Southern Methodist University was all excited today about officially announcing that its sports teams will be joining the Big East conference. But then the news began to break that head football coach June Jones has decided to leave the Hilltop in favor of Arizona State University.
Jones had been at SMU for four seasons and is credited with helping the football team to become somewhat respectable. Jean-Jacques Taylor of ESPN Dallas says “Jones’ decision to leave for Arizona State makes SMU a laughingstock. Again.”
Meanwhile, Bleacher Report speculates that SMU entering the Big East may have spurred Jones to move west, because of “quality of life” considerations:
The Big East is going to be a mess and will require a lot of traveling. SMU is in Texas and will be taking several trips to the East Coast to play football games in November and December.
I’m sure when Jones heard the words freezing and snow, he remembered his coaching days in Hawaii and found the first flight out. In fact, every place Jones has coached in for the most part has great weather, including San Diego when he was a quarterbacks coach for the Chargers.
And the Arizona Republic warns that the ASU gig isn’t exactly a football coach’s “dream job”:
ASU fans expect the unrealistic. Old-timers resist new logos and pine for the good old days under Frank Kush, forgetful that it was a different time and a different country back then. The younger generation is impatient and half-vested. A school official sagely says ASU leads the nation in fans who scream their dissatisfaction from the couch.
4 comments
Jason,
I know sports isn’t your forte, but under no circumstances should BleacherReport be used as a source, link or even a vehicle to waste five minutes. It’s seriously worse than grocery store tabloids. Complete fiction penned by “fan” writers.
I think Bleacher Report does rank speculation, which is all that any outlet has at this moment about Jones’ departure, as well as anyone.
Bleacher Report isn’t the only outlet reporting it. Also, JJT’s assertion is goofy. June Jones isn’t Bear Bryant. He’s a guy with a name. If anything, SMU’s recent success will attract a better head coach.
Unfortunate timing for SMU on what is still an important day. Still, June Jones is looking for one big final score before retiring to Hawaii for the good life. And who can blame him? It was great while it lasted.
What SMU has to do RIGHT NOW is to identify someone who can keep them going in the right direction. I dispute that SMU is a laughingstock. I don’t dispute that SMU is one of those schools whose coaches — if they are successful — are going to be ripe targets for the BCS schools who are looking to mend their operations.
Houston appears to be in the same position.