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“June Jones is giving up the paradise of Hawaii for the daunting task of trying to restore SMU to football respectability.”
-Associated Press, Jan. 7, 2008.
He heard he was wrong. He heard he was crazy. But two years later, the only thing he hears is praise.
“June Jones has been given the moniker of a miracle man of sorts based in his success in Hawaii, and it’s beginning to look like he still has the touch,” says SMU’s student newspaper.
“The program is definitely in an upswing. He is doing the same things he did at Hawaii even without the blue chip talent. J.J. is an absolute genius,” says a poster on the Dallas Morning News’ Web site.
When Jones’ Mustangs enter Joan C. Edwards Stadium on Saturday, they’ll come down from the same concrete hill on the far side of the Shewey Building that every other away team has run down from this season. But don’t expect them to run down that hill at the right time. In fact, they’ll probably come out earlier than expected.
They’re not impatient. They’re just ahead of schedule.
At this point last year, SMU was on its way to its eleventh consecutive non-winning season. It was 1-9. It finished 1-11.
Now, the Mustangs are on their way to winning their first Conference USA title. They’re 6-4 with a legitimate chance to get to nine or 10 wins.
With its win last week against UTEP combined with Houston’s loss at UCF, SMU now controls its destiny in C-USA’s West Division.
There hasn’t been this much buzz surrounding the program since a goggled running back by the name of Eric Dickerson was tearing up the Southwest Conference in the early ‘80s.
“We’re still probably playing over our heads,” Jones said. “But that’s OK. We’re excited about the future. We’ve got a lot of young kids and a lot of good kids next year, too, that are committed already.
“We set a goal for ourselves to get to six wins this year, which was going to be a tough one, we thought. And we’re probably a year ahead of schedule. I thought we’d take one more recruiting class to turn the corner.”
Going by the recent struggles of SMU football, it may be safe to say that corner’s already turned. Since Dickerson spearheaded the Pony Express some 30 years ago, the Mustangs have dealt with probation periods, season cancellations and the loss of scholarships.
Three coaches — Tom Rossley, Mike Cavan and Phil Bennett — have tried to put life back into the program, but all have failed.
But then came the hiring of Jones.
“The only way is up, and I’m good at going up,” Jones said Jan. 8, 2008, the day he was introduced as the Mustangs’ new coach.
He wasn’t kidding.
In 1998, Hawaii suffered its first winless season ever. Jones was hired in the offseason and the Warriors went 9-4 in ’99, making it the biggest turnaround in NCAA history. In eight seasons as Hawaii’s head coach, he won 76 games and appeared in six bowls, including a Sugar Bowl appearance following the 2007 season.
Some say it was a $2 million salary that ultimately lured Jones to Dallas, but he said it was the facilities.
“There’s absolutely no comparison,” Jones said comparing Hawaii to SMU immediately following his hire. “At Hawaii, the office I sat in was the same office that Dick Tomey used in 1986. The carpet was the same … You’re talking about the NFL and a Pop Warner team.”
Two years later, it’s Jones’ NFL style that has C-USA on its head trying to figure out. Utilizing the same run-and-shoot offense he had success with as head coach of the Atlanta Falcons in the early ‘90s, Jones has his Mustangs No. 2 in the league in pass offense.
Freshman quarterback Kyle Padron has tossed for 973 yards and six touchdowns in four games since filling in for injured starter Bo Levi Mitchell.
“Since their first-string starting quarterback got hurt, they’ve been more balanced,” said Marshall junior linebacker Mario Harvey.
“But it’s going to be a challenge for our defense. I’m kind of excited to play this ‘legendary’ Hawaii offense that I’ve seen for all these years.
“So I’m ready for it.”
Jones’ “legendary” Hawaii teams could always score, but they rarely prevented points.
Jones’ Mustangs are bucking that trend. The SMU defense is tied for eighth in the country with 26 takeaways.
“They do a lot of moving,” Snyder said. “They are never static. They are not the biggest in the world, not like anything we have faced in the last three weeks.
“But they do a lot of moving and they know where their strength and weaknesses are. They have bought in to the coach’s system.”
A system that’s still in the making.
Other game notes: Marshall and SMU have split their only two meetings ... With a win, Marshall will become bowl eligible for the first time since 2004. This is the Herd’s third opportunity in as many weeks to accomplish that feat … If SMU defeats Marshall on Saturday and Tulane next week, it will host the C-USA Championship on Dec. 5 … Marshall kicker Craig Ratanamorn’s perfect season may be in jeopardy. SMU’s Margus Hunt has blocked a school-record seven kicks this season. With one more block, he’ll tie the NCAA single-season record … There will be a pregame ceremony to honor Marshall’s 15 seniors.
Andrew Ramspacher can be contacted at ramspacher@marshall.edu.
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