OT: June Jones to Arizona State (or not??)
Going to be quite entertaining to watch the late night games in the Pac-12 with RR, Leach, and June Jones. There won't be a defense as far as the eye can see, except possibly at USC.
Now the offer has apparently been pulled:
December 7th, 2011 at 1:57 PM ^
Damn. The Pac-12 is going to be full of offensive gurus: RR, Kelly, Leach, Jones...
December 7th, 2011 at 2:00 PM ^
Kelly?
December 7th, 2011 at 2:01 PM ^
Oregon's HC.
December 7th, 2011 at 2:01 PM ^
Chip Kelly
December 7th, 2011 at 2:44 PM ^
EDIT: Damn, replied to the wrong one.
December 7th, 2011 at 2:01 PM ^
Shootout...understatement.
December 7th, 2011 at 2:08 PM ^
RR has learned a bit from his UofM days and will do his best to field a defense that can stop people
Just a guess
December 7th, 2011 at 2:12 PM ^
His "best" apparently involves hiring Tony Gibson, so I don't think that's a good sign.
December 7th, 2011 at 2:25 PM ^
really depends on the DC
December 7th, 2011 at 3:07 PM ^
That's exactly the problem.
December 7th, 2011 at 11:05 PM ^
DC is inconsequential to MGoBloggers when it comes to Gibson. None of them have ever been inside a Michigan practice, video room or sideline huddle. Hell, most of them don't even know lingo a DB coaches uses to his players. But they think they can assess exactly who's fault something is. Don't question them.
December 7th, 2011 at 2:05 PM ^
They must have offered him a boatload of money. If I recall correctly, SMU was paying him something like $2M a year.
December 7th, 2011 at 2:08 PM ^
Bombs away
December 7th, 2011 at 2:10 PM ^
I assume Jon Gruden is going to be co-head coach.
December 7th, 2011 at 2:11 PM ^
after the SMU 30 for 30, I really started to like jones. Kind of sad he's leaving SMU. O well. Looks like the PAC 12 is trying to be like the BIG 12. All offense no defense.
December 7th, 2011 at 2:12 PM ^
This is a spread dominated conference. RR will probably continue the 3-3-5 which is probably more suited to this conference except when playing Stanford and USC.
A minimum of 7 Spread teams out of 12: OR, OSU, WSU, CAL, UT, AZ, ASU, and am I missing anyone?
Lots of games going into the wee hours in quadruple overtime.
December 7th, 2011 at 2:19 PM ^
Am I wrong in assuming Oregon is just going to take all the best spread players from the west half of the country and all the rest of these teams will be left to pick up the scraps? I gotta think this will be true with a few exceptions. I don't see much changing in the Pac hierarchy.
December 7th, 2011 at 2:38 PM ^
A lot of the other Pac-12 schools are investing money into their programs. Furthermore, some of the new coaches, Rich Rod and Mike Leach, are pretty good recruiters. I think Oregon will get the best spread prospects, but I don't think they'll get all of them. I think both of those guys can lure some of these players away.
December 7th, 2011 at 2:20 PM ^
Cal mostly runs a pro style offense.
December 7th, 2011 at 4:35 PM ^
Actually, Oregon State, Cal, and Utah are traditional Pro-Style teams who just happen to throw a lot. In Cal's case, they also started a dual-threat QB this year, which may have added more spread principles to their offense.
UCLA was a Pistol / Spread team under Neuheisel.
December 7th, 2011 at 2:18 PM ^
I feel like June Jones' career has been awfully similar to Dennis Erickson who they just fired. Except Erickson was probably more successful.
I guess that makes Jones a poor man's Erickson.
December 7th, 2011 at 2:21 PM ^
June Jones was getting a pretty nice paycheck at SMU. I wonder what they'll be paying him at ASU.
December 7th, 2011 at 2:25 PM ^
The winner of ASU vs. AZ will defeat Oregon 77-73 in the PAC championship game. They then go on to lose in the Rose Bowl 27-12 to the B10 champion. Also, WSU is the PAC North runner up, falling to Ore. by a score of 63-52.
December 7th, 2011 at 2:24 PM ^
I LOVE her.
December 7th, 2011 at 2:33 PM ^
Mad Men FTW.
December 7th, 2011 at 3:06 PM ^
Wrong month.
December 7th, 2011 at 2:28 PM ^
this seems like an uninspired hire for ASU.
December 7th, 2011 at 2:31 PM ^
Why does everyone assume that just because the Pac-12 has all these great offensive coaches means that the whole conference automatically will forget to play defense. It seems to me that the best way to be successful in the conference will be to find a way to match an offense that can keep up with UO, WSU, ASU, plus Stanford and USC with a defense that can consistently slow them down.
December 7th, 2011 at 2:37 PM ^
Maybe it's just me, but there don't seem to be a ton of great defensive players coming out of the Pac-10/Pac-12, aside from USC.
