June Jones looks like he is leaving Hawaii for SMU

[wyvrn]

I just heard on local Dallas sports station The Ticket that June Jones has finally made up his mind and will announce that he is accepting the SMU head coaching job at a 3pm conference today. This is after going back and forth on the SMU offer and staying at Hawaii. His agent, Leigh Steinberg, noted that the SMU meeting and offer was impressive but Jones was emotionally tied to Hawaii, and the decision was a hard one.

Well that only took SMU 70 days to find a coach, but if this is true, then would be a great move forward for this school. Since they received the death penalty, they have been mired in total anonymity in football after being one of the best teams. North Texas desparately needs a good college football team, and I think June Jones could do for SMU what he did for Hawaii and rebuild the program.

The fact that the governor of Hawaii intervened to keep Jones, and the Univ. of Hawaii reportedly offered an 'amplified offer' a the 11th hours suggests that not only is Jones a good football coach, but is highly respected by his bosses, players, and the community.

But in the end, the 1.7 to 2 million per year that SMU is offering probably was way too much of a payraise to give up for Jones. This is an opportunity for him to secure his family so I don't blame it. Hopefully this will lead to SMU at least being competitive again.

 

[Jhill]

SMU is a coaching graveyard.

 

[Fingolfin269]

SMU is the best he can do?

 

[pontifex]

a guy named June? or is it not pronounced like the month?

 

[wyvrn]

Originally posted by: pontifex
a guy named June? or is it not pronounced like the month?

It is pronounced like the month, and he is a former NFLer. He is a good coach, and extremely well liked in Hawaii by just about everyone.

 

[dainthomas]

Well, there goes Hawaii football. Unless they take the money they were going to spend on Jones and actually invest in decent facilities and mainland recruiting.

 

[wyvrn]

Originally posted by: Fingolfin269
SMU is the best he can do?

It is a tremendous rebuilding job. They never recovered from the death penalty, when they were one of the best teams in the nation. But I think Dallas is a good football area, and there is tons of talent in TX. Unfortunately for June, he will be recruiting against Oklahoma, Texas, Tech, and Texas A&M. But if he can get good players all the way to Hawaii, he can probably do it in talent rich Dallas.

 

[RagingBITCH]

Originally posted by: Jhill
SMU is a coaching graveyard.

Hahahaha, no sh!t. My friend used to coach there (rowing) and got free tix to games all the time...the stadium would be 1/3 full, at the most. It was pathetic how little people care about SMU football.

The hired a new AD I think in early 07. He's serious about getting SMU athletics (minus their pretty good soccer teams) back on the national map. Phil would have been gone one way or the other regardless of a bowl berth. Do I think June Jones is the answer? No. A university handing out Mr. and Mrs. degrees isn't the place for a serious athlete, and will never be. Why would stellar talent out of Highland Park or Southlake or any city, especially in the Dallas area, go to SMU when they'd get national coverage at UT, OU, etc?

Doherty hasn't done squat for SMU bball so far...June won't really do squat for SMU. I think we'll be better than we were under Phil, but that's not saying a ton. Recruitment really is what will make or break us, and I don't see it changing drastically.

 

[CPA]

Originally posted by: Fingolfin269
SMU is the best he can do?

At this point, SMU is the only Division I coaching job available, IIRC.

 

[Wreckem]

Originally posted by: wyvrn

Originally posted by: Fingolfin269
SMU is the best he can do?

It is a tremendous rebuilding job. They never recovered from the death penalty, when they were one of the best teams in the nation. But I think Dallas is a good football area, and there is tons of talent in TX. Unfortunately for June, he will be recruiting against Oklahoma, Texas, Tech, and Texas A&M. But if he can get good players all the way to Hawaii, he can probably do it in talent rich Dallas.

OU, UT, A&M, and TTU don't have that pesky high level of academic acheivement required though. Its gonna be even harder to recruit with SMUs academic standards..

 

[BlackTigers]

I just had to Google SMU because I had no idea what it was

0_o

 

[wyvrn]

Originally posted by: Wreckem

Originally posted by: wyvrn

Originally posted by: Fingolfin269
SMU is the best he can do?

It is a tremendous rebuilding job. They never recovered from the death penalty, when they were one of the best teams in the nation. But I think Dallas is a good football area, and there is tons of talent in TX. Unfortunately for June, he will be recruiting against Oklahoma, Texas, Tech, and Texas A&M. But if he can get good players all the way to Hawaii, he can probably do it in talent rich Dallas.

OU, UT, A&M, and TTU don't have that pesky high level of academic acheivement required though. Its gonna be even harder to recruit with SMUs academic standards..

True. But A&M and UT aren't that far behind in their standards, really. They might just make more exceptions.

 

[wyvrn]

Originally posted by: BlackTigers91
I just had to Google SMU because I had no idea what it was

0_o

You didn't watch football in the early 80s. Some of us are older and have been following football for longer.