SMU brass says coach wasn't forced out

[Harry]

Two games removed from signing a contract extension, June Jones resigned as SMU’s football coach on Monday, citing personal issues.

Jones, 61, resurrected football on the Hilltop, breaking a 25-year bowl drought with four straight bowl appearances. After a 1-11 first year in 2008, Jones guided the Mustangs to a 35-32 record over the last five years, including three bowl victories.

Defensive coordinator Tom Mason will serve as head coach for the rest of the season. SMU officials will organize a search committee to find a successor.

Blowout losses to Baylor and North Texas, on the heels of last year’s 5-7 finish, ignited a social media firestorm of criticism. Many fans, embarrassed by being outscored 88-6 in the first two games, were calling for his dismissal.

Read more: http://www.dallasnews.com/sports/college-sports/smu-mustangs/20140908-smu-football-coach-june-jones-to-resign.ece

[UNT90]

Ya, right.

[NT03]

Please. Enough of the SMU / June Jones threads already. Thank you

[ColoradoEagle]

I believe he wasn't forced out. Who wants to be looking for a new job after having just completed a 1-11 or 2-10 season with an embarrassing loss to Texas A&M broadcast to the whole country on ABC?

[oldguystudent]

And Eric Dickerson still denies receiving any pay.

[The Fake Lonnie Finch]

I believe it. Normally, I wouldn't. But, for some reason, this time I do. June didn't seem to be his old feisty self throughout the off-season or this year.

And, again, I just don't think you're going to consistently get the type of athlete you need to run a spread type offense at SMU with so many other schools in Texas and the region running it who are higher on the food chain. He had to have seen that, watching and feeling the rise of Baylor since he arrived on the Hilltop.

It took Briles three seasons to finally have a winning season at Baylor, four to finally win a bowl game. Now, he's got the program up, with great new facilities - and, peeling off higher level recruits for his spread offense. When Briles arrived at Baylor, they were not much better than SMU.

I just think June probably sees the writing on the wall, both with the uphill recruiting battle he face to keep his spread stocked with viable athletes, and how fast a Criminal 5 conference team could rise in spite of being bad historically.

Baylor was always getting Big 12 money that schools like SMU and us are never going to get (without a T. Boone-type benefactor). It's a grind. You've got to admire coaches like June and McCarney who take on that grind.

I just think McCarney has taken the more realistic philosophy in recruiting. The best spread preps are not going to be available, so he's getting great runners who were once prized by coaches, but now ignored.

Like I said a couple of days ago, I thought June had wrung as much as he could out of that program and it was time for him to go. You've got to tip your hat to a guy who was able to get SMU to four consecutive bowl games. Not an easy feat.

Edited September 9, 2014 by The Fake Lonnie Finch

[meangreenthirteen]

Tired of reading about SMU. Let them smolder in the ashes of their irrelevance. We have more football to play.

[UNTcrazy727]

Rumors are that he saw this season going down the drain and wanted to jump ship before his coaching prestige wasn't completely destroyed by a 1-11 or 0-12 season. SMU was also looking to make a change so they were happy to go a long with his story of "personal issues" so they could get started on their coaching search.

[EagleMBA]

OK? Well then, how about "If you like your plan, you can keep your plan!".

[Stix]

I think he was told to resign; that the boosters paying his salary weren't going to pay anymore, so there wouldn't be any buyout, therefore it wasn't going to be a firing.

[untjim1995]

I believe it. Normally, I wouldn't. But, for some reason, this time I do. June didn't seem to be his old feisty self throughout the off-season or this year.

And, again, I just don't think you're going to consistently get the type of athlete you need to run a spread type offense at SMU with so many other schools in Texas and the region running it who are higher on the food chain. He had to have seen that, watching and feeling the rise of Baylor since he arrived on the Hilltop.

It took Briles three seasons to finally have a winning season at Baylor, four to finally win a bowl game. Now, he's got the program up, with great new facilities - and, peeling off higher level recruits for his spread offense. When Briles arrived at Baylor, they were not much better than SMU.

I just think June probably sees the writing on the wall, both with the uphill recruiting battle he face to keep his spread stocked with viable athletes, and how fast a Criminal 5 conference team could rise in spite of being bad historically.

