Cusa Runner-up To Hawaii Bowl

[NT80]

FOOTBALL: Hawaii Bowl signs agreement with C-USA

HONOLULU -- Conference USA has signed an agreement to send one of its teams to this year's Hawaii Bowl.

The runner-up in the C-USA championship game or another selection will be invited to take on a Western Athletic Conference team in the Dec. 24 game. Hawaii automatically secures a berth if it is bowl eligible.

[DallasGreen]

FOOTBALL: Hawaii Bowl signs agreement with C-USA

HONOLULU -- Conference USA has signed an agreement to send one of its teams to this year's Hawaii Bowl.

The runner-up in the C-USA championship game or another selection will be invited to take on a Western Athletic Conference team in the Dec. 24 game. Hawaii automatically secures a berth if it is bowl eligible.

What a great opportunity for June Jones to return with his SMU 'Stangs--that would be real irony if he faced Hawaii

[UNTflyer]

What a great opportunity for June Jones to return with his SMU 'Stangs--that would be real irony if he faced Hawaii

I think SMU is a long way from losing the CUSA Championship Game.

[DallasGreen]

I think SMU is a long way from losing the CUSA Championship Game.

$20 million going straight into the FB program can make things happen in a hurry. Look for the greatest turnaround in NCAA history to begin on the Hilltop very soon. There was a reason that A.D. Orsini put off that contract with us to 2014. He felt by that time JJ would have a dynasty in place that would crush the likes of North Texas once and for all. Don't tell me he did not have room on his schedule while playing ASU and TX ST @ San Macos, contracts that could have been easily bought out by a wealthy program such as SMU.

[UNT_playmaker]

Well that sucks for whatever CUSA team gets selected, I think that is a bad bowl for whoever gets the invite, besides Hawaii....

The only CUSA team with fans that could afford to go is SMU...

[LoveMG]

$20 million going straight into the FB program can make things happen in a hurry. Look for the greatest turnaround in NCAA history to begin on the Hilltop very soon. There was a reason that A.D. Orsini put off that contract with us to 2014. He felt by that time JJ would have a dynasty in place that would crush the likes of North Texas once and for all. Don't tell me he did not have room on his schedule while playing ASU and TX ST @ San Macos, contracts that could have been easily bought out by a wealthy program such as SMU.

that 20 million is for junes salary. how did that work out for them this past season? pony up?

Edited April 12, 2009 by LoveMG

[DallasGreen]

that 20 million is for junes salary. how did that work out for them this past season? pony up?

It certainly put a more competitive team on the Field than the $200K we paid our coach as well as handing us our rears the year before and that was w/o JJ!!!

[MeanGreen61]

It certainly put a more competitive team on the Field than the $200K we paid our coach as well as handing us our rears the year before and that was w/o JJ!!!

Right, they had a sterling 1-11 season.

Edited April 13, 2009 by MeanGreen61

[NM Green]

JJ will have SMU winning soon. Let's hope TD can work his magic too and we have some awesome Metroplex teams to contend with - not just TCU.

GMG

[forevereagle]

JJ will have SMU winning soon.

Evidence? Just because the guy had success at Hawaii doesn't make him a good coach. He took players with talent and questionable academics to a program in a vacation spot. SMU isn't the same story. Remind me, what Big XII, PAC-10, SEC jobs have been offered to him after all this success?

June Jones

College Record - 76-52 - 0.594 win %

Pro - 22-37 - 0.373 win %

Overall - 98-89 - 0.524 win %

And for comparison...

Pete Carroll (also has college and pro experience)

College Record - 88-15 - 0.854 win %

Pro - 34-33 - 0.507 win %

Overall - 122-48 - 0.718 win %

And for reference, his first year at USC he was 6-6. Almost half of his losses came in his first season there.

Now, if JJ was so great, wouldn't some big time program have been eager to get a guy with pro experience that could take their program to great heights? Or would they have looked at him and seen a Chan Gailey type of coach? I am not convinced that JJ was really a great hire, but time will tell.

[greenminer]

Evidence? Just because the guy had success at Hawaii doesn't make him a good coach. He took players with talent and questionable academics to a program in a vacation spot. SMU isn't the same story. Remind me, what Big XII, PAC-10, SEC jobs have been offered to him after all this success?

The Hawaii roster is 50+% local, including some Samoans. He took them into the most remote place in FBS and won with the poorest facilities in the WAC. I followed the WAC for years (for what it's worth, I'm only 30!), and if there was one continuity it was the toll that the mainlanders had to take during the SJSU/HI/Fresno road trips. Yet no one ever gave JJ credit for being on the flip side of that coin: every single one of his away games were like that because of the distance traveled.

Some coaches win with their X-and-Os. Some with their athletic John Does. I think JJ is a little of both.

[forevereagle]

The Hawaii roster is 50+% local, including some Samoans. He took them into the most remote place in FBS and won with the poorest facilities in the WAC. I followed the WAC for years (for what it's worth, I'm only 30!), and if there was one continuity it was the toll that the mainlanders had to take during the SJSU/HI/Fresno road trips. Yet no one ever gave JJ credit for being on the flip side of that coin: every single one of his away games were like that because of the distance traveled.

Some coaches win with their X-and-Os. Some with their athletic John Does. I think JJ is a little of both.

And what was his home versus away record while at Hawaii? This includes bowl games (Hawaii bowl counts as home, others as away [only happened once])

By year

1999 - 9-4

Home - 6-4

Away - 3-0 (games against SMU, Tulsa, SJSU)

2000 - 3-9

Home - 3-5

Away - 0-3 (games against TCU, Rice, Fresno)

2001 - 9-3

Home - 7-2

Away - 2-1 (games against Nevada, SMU, Tulsa)

Note: ended the season with 6 straight home games.

2002 - 10-4

Home - 7-2

Away - 3-2 (games against BSU, BYU, UTEP, Fresno, Rice)

2003 - 9-5

Home - 9-5

Away - 2-4 (games against USC, UNLV, Tulsa, Louisiana Tech, SJSU, Nevada)

2004 - 8-5

Home - 8-1

Away - 0-4 (games against Rice, UTEP, BSU, Fresno)

2005 - 5-7

Home - 3-4

Away - 2-3 (games against MSU, Idaho, Louisiana Tech, SJSU, Nevada)

2006 - 11-3

Home - 7-1

Away - 3-2 (games against Bama, BSU, Fresno, NMSU, USU)

2007 - 12-1

Home - 7-0

Away - 5-1 (games against Louisiana Tech, UNLV, Idaho, SJSU, Nevada, Georgia [sugar Bowl])

Average home games per year - 8.3

Home record - 55-20

Average away games per year - 4.4

Away record - 20-20

His away record is not that great. If he is an elite coach, shouldn't his record be better considering the mostly spare teams that Hawaii plays? Also, he didn't hardly play away games. There are BCS schools that are envious of playing that many home games every year. And to have a guaranteed home game in the post season if you get the wins.

[dodgefan]

8.3 wins a year over 9 seasons? I would take that here in a heart beat! Hawaii also had a 18 game losing streak until JJ got there. They also had a $50 thousand a year recruiting budget, and coaches could not leave the island to go recruit. I told you guys last year, that SMU wouldn't win more than three games last season and I was right....I saw them play against us in 2007, and their talent was crap. If you follow recruiting on rivals or scout, you have been witness to the talent level changing in Dallas in a big way.