As an SMU alumnus, I feel compelled to comment on the hiring of June Jones as the new football coach. The football program has been in shambles ever since the NCAA death penalty was brought down on the Mustangs, and, personally, I feel that it will be very difficult, if not impossible, to rebuild the program such that it can really compete successfully at the I-A level. I also think that the enormous amount of money pumped into the program since the death penalty (culminating in the construction of the Gerald J. Ford Stadium, a massive edifice that seems out-of-place on the corner of campus) is probably unjustified in the grand scheme of things.
That being said, if there is to ever be any hope of reclaiming gridiron glory, it is going to start by the hiring of (comparatively) big-name coaching talent…so I am cautiously optimistic about this hiring. Hopefully this will give recruits a new reason to examine the possibilities of playing for the Mustangs.