Baylor was always getting Big 12 money that schools like SMU and us are never going to get (without a T. Boone-type benefactor). It's a grind. You've got to admire coaches like June and McCarney who take on that grind.

I just think McCarney has taken the more realistic philosophy in recruiting. The best spread preps are not going to be available, so he's getting great runners who were once prized by coaches, but now ignored.

Like I said a couple of days ago, I thought June had wrung as much as he could out of that program and it was time for him to go. You've got to tip your hat to a guy who was able to get SMU to four consecutive bowl games. Not an easy feat.

I agree--we learned under Dodge that getting enough players for this type of offense is really a tough sell at our level. And that was with a high school coach...imagine how June Jones has felt seeing the same things come about with all of his accomplishments over the years.

I love that we are being looked at as the throwback team--the one that hits hard, runs the ball down your throat, and just plays solid special teams. And with a coach that people like and want to follow.

[forevereagle]

I think he was told to resign; that the boosters paying his salary weren't going to pay anymore, so there wouldn't be any buyout, therefore it wasn't going to be a firing.

That cannot be it, if the contract stipulates a buyout, there will be a buyout or a lawsuit followed by a buyout.

[The Fake Lonnie Finch]

I agree--we learned under Dodge that getting enough players for this type of offense is really a tough sell at our level. And that was with a high school coach...imagine how June Jones has felt seeing the same things come about with all of his accomplishments over the years.

I love that we are being looked at as the throwback team--the one that hits hard, runs the ball down your throat, and just plays solid special teams. And with a coach that people like and want to follow.

It was tough under Dodge for sure. But, now with Texas A&M and Baylor having exploded nationally...

...it's like all of those teams that tried to run the Wishbone in the 70s when OU, Texas, and Alabama were running it.

At a school like UNT, which put football on the backburner for a couple of decades, you really do have to accept where you are and pick an offense and defense that you can realistically recruit for.

Remember when Dodge - the spread genius - left? There were no receivers left. Most of the guys he brought in left, quit, or just didn't pan out. They were, for the most part, bottom shelf guys who happened to play in Southlake copycat offenses in high school.

The results were awful, and there's no point in wishing for it again.

People here bitching about McCarney and Canales and the QB. It's just crazy. How many of these people ever played football or anything? Just because you played QB in high school doesn't mean you are going to be a serviceable college QB.

For pete's sake, Frisco, where we live is going to have 11 high schools. Can you imagine? There are going to be 11 starting QBs, and probably seven or eight of them would not be good enough to start in high school even if Frisco weren't insistent on building so many schools.

Look at those QBs on SMU's roster. They can't run that offense than June Jones had. It doesn't matter that they could run some form of the spread in high school. They were not cream of the crop guys. They just weren't.

And, Jones, I have to believe, really saw the light during his beating at Baylor. I have a hard time believing that he left that game thinking he could build what Briles was whipping him with. After all the work he put in, to see that new stadium and those athletes at that school had to be disheartening to him.

There is a chasm in money and talent that is real between the SMUs and UNTs of the world and the Criminal 5s. You have to do what you can to survive. What June Jones is an expert in, he couldn't survive with it at SMU any longer. So, he walked away. Can't blame him.

Edited September 9, 2014 by The Fake Lonnie Finch

[MeanGreenZen]

It was tough under Dodge for sure. But, now with Texas A&M and Baylor having exploded nationally...

...it's like all of those teams that tried to run the Wishbone in the 70s when OU, Texas, and Alabama were running it.

At a school like UNT, which put football on the backburner for a couple of decades, you really do have to accept where you are and pick an offense and defense that you can realistically recruit for.

Remember when Dodge - the spread genius - left? There were no receivers left. Most of the guys he brought in left, quit, or just didn't pan out. They were, for the most part, bottom shelf guys who happened to play in Southlake copycat offenses in high school.

The results were awful, and there's no point in wishing for it again.

People here bitching about McCarney and Canales and the QB. It's just crazy. How many of these people ever played football or anything? Just because you played QB in high school doesn't mean you are going to be a serviceable college QB.

For pete's sake, Frisco, where we live is going to have 11 high schools. Can you imagine? There are going to be 11 starting QBs, and probably seven or eight of them would not be good enough to start in high school even if Frisco weren't insistent on building so many schools.

