Joe Schad of ESPN has the scoop on SMU's coaching search. Last week, he mentioned - almost in passing - on College Football Live that SMU was going to take a shot at a football coach whose team had yet to play in a bowl game. He did not name a specific coach, school, or whether it was a "BCS conference" coach.Now, we have a name. It's June Jones of Hawaii.
SMU will pursue Hawaii coach June Jones and is prepared to pay between $1.5 and $1.7 million per year, according to two people familiar with SMU's strategy.Keep a couple things in mind before you start laughing. For starters, Hawaii's facilities are dreadful, and the athletic budget is equally comical. SMU's administration seems willing to throw some money at the football program, and while money won't solve all their problems, this looks like a really good idea. With Jones' contract up at Hawaii, now might be the time to take a shot at him if you're someone like SMU.
Although Jones' contract expires after this year, Hawaii has yet to make a contract offer to the coach, who just completed his ninth season with Hawaii.
Hawaii athletic director Herman Frazier said after the Sugar Bowl that he will not negotiate through the media and that he will not comment specifically on SMU's interest in his coach.
Jones brings instant credibility as a rebuilder (Hawaii was 0-12 the year before he took over that program), and he will find a way to make an impact with the players former coach Phil Bennett recruited. Given how rich the talent pool is in the Metroplex, it's hard to imagine that Jones wouldn't have success in Conference USA.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
1-02-2008 @ 5:07PM
retired said...
The only problem he's gonna have is trying to get anybody to play at SMU.
The only time in recent history that they were competitive was when they violated so many NCAA rules that they had to be given the death penalty.
Most athletes wouldn't attend SMU because of its "country club" atmosphere. Can you imagine any lower middle class or lower socioeconomic kid showing up at SMU? Check the tuition costs and you'll see who goes to SMU.
What they need to do, along with Baylor, is play DII where they could be competitive.
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1-02-2008 @ 6:34PM
David said...
The Death Penalty was 20 years ago and we are still trying to overcome the stigma of it. Yeah, it's difficult to recruit blue chip players who might rather go to Texas or A&M (or god forbid TCU). Hiring June Jones would be a *huge* credibility boost. Which is why we are throwing money at him.
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1-02-2008 @ 7:06PM
bdien said...
Jones to give up Hawaii for a losing program in Texas??? LOL LOL
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1-02-2008 @ 7:27PM
Christopher said...
Retired:
-Teams before SMU's death penalty have done worse than SMU and teams continue to do so...it's ridiculous to imply that SMU needed to cheat to win at a high level any more than teams like Alabama, Mississippi St, Auburn or Cal do and did.
-"Country club atmospheres" don't keep athletes from attending USC, UCLA, Auburn, Vanderbilt, Stanford, Duke, Alabama...not playing for competitive football programs might
-Private schools have lots of money to hand out to kids with from lower socioeconomic situations and do, both because it adds depth and talented diversity to your college and because (federal guidelines say) you pretty much have to
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1-02-2008 @ 9:01PM
inlandvalleywild said...
Retired,
Are you kidding me. What self-respecting football player wouldn't want to hook up with a rich girl in Texas and her daddy's money.
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1-11-2008 @ 1:45AM
Marvin said...
Just wanted to say to coach Jones that you have let the state of Hawaii down let me tell you why? 1) When you first came to Hawaii you said that you always wanted to coach at Hawaii. Not once did you mention any thing about the facilities at that time. 2) Throughout your tenure here at UH you always had the "No quit" attitude and always preached that to your players.3)People here in Hawaii have waited for so long to have a football team to be proud of not saying that we are not but now it feels like we need to start all over again.
I know that I probably speak for alot of people here when I say that you quit on us!!!If you felt burnt out then why didn't you follow your star Colt and stay out amongst the people of Hawaii to get your strength back because there is alot of "MANA" inthe people of Hawaii!! Well it's allover now but just remember that you gave up on us we did not give up on you!!! Good Luck and Mahalo
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