Flashback to the day June Jones was hired

[OR-See-Nee]

My expectations were:

--the initial hiring of JJ would lead to Texas-area high school football players rushing to his door wanting to attend SMU and play football;

--we would see steady improvement over time in the win-loss record and talent level (similar to Dallas Cowboys in the early/mid 90s);

--in year 4 or 5 we would be knocking on top-30 status;

--we'd see games with a wide-open, prolific offense that made headlines;

--Dallas and surrounding areas would start embracing SMU;

--saying that you went to SMU would be fun again.

I give JJ great credit for what he's done. Bowl eligibility for 4 years is incredible. But like many others here, I believe he's plateaued and unfortunately, wasted time. What could have been had he and the staff been actively recruiting and making relationships with local coaches....

[SoCal_Pony]

My expectations were:

--the initial hiring of JJ would lead to Texas-area high school football players rushing to his door wanting to attend SMU and play football;

--we would see steady improvement over time in the win-loss record and talent level (similar to Dallas Cowboys in the early/mid 90s);

--in year 4 or 5 we would be knocking on top-30 status;

--we'd see games with a wide-open, prolific offense that made headlines;

--Dallas and surrounding areas would start embracing SMU;

--saying that you went to SMU would be fun again.

I give JJ great credit for what he's done. Bowl eligibility for 4 years is incredible. But like many others here, I believe he's plateaued and unfortunately, wasted time. What could have been had he and the staff been actively recruiting and making relationships with local coaches....

Agree with much of what you said Orseenee, but going to 4 straight bowls is hardly incredible, not given how diluted the bowl system is, more specifically, how diluted C-USA is and how many bowl tie-ins C-USA has.

Almost like saying UT going to 4 straight bowl games is incredible, it's not.

And SMU should dominate C-USA every bit as much, if not more, than UT should dominate the Big 12.

[OR-See-Nee]

I hear you and if I had my druthers, we'd have far fewer bowls than we currently have.

However, the system is what it is.

Compared to where we were, going to 4 straight bowls for SMU is incredible, in my mind. So many 0-fer, 1-fer seasons to live through, even in the diluted bowl environment, that 4 in a row for SMU kind of shocks me.

We are not where we need to be or ought to be.

[SoCal_Pony]

agreed that given our past, the 4 bowl streak is very nice. Like you, I just want so much more for this program.

btw, if you PF posters are bored and have some free time (as if we don't), go to Rivals and check out our Diamond-in-the-Rough players we have signed over the past 7-8 years. Quite remarkable the bust rate among them. Of course there are exceptions, but overall, these are players that simply couldn't compete even on our own mediocre teams, much less against the Baylors’, TCUs’ and Techs of the world. This is why our record against winning teams is so abysmal. And by my estimation, we have over 80% ‘diamonds’ this year. Simply unacceptable.

What I wanted from JJ? better recruiting, better QB / WR talent and development, and a more explosive offense, which I had hoped would create a better buzz for our program.

Pretty remarkable when you look at QB play over the past 5 years from a supposed QB guru. And for all the complaints about GG this year, I think there would have been a hug drop-off had he gone down to injury.

[JasonB]

I honestly wanted SMU in a bowl game last season or this season. If we had made a bowl game last season, then I expected bowl appearances in years 4 and 5. 4 bowl games is better than expected, but that does not really mean he has over performed, simply that we climbed to an acceptable level sooner than expected and have plateaued. I am very happy to be bowling, but am very concerned that we are not improving.

I think this nails my thoughts pretty well... add in a concern that the offense hasn't picked it up a notch or two.

As far as the recruiting changes are concerned, Jones has gotten a slight uptick in talent, but for the most part, those changes were used to go after players who were academic risks. That is the TCU model of how they got better. In our case, players didn't get into school and after going to JUCO, they chose not to come to SMU, so the risk didn't pay off. TCU got lucky with LT and others, and that bumped them to the next level. We haven't had that luck.

What I like about watching the team is that when Bennett coached, we would have horrible mistakes. Someone would block the wrong player and people would get free run on the QB. And on defense there were blown coverages that left people wide open deep every time we got back in a game. Or we wouldn't adjust and allow players 7 TD passes because we refused to double a WR with a safety.

For the most part now, we don't see those. The kids are well coached, they just get beat sometimes by better athletes. I would, of course, rather see us win those battles, but at least we don't do as much stupid stuff as we did pre-Jones.

[JasonB]

My expectations were:

--the initial hiring of JJ would lead to Texas-area high school football players rushing to his door wanting to attend SMU and play football;

--we would see steady improvement over time in the win-loss record and talent level (similar to Dallas Cowboys in the early/mid 90s);

--in year 4 or 5 we would be knocking on top-30 status;

--we'd see games with a wide-open, prolific offense that made headlines;

--Dallas and surrounding areas would start embracing SMU;

--saying that you went to SMU would be fun again.

