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I think the issue I have with JJ is that it is the perception that he has stopped really actively caring on what is happening to the program. I know the team lost quite a bit of talent from last year to now, but it is almost like the demeanor of the team is that they feel the game is over before it has ever started. I am a strong believer that teams build their persona from the top down and JJ provides the outward perception that he is just going through the motions. Even if he is a boiling pot of rage at this team on the inside the outside body language gives a completely different set of signals. I get it, you cant be always on fire screaming and throwing things. At some point it loses its power to have an impact. But he problem is that it is so far the other way that it is easy to understand the perception of if the coach doesn't care, why should I.

I am a huge believer that teams play with the same level of attention to detail and expectation to win as is displayed by their coach on the sideline. Easiest current example I can think of is that the entire nation got to see UNT play tough with UGA yesterday for 3 quarters while those that caught the A&M/SMU game saw a team that seemed out of touch from the beginning. Look at how the 2 different coaches acted on the sideline and how more importantly how they are portrayed by the media. SMU seemed to essentially crumble in the 2nd Q and JJ looked like Niro watching Rome burn to ground around him. I worry that the demeanor of JJ will invalidate any momentum that SMU can make in football and will poison a new set of high school students about SMU's commitment to athletics.

All through the national media there was the spin that UNT played a big name SEC team and made them fight. Now as they move into conference play the national pundits will be more likely to give them the benefit of the doubt and say their wins are because they are good instead of they play a weak schedule. At somepoint the frontrunner viewpoint of DFW could potentially swing to the point that SMU is now the 3rd (4th if you count Baylor) option for kids wanting to stay close to home to play college ball.

I mention this because though I am a UNT fan, I have deep ties to the HP area and SMU. It is very easily to disillusion a fanbase and SMU has some interesting obstacles tied to fan support. I dont want to see SMU repeat the sheer stupidity of what UNT did. I have already suffered through that putrid mess for one team I follow and I will be pissed I have am forced to watch SMU go through the same thing.

I know how fickle the DFW fans are and how quickly things can turn. DFW college sports are best when at least 2 of SMU/UNT/TCU are good. The problem is that it might be starting to look as if TCU bit off more than they can chew and if JJ further damages the program that there will not be enough interest, enough local battles, to force local media coverage and interest of local college football and it will go back to the dark years of DFW being exclusively UT, A&M, OU, OSU and TT. I am not sure about you guys, but I hate the idea, especially in how fickle the dying print media is and how brutal online media can be, that the local DFW teams will once again be ignored through the perception of lack of interest.

I think that SMU HAS to make a change. I am not going to go so far as to say it much be a young guy, but it does need to be someone that can be easily identifiable as a both a figurehead or lightning rod for the program and carries the outside demeanor of they live and bleed SMU and if you don't let me change that perception through my and my teams actions on and off the field.

Tl;DR : UNT/SMU fan thinks JJ has to go, hes killing the program perception from the inside out

smumustang1980 wrote:JJ does not have the personality many of you look for in a college football coach. Before you consign him and the team to oblivion, let's watch the rest of the season. We can draw our conclusions then, and hopefully without the frustration of having to guess. I have a feeling that Turner and his group may have some long-term plans which may prove surprising.

smumustang1980 wrote:JJ does not have the personality many of you look for in a college football coach. Before you consign him and the team to oblivion, let's watch the rest of the season. We can draw our conclusions then, and hopefully without the frustration of having to guess. I have a feeling that Turner and his group may have some long-term plans which may prove surprising.

SMU_Alumni11 wrote:

smumustang1980 wrote:JJ does not have the personality many of you look for in a college football coach. Before you consign him and the team to oblivion, let's watch the rest of the season. We can draw our conclusions then, and hopefully without the frustration of having to guess. I have a feeling that Turner and his group may have some long-term plans which may prove surprising.

How many seasons 1980 does he get? If we actually had the alumni support and stet money this guy would be canned but we are force to ride it out and he knows it so please tell me how many years does he get to "turn this around." The team looks unprepared to win and always prepared to lose. When they actually get a lead, an opportunity, they crumble and fail.

I'm4Peruna wrote:Stop with the excuses for JJ. Supposedly he was going to ASU with this same excuse the he didn' t get what he needed, etc. If he felt that way, retire. Did he? No, he stayed for the money. That is the ONLY reason he is here. He cares less about what he needed to move this program than he did about money.

couch 'em wrote:Wasting your effort. Years of half of us saying this and the Ponyboy crowd just keeps drinking the koolaid. Just like the Bennett years.