Look at those QBs on SMU's roster. They can't run that offense than June Jones had. It doesn't matter that they could run some form of the spread in high school. They were not cream of the crop guys. They just weren't.

And, Jones, I have to believe, really saw the light during his beating at Baylor. I have a hard time believing that he left that game thinking he could build what Briles was whipping him with. After all the work he put in, to see that new stadium and those athletes at that school had to be disheartening to him.

There is a chasm in money and talent that is real between the SMUs and UNTs of the world and the Criminal 5s. You have to do what you can to survive. What June Jones is an expert in, he couldn't survive with it at SMU any longer. So, he walked away. Can't blame him.

Are you really making the point that it is tough to recruit WRs in college? Please. WRs grow on trees. They are everywhere. It is tough to recruit DTs in college not WRs.

The point of the spread is you don't need elite athletes to run it. And SMU HAS found elite WRs for the spread. Emmanuel Sanders, Cole Beasley and Aldrick Robinson are June Jones WRs playing meaningful snaps in the NFL RIGHT NOW!

Whatever caused SMU to suck so bad this year is not an inability to find athletes to run the spread.

[MeanGreenZen]

And I am all for a moneyball get the undervalued asset approach to recruiting, but it's not like our RBs were big time HS stars who big schools don't want anymore. Pegram is a transfer from the Big 10, Jimmerson didn't even start for his high school and 3rd string Wilson was a 2A player. June Jones, on the other hand, just signed the No. 1 ranked fullback recruit in the country last year. More evidence against your theory that he could not find athletes to play in his offense.

Edited September 10, 2014 by MeanGreenZen

[greenminer]

I happen to enjoy our offensive scheme. It's just some execution/timing that needs to be fixed.

You can bring in whatever scheme you want, but if they boys aren't executing...

IIRC, those WRs that Dodge hauled in were pretty awesome. Could be wrong. Regardless, his problem was the HS staff and the worst string of defensive performances I've ever seen.

[The Fake Lonnie Finch]

Are you really making the point that it is tough to recruit WRs in college? Please. WRs grow on trees. They are everywhere. It is tough to recruit DTs in college not WRs.

The point of the spread is you don't need elite athletes to run it. And SMU HAS found elite WRs for the spread. Emmanuel Sanders, Cole Beasley and Aldrick Robinson are June Jones WRs playing meaningful snaps in the NFL RIGHT NOW!

Whatever caused SMU to suck so bad this year is not an inability to find athletes to run the spread.

Yes, they are a dime a dozen coming out of high school. Dodge got us plenty. It didn't work.

Also, if it were working for Jones, SMU wouldn't be 0-2 with their only score on a Hail Mary pass on the game's final play against us...and, Todd Dodge would still be here, or coaching another college team.

Edited September 10, 2014 by The Fake Lonnie Finch

[The Fake Lonnie Finch]

And I am all for a moneyball get the undervalued asset approach to recruiting, but it's not like our RBs were big time HS stars who big schools don't want anymore. Pegram is a transfer from the Big 10, Jimmerson didn't even start for his high school and 3rd string Wilson was a 2A player. June Jones, on the other hand, just signed the No. 1 ranked fullback recruit in the country last year. More evidence against your theory that he could not find athletes to play in his offense.

My evidence is that after seven years of June Jones, the Mustangs are 0-2 with exactly six point scored for the year...and, that on the heels of a losing season.

Edited September 10, 2014 by The Fake Lonnie Finch

[MeanGreenZen]

Nothing ever ends well or else it would not end. June Jones took a team that hadn't been to a bowl in 25 years to 4 bowls in 6 full seasons. Under your logic Tom Landry was a failure and so was Ron Washington because they, like Jones, left at a low point after achieving great things.

June Jones tenure at SMU was doomed as soon as he took the Arizona State job that fell through. He didn't REALLY want to be the head coach at SMU anymore and stopped doing the extra little things that had made him successful (which in my opinion is also what doomed Darrell Dickey at UNT). Jones' offensive system worked in the NFL and could still work in college.

And Todd Dodge was horrible at developing recruits into good college football players. Dodge is not a coach I would compare to June Jones.