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Mountain Mustang wrote:I have seen no reason to think the upward climb will stop.

I have several reasons to think we have plateaued out with JJ. It is all about talent acquistion and I have seen nothing to think things are going to improve other than the hiring of 1 person who btw struck out this recruiting year. JJ is too stuck in his ways, he's not going to change.

This is an open debate but we will find out soon enough when a) we see his next hire, b) ~100 days from now when 2/3rds of the Texas Top 100 are committing.

and to all you JJ defenders....Rivals Top 85 class is indefensible, when you try to defend it you lose all credibility.

Panic Pete wrote:

sbsmith wrote:we're not going to get there with June, him and his staff just don't have the drive out on the recruiting trail to get us to the next level.

So is it time to panic?

It's been panic time since ASU stiffed June and we got stuck with him. I expect another half-assed recruiting effort and then the new coach will have to clean up June's mess.

SoCal_Pony wrote:

Mountain Mustang wrote:I have seen no reason to think the upward climb will stop.

I have several reasons to think we have plateaued out with JJ. It is all about talent acquistion and I have seen nothing to think things are going to improve other than the hiring of 1 person who btw struck out this recruiting year. JJ is too stuck in his ways, he's not going to change.

This is an open debate but we will find out soon enough when a) we see his next hire, b) ~100 days from now when 2/3rds of the Texas Top 100 are committing.

and to all you JJ defenders....Rivals Top 85 class is indefensible, when you try to defend it you lose all credibility.

Fair enough. So what's the solution? Get rid of JJ and start all over? If you truly believe we've plateaued then where do we go from here? Personally, I'll give JJ the benefit of the doubt until I see unsatisfactory results on the field. You're speculating on our talent level and that's a reasonable thing to do. More reasonable than a lot of people on this board in fact. A season or 2 where we don't make a bowl would be a step back and true cause for concern, although given the upgraded talent we'll see in the Big East a step back in record might not be unfathomable.

June Jones was the right man for the job when we hired him. Very few people could even see the potential of what SMU could be at that time so the fact that he took this job was a real huge moment and changed the direction of the program.

That said, the way June handled the Arizona State situation and his staff's nearly complete disinterest in recruiting have soured a lot of people on June. SMU could be a real powerhouse in the new Big East, but if we plan to be serious contenders with a squad of guys with offers from Ball State, UNT, SFA, and other Sun Belt programs then we're crazier than a shithouse rat.

The program is at a crossroads. We will have our best team returning next season especially with the addition of Gilbert at QB. With a healthy Zach Line and Darius Johnson, we ought to be pretty salty on offense IF we can find a cohesive group on the offensive line. If we can put together a 8-4 or 9-3 season that SHOULD send the signal to the 2013 crop of recruits that SMU can and will compete in the Big East. But if we do that and Jones has another open flirtation with another program you can kiss it all goodbye. The hope is that June has doubled down on his desire to be at SMU after the disaster with ASU. Next season will be very telling.

Did they announce the hiring of the Old Man as Offensive Line Coach today. He just refuses to address the problems in his program.

I question if anyone willing to comment on JJ's extension actually knows the particulars. And, JJ had the kind of recruiting year most everyone wanted - the vast majority of recruits were from TEXAS! I think that reflects the wishes of the board. Could turn out to be a pretty good group.

I'm thinking we put the statue at the head of the Boulevard near the kinetic sculpture.

SMUer wrote:

ponyboy wrote:Wrong. The job IS done if you consider where we were and where we are now. Done. He's fulfilled every obligation, every hope.

Sad. Just plain sad.

It's early 2008 and we just hired June Jones. I'm standing next to you, beer and crystal ball in hand. I look into the glass and tell you that SMU will go 1-11 the first year and then to three straight bowl games including absolute thumpings of Nevada and Pittsburg. How are you feeling, knowing of course that we only won 28% of our games for the previous 30 YEARS?

Let me answer for you. You are foaming at the mouth.

Am I satisified with where we are? Do I just want to call it quits and rest on our laurels? HELL NO

But that's not the question. The question is should we be thankful for June Sheldon Jones, could ANYONE else have done what he has done? Yes. And no.

There is no question June Jones was the right hire when we made it. But there should be no quarrel with people who are angry w/ him after the Arizona State disaster and this putrid recruiting class. If people want to give a guy 2M a year for winning 7 games a year I guess go right ahead. In my mind, that kind of money should get us a few conference titles and at least one week ranked in the Top 25. So far we have neither.