December 7th, 2011 at 2:40 PM ^
USC probably produces the majority of the pro players. You see a couple guys from Cal (Asomugha for one) and from Oregon (Ngata, Chung). However, most of these programs don't seem to be producing NFL players.
December 7th, 2011 at 3:37 PM ^
I would argue that the teams will not forget to play defense, but they will never be taught so to speak. Unless all of the offensive minded coaches make good DC hires (IMO not likely), the box scores will have 85+ points routinely. Anyways you don't need a defense, you just need to score more points than the other team.
December 7th, 2011 at 2:31 PM ^
This is also an interesting hire. I like it. I think Jones will do well in time. I guess the next hire will be Kevin Sumlin at either A&M or Illinois. Recent talk is that he will not be the next coach at Illinois, so who knows where he will end up. My money is on A&M.
December 7th, 2011 at 2:52 PM ^
Kid is committed to SMU, but he is a beast. This kid is a three star, but he reminds me so much of Mike Martin with the wrestling background. He is animal when he runs the ball too. Would be a great physical player if we could get him as a preferred walk-on. Get an instate kid who knows how to be a wrecking ball.
December 7th, 2011 at 3:12 PM ^
I'd be nice. However I think his brother goes to SMU or something like that, and I don't recall if he had that many offers outside of SMU.
December 7th, 2011 at 3:07 PM ^
More spread teams out west!!! Hoke, Funk and the crew have a bunch of great connections out in Cali from coaching at SDSU. Stanford will soon slip back to being a meh team leaving only the scholarship-less Trojans as the only real "prostyle type team" left in the PAC 10, 12, 14, or 16 or whatever it is now. I'll bet we take 2-3 lineman from the state of California next year.
Wonder where all this spread and coaching changes puts a guy like Andrus Peat??
December 7th, 2011 at 3:14 PM ^
Minnesota Vikings. Where QBs go to enter semi-retirement. ASU Sun Devils. Where college football coaches go to do the same?
December 7th, 2011 at 3:25 PM ^
Nearly every post in this thread is being downvoted... Someone needs to chill.
December 7th, 2011 at 3:36 PM ^
The Pac 12 could be the most entertaining conference in college football in a year or two. This offseason has at least made USC, Stanford, and Oregon have to consider the possibility that their conference won't be as easy as it has been the last few years.
December 7th, 2011 at 4:20 PM ^
I live in Phoenix and literally everyone is pissed about this hire. From radio hosts to callers to ASU alums I work with, they are universally disappointed. Listed to talk radio over lunch and an hour of calls produced a grand total of one guy in support of the move.
Everything from age (old, too similar to Erickson who was percieved to be mentally checked out), over-reliance on a system, and lack of success at SMU (overall losing record since he got there, but not a coach in the country could have produced a better result inheriting that mess). Being a neutral party, I personally like the hire but I can tell you Jones will not be given a warm welcome in the Valley. For some reason, the locals think the ASU job carries more prestige than the rest of the college football world realizes.
December 7th, 2011 at 4:39 PM ^
June Jones is an underrated coach and would be a fine hire for ASU -- if he were 49, he'd be at the top of everybody's list with Sumlin, Fedora, et al.
But this story is getting weird: ASU beat writer Doug Haller of the Arizona Republic is now reporting that they've pulled out of talks with Jones. I was briefly covering ASU early in the year but don't have the contacts built up to really know what's going on. I'd love to be a fly on the wall in Lisa Love's office.
December 7th, 2011 at 4:49 PM ^
Article was recently updated to say there is no deal...
December 7th, 2011 at 5:36 PM ^
Apparently, the boosters don't want Jones. That has to be akward for him, huh?
December 7th, 2011 at 6:14 PM ^
ESPN says he accepted the deal and was working out contract details when he was called and informed the the offer had been pulled because "it took too long."
The ASU administration has no idea what it's doing. I already knew this but just had it confirmed.
December 7th, 2011 at 7:16 PM ^
Probably couldn't raise the booster money for his contract. I know that SMU had 20 boosters that pledged $100k per year for 5 years to fund his contract.
Now why boosters are willing to spend that kind of money on SMU football is another question entirely.
December 7th, 2011 at 5:45 PM ^
Maybe June Jones is a visitor to MGoBlog.
December 7th, 2011 at 6:29 PM ^
Kind of a dick move to pull an offer after the guy had already accepted it and word had already leaked to the press. I hope they don't get anyone better than Jones.
December 7th, 2011 at 7:32 PM ^
Tressel to ASU, show cause be damned?
December 7th, 2011 at 8:16 PM ^
I don't know if I can deal with another botched coaching search. First Martin goes sailing and now my Devils are tripping all over themselves.
December 7th, 2011 at 8:22 PM ^
Tell me with a straight face that you seriously thought ASU would do a good job with their coaching search...