I give JJ great credit for what he's done. Bowl eligibility for 4 years is incredible. But like many others here, I believe he's plateaued and unfortunately, wasted time. What could have been had he and the staff been actively recruiting and making relationships with local coaches....

Agree with much of what you said Orseenee, but going to 4 straight bowls is hardly incredible, not given how diluted the bowl system is, more specifically, how diluted C-USA is and how many bowl tie-ins C-USA has.

Almost like saying UT going to 4 straight bowl games is incredible, it's not.

And SMU should dominate C-USA every bit as much, if not more, than UT should dominate the Big 12.

As diluted as the bowls are, only 30 teams have gone to 4 straight bowls, and there aren't a lot of minnows in that list.

[mr. pony]

How many on that list never won more than 7 regular season-games in those four years?

[Rebel10]

How many on that list never won more than 7 games in those four years?

Good question. I think he is getting is defense ready for why they should not fire JJ next year of he tanks. Anyway, I am sure he will answer that question.

[jpe747]

It sounds like everyone feels similar about our future.

As for me, when we hired JJ, I realized that we were one (if not the) worst football schools in the USA. I was hoping that we could consistently beat the UTEPs and Tulanes. I was hoping we could put some distance between us and 1 or 2 win seasons. A bowl game in 4 years would have been WONDERFUL! That’s how bad I thought our program was and I think I was right.

Loosing to Tulane and Rice this year was very disappointing and would have probably caused JJ some standing (and perhaps his job). But the win against Tulsa was outstanding. Tulsa IS a very good team. That win makes this another good year (no matter who likes it JJ is back if he so desires).

As far as how JJ handles himself in the locker room or on the sideline I couldn't care less. Many good coaches are stoic on the sidelines, i.e. Tom Landry.

What I think everyone would like to hear is Coach Jones state once again his commitment to SMU's success. I think if he re-evaluated his recruiting policy and had his staff more visible (maybe a branch office in Frisco or McKinney or something) that would please lots of fans. Not sure how much that would help, but at least it would help some feel better about what was going on at SMU.

On the other hand, if we want ANY COACH to be happy at SMU we MUST find ways to fill the stadium. If we want big recruits to PLAY for the Mustangs we need to fill the stadium. THAT IS OUR PROBLEM - THE FANICS FOR THE MUSTANGS. We need to help solve that problem and let the coach (whoever it is) coach the football team.

[Treadway21]

You cannot just manufacture fans. You can complain all you want, but people aren't interested in seeing 6/6 7-5 football against Memphis and Sou Miss and SFA. Especially when Texas is playing OU, TCU is playing and beating Texas, ATM is beating Alabama, Baylor is beating Kansas State. We got a lot of competition and no amount of marketing erases blow outs and losses to rice and Tulane.

[RGV Pony]

Hart has said it himself. To increase attendance we have to compete for and win championships.

Win championships. Not back into the championship game just over .500. Go 10-2, 11-1 etc. Compete for and win championships. Plural.

[jpe747]

treadway21 and R G V Pony, I agree with your thoughts. In fact, I have stated several times on Ponyfans that we need to have two or three 10 or 11 years back to back. I'm all for winning and winning big. However, that wasn't the subject of this thread. And, with this last win, I think things became more stable on the Hilltop. Nonetheless, my point was everyone feels the same way. We want a stronger program. Are we headed that direction? How so? I tried to address what I thought would make all of us feel somewhat better about that direction.

Let me be more blunt. Whether one likes it or not, with our last win and a 4th bowl game on the horizon, JJ will be our coach if he so desires for the next few years.

[RGV Pony]

I don't dispute the reality of your 2nd paragraph.

[Treadway21]

Jpe, I hear you. I get a little defensive about attendance and complaints about our fans. We have gone from competing At the top level of college football to competing with Rice for bowl eligibility. And guys like JonesDoe hurl abuse at our fans. While attendance is a problem, it is not the reason Jones and the team is not having more success. In fact the reverse is more true.

[ponyboy]

Other than an odd season here and there, 1966 and 1968 come to mind, we competed at the top level of college football very rarely. We did well in the mid 1930's, including a piece of a national championship, had a taste here and there during the Doak Walker era, and then we cheated big and won big in the early 80's. But we've by and large been an also-ran, mediocre team in a big boy conference during the majority of our history. Don't be tempted to think of those pony excess days as anything near the norm for SMU.

Here's where we find ourselves now. We've been led out of the wilderness back to a degree of respectability under June Jones. We need to get creative now -- not Ron Meyer creative! -- and get to that next level, consistently hanging in and around the top 25. That's going to take some solid recruiting and, yes, probably a new coach. No reason why we can't get there with a little vision and creativity. We certainly have the resources.