StallionsModelT wrote:There is no question June Jones was the right hire when we made it. But there should be no quarrel with people who are angry w/ him after ... this putrid recruiting class.

Look, this is not the top-notch class we all hoped for, but it is bit of a stretch to call it "putrid" with 2 Parade All-Americans in it and a lot of other kids who while not highly recruited look to have a lot of upside potential. Do I think we should expect more going forward? Absolutely. We need to be able to show we can compete with other BCS schools for some of the blue-chippers. But don't completely dismiss this group of athletes coming in because you don't like the fact that they didn't have the offer sheets you would prefer to see. Zach Line didn't exactly have an off-the-charts offer sheet, and find me someone on this board who thinks he turned out to be a "putrid" recruit.

That being said, I really do hope that this staff becomes re-engaged and makes substantive efforts to take this program to the next level. I greatly admire and appreciate the turnaround that has been orchestrated; now it is time to solidify that turnaround by stepping everything up a notch or two from recruiting, to on-field production to fan/community support. Make the kids that are currently here and the ones coming in feel the passion for SMU that those of us on this board have so that it can drive them to exceed all expectations. Calling them "putrid" before they have even put on the uniform seems a bit premature in my opinion. Make the coaches feel wanted, offer support (and constructive criticism when warranted) to drive them to get the most out of the team they have at their disposal. Implying that JJ is a $2M waste of money doesn't stack up to his total body of work at SMU, but it also puts demands on him to take those next steps we are all looking to see. I'm reserving judgement on our BCS future until I see what starts to shape up for the 2013 recruiting class and what the 2012 team does on the field. I have lofty expectations for the next few years, which is a helluva lot more than I ever had before; if those expectations fail to be met, I'll consider jumping on the "run him out on a rail" bandwagon. The guy really screwed things up with the ASU disaster, and the only way he attones for that is by producing at a level that meets or exceeds expectations for however long he remains at SMU. Time to see if he will do that, and if he does it is time to get behind him and the program. I for one am rooting for him to succeed not out of any loyalty to the man, but out of love for my school and aspirations for its future success.

RyanSMU98 wrote: a lot of other kids who while not highly recruited look to have a lot of upside potential.

Sounds like every Bennett class......

Stallion wrote:Did they announce the hiring of the Old Man as Offensive Line Coach today. He just refuses to address the problems in his program.

Stallion your comment reflects very poorly on you, you should be ashamed of yourself for what you said. But I guess I should not expect much more from you from what you have directly said about others on this site.

I have come to believe from a coaching perspective Klem was not a good line coach. I base that assumption on what several lineman said after one month with Suan's different approach. Jones has WORKED WITH and is directly involved with the best coaches in the football world. I trust Jones is most concerned with having his line ready for next season and has already tried the recruiter without coaching experience who could not coach anything other than chaos.

As for your ridiculous accusation that Jones refuses to address problems with his program... In Generality Fraud is Often Found....................

I am more worried about the quality of these posts then JJ. I read the comments and roll my eyes. If we make him dispensible, we are only hurting ourselves. We have a collective responsibility to promote our school to recruits, fans, and students, who, BTW, need to understand their role of getting in the stands early and in mass. Pushing him out makes no sense.

I have come to believe from a coaching perspective Klem was not a good line coach. I base that assumption on what several lineman said after one month with Suan's different approach. Jones has WORKED WITH and is directly involved with the best coaches in the football world. I trust Jones is most concerned with having his line ready for next season and has already tried the recruiter without coaching experience who could not coach anything other than chaos.

Judging from his UCLA tenure Palcic is a subpar coach and recruiter.

sbsmith wrote:

Panic Pete wrote:

sbsmith wrote:we're not going to get there with June, him and his staff just don't have the drive out on the recruiting trail to get us to the next level.

So is it time to panic?

It's been panic time since ASU stiffed June and we got stuck with him. I expect another half-assed recruiting effort and then the new coach will have to clean up June's mess.

It has been a correction in direction after four years. Jones is making staff changes, fixing the line and receiving coaches positions. QB position looks to be very promising. Picked up a Class a Cut Above the last two.. Some say you have to win to draw the top level recruits.. The season looks good for SMU Supporters........... Too bad for those who see doom it is going to be more hell.