June Jones to SMU: Touchdown Pass or End-Around Attempt?

Mama doesn't think too many people were surprised at June Jones decision. But I think it's a bad marriage. The reality is, Jones isn't just being assigned to rebuild a program which by itself is huge. He has the daunting task of recruiting in an amped up atmosphere of college football on the mainland, and Texas in particular. Fact is, whether we like it or not, college football has changed in the last several years. It's Big Business.It's political. It's dog eat dog. And he won't have the celebrity status he's enjoyed at Hawaii (Heck, he could run for any political office there).

He's had the benefit of being the only game in town. Not to say that recruiting wasn't tough; not everyone wants to send their student/child so far away. But that isolation has it's rewards. The village watches out for the players. Player athletes can't just run back home or drive up the freeway to see friends and family in their hometowns. And that creates a huge family atmosphere and fewer problems. That's big adjustment # 1. Yes, he's had NFL experience, but he will face a serious reality check when the honeymoon is over. FUMBLE

Number 2: Mama thinks he'll be disappointed in his "sideways" move. You could practically see him drooling on the sidelines over the Georgia players. Mama thinks he was saying to himself, "just think what I could do if I had those big boys to coach". The reality is, he won't. At best, he'll have equal talent to Hawaii to work with; at worst, it'll be less. Even though he's a great coach, he'll have less raw material to work with.The talent will still want to go to Texas, Oklahoma, Georgia, LSU, USC and yeah, even Oregon. SACK

Jones is a great motivator, usually. He can get his teams up and confident, usually. FIRST DOWN

If Jones could make it in the Big Business world, he'd still be in the NFL. TACKLED FOR A LOSS

And finally I say usually he can instill coincidence because Jones blew it in the Bowl game. He had no inspiration, he didn't make any adjustments at half time, and his whole affect was flat. The talking heads say that this just proves that the WAC can't compete with the Georgias, the USC's etc. But Mama thinks they could have held their own, if Jones would have done a better job of coaching. I think his decision had already been made, and his heart wasn't in it. Just listen to his pre game "pep" talk. He told the players to "play as if they belonged there" . Key word here is IF. That sends a subtle message that says,"we all know we're in way over our heads; just pretend that you should be here". Mama would have drenched that team in film of all of their big stops over the season; the wins at the scrimmage line over the likes of Boise State and Washington. The protection for Colt, and those great passes. I would have told them, "Look what you can do; let's go do it some more! They still may have lost, but they would have been spared the humiliation. MAMA THROWS A PENALTY FLAG

Bottom line of course, is that only time will tell. Mama thinks it's a bad marriage, but it's only the pre game show. The courtship is over, the honeymoon is on, and kick off is months away. Get your popcorn ready. We've got a good show to watch! Let the fun begin.