of success is due to the administration changing some things to give our HC a chance that the others did not have. Everyone supports the new recruits but we will have to see how everyone does in the BE. Our CoC would have found someone just as good if JJ had not come here and they will find someone good after JJ leaves here.

Quote from Jones:

"The system was not set up to win. I really think I'm the only Coach since the Death Penalty that's been given an opportunity to truly be on a level playing field" Coach June Jones

This contract is taking a lot longer finalizing than the ASU one did. Come on, Leigh! Show us the money (i.e. buyout clause)!

SMUer wrote:This contract is taking a lot longer finalizing than the ASU one did. Come on, Leigh! Show us the money (i.e. buyout clause)!

If we have a buyout clause it will be harder to fire him as well. Do you really want to be in that position again where Jones has all the leverage?

If we think June is the best we can have in the short term, I want to lock him up to a short term contract (2-3 years) with a buyout to protect us and get "June may go" out of our competing recruiter's mouths. If we think we can do better, and have a good shot at who we want, we should have been lining up suitors soon after the ASU fiasco. It was a mistake the prolong the extension after recruiting if we do keep him, and it's a mistake to extend him if we don't want him long-term. My personal opinion one way or the other doesn't matter, I just want Orsini to send a clear signal. Dilly-dallying on this hurts us either way. 7 years though is crazy. The only last names you should bend over that far for is Meyer, Tressel, Carrol or Brown. No way you can anticipate your program's needs that far in the future. And without a buyout, that extension is meaningless.

Okay, I thought you were talking about long term. Short term 2 or 3 year deal is fine.

Good post Mountain. JJ has delivered what he promised from the onset. When he arrived, he told me to expect slow and steady improvement. He has delivered this and more. Most importantly, he and his staff seem to get maximum performance out of his team. Even the role players seem to step up when needed. He earns respect from his players while delivering wins without fear or intimidation.

CoxBizGrad wrote:Good post Mountain. JJ has delivered what he promised from the onset. When he arrived, he told me to expect slow and steady improvement. He has delivered this and more. Most importantly, he and his staff seem to get maximum performance out of his team. Even the role players seem to step up when needed. He earns respect from his players while delivering wins without fear or intimidation.

He also said he would have a high scoring offense which has not been delivered. It has been inconsistent at best. Also the offense line seemed to have underachieved. Can't remember when he was quoted as saying we should expect slow steady improvement (not that he did not say it). I guess when or if we get GG next year we can see if he can deliver on the high scoring offense promise because he has not.

Stallion wrote:SMU Coaching Staff a little out of touch with today's kids;

http://www.google.com/imgres?q=old+Coac ... 109&ty=120

Rivals Big Ten recruiter of the year.
http://footballrecruiting.rivals.com/vi ... ?Coach=286
Greg Mattison
I do agree that we need some younger coaches, but don't assume that age automatically knocks them out as far as recruiting goes.

I'd prefer a Contract with No Buy-Out. If he doesn't want to be here-I hope he goes. Why would anyone want a Coach who doesn't want to be here. And I really don't think he does.

mathman wrote:

Stallion wrote:SMU Coaching Staff a little out of touch with today's kids;

http://www.google.com/imgres?q=old+Coac ... 109&ty=120

Rivals Big Ten recruiter of the year.
http://footballrecruiting.rivals.com/vi ... ?Coach=286
Greg Mattison
I do agree that we need some younger coaches, but don't assume that age automatically knocks them out as far as recruiting goes.

Now show the recruiting record for our older coaches that are 60 and over.