Dorm Report: SMU deals with departure from success

Philadelphia, PA (SportsNetwork.com) – As a college football fan, unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past several decades, you are familiar with the story of the SMU Mustangs and the devastating punishment they received from the NCAA back in 1987.

It took nearly two decades for the sport to bounce back in Dallas, the team returning to the field and also making it to the postseason, thanks in large part to head coach June Jones who brought his quick-strike offensive philosophy from Hawaii to the mainland to jump-start the Mustangs in 2008.

“The commitment made by this University, the groundwork laid by my predecessors, the facilities – everything we need to be successful is here,” Jones said when he was officially announced on Jan. 7, 2008. “When I met with President Turner and Steve Orsini and the rest of the search committee, I saw the commitment from all of them to get back to the highest level of competition. If everyone’s not on the same page, you’re beat before you kick off. It’s clear that everyone at SMU is on the same page. Everyone has that hunger.”

Jones, who turned a languishing Hawaii squad into a threatening BCS buster, the Rainbow Warriors sporting the only unblemished regular-season record in the FBS in 2007 (12-0), was brought in to attempt the same transformation for a team that had not been to the postseason since defeating Notre Dame in the 1984 Aloha Bowl (27-20). The season before Jones signed on with SMU, the squad won just a single game, a 45-31 decision over North Texas in early September.

No one expected fireworks and parades as soon as Jones stepped onto the sidelines at Gerald J. Ford Stadium, and it’s a good thing because his inaugural campaign met with similar results as the Mustangs finished only 1-11 yet again. This time around, the single victory was logged against Texas State and came by only 11 points (47-36).

Rome wasn’t built in a day either, I’m reminded.

However, in 2009 the Pony Express was ready to ride again.

The Mustangs ran for a pedestrian 109.8 ypg that season, but posted 23 touchdowns on the ground, one more than they had through the air as they began to apply the passing attack that had made Jones so successful in Honolulu. Kyle Padron and Bo Levi Mitchell shared most of the passing responsibilities as the squad completed better than 60 percent of its pass attempts, although there was still some work to be done as far as interceptions were concerned.

Winning four of its last five regular-season games, SMU made the postseason and matched up against Nevada (a familiar foe to Jones from his days spent in the Western Athletic Conference) in the Hawaii Bowl (his old stomping grounds), and the matchup paid off in a big way as the Mustangs captured a convincing 45-10 victory over Hall of Fame coach Chris Ault and an electrifying quarterback in Colin Kaepernick.

“What it means to me, it just feels good to be home,” said Jones as he moved to 4-1 in Hawaii Bowls in his career.

The excitement of football was finally back at SMU, and was long overdue.

After putting up an 8-5 record in 2009, the Mustangs took a slight step back the following season as they split 14 outings. The team finished first in the West Division of the Conference USA standings, sporting a league mark of 6-2, but ended up losing to Army in the Armed Forces Bowl, 16-14.

In 2011 and 2012, the Mustangs dropped to 5-3 in conference play both years, but still they were rewarded with trips to the BBVA Compass and Hawaii Bowls, respectively, where they captured victories over both Pittsburgh (28-6) and Fresno State (43-10). In just five seasons, Jones had made the SMU football team relevant again, winning a total of three bowl games, after the program had won a total of four prior to his arrival.

Just getting to the postseason 25 years earlier was a feat in itself for a college football team, as there were only 18 major bowl games up for grabs in 1984. However, in the June Jones era in Dallas there were a staggering 35 bowl games that had to find participants, so maybe just receiving an invitation to play another game wasn’t good enough and didn’t carry the same amount of weight.

In 2013, the thrill was beginning to wear off, as SMU finished with a losing record overall (5-7) and was just 4-4 in league action. The squad closed out the regular season with setbacks against Houston and UCF and as a result, there was no postseason invitation forthcoming.

Fast forward to 2014 and right out of the gate there was trouble for the Mustangs. The team was thrashed by nationally-ranked Baylor on the road, 45-0, in the opener and then was crushed by North Texas, 43-6, away from Dallas as well. The team had a week off built into the schedule before having to face mighty Texas A&M on Sept. 20 in the home opener, but as it turned out, Jones would not be around for that contest.

Just two days after the loss to the Mean Green, Jones announced that, due to personal issues, he was resigning as head coach.

“This afternoon, I talked to my staff and players and notified them that I have decided to resign as SMU head football coach effective immediately,” said Jones. “It was a very difficult decision for me to make, as you can imagine. I have devoted my life for the last 50 years to playing and coaching this game and it has been a great journey. This job has a lot of demands, as you know, and along with that journey comes a price that is paid. I have some personal issues I have been dealing with and I need to take a step away so I can address them at this time.”

It was unusual timing for sure. Had the Mustangs won the first two games of the season, or simply been more competitive, would Jones have made his exit so quickly? There is probably a good reason for Jones to have made the decision when he did (no one will accuse him of being the next Bobby Petrino), but still there are coaches and players who have been left to question the direction of this football team.

At this point, the direction appears to be down the tubes. You would be hard- pressed to find another team, outside of Miami-Ohio which is dealing with a 20-game slide, that is struggling as much as the Mustangs.

The squad ranks last in the nation in both total offense (194.7 ypg) and scoring (4.0 ppg), as well as last in scoring defense (48.7 ppg). Granted, the Mustangs have gone up against a couple of top-flight programs in Baylor and Texas A&M, but North Texas is mediocre at best.

SMU isn’t bringing up the rear in every statistical category that the NCAA monitors. In fact the team is tied for first in red zone offense with a perfect mark. However, it should be noted that the Mustangs have been in the red zone a total of three times in as many games, and they have had to settle for field goals twice. Adding insult to injury, even after the Mustangs scored their first touchdown of the season versus the Mean Green, they failed to pick up the point after.

This weekend, SMU hosts TCU in the Battle for the Iron Skillet, marking the fourth straight game in which the Ponies have remained in the Lone Star State to kick off the season. Interim head coach Tom Mason has penciled in walk-on junior Garrett Krstich to be his starting quarterback after he threw for 137 yards in the loss to A&M.

While the Mustangs have not quite raised the white flag, the departure of Jones and the carousel at quarterback indicates the squad is clearly heading in the wrong direction.

Categorized in: NCAA Football