Last week, June Jones stepped into it by laughably suggesting that the non-Power Five conferences -- his AAC, Conference USA, MAC, Mountain West, Sun Belt -- should move their games from the fall to spring in an effort to think outside the box and not get “left behind.”
A couple of days later, three of the commissioners from those conferences completely distanced themselves from the SMU head coach’s idea. A couple of days after said distancing, Jones has issued a statement clarifying the comments made during a radio interview and ensuring that people know it was his personal opinion and not that of his employer or his employer’s conference.
Here is Jones’ statement, in its entirety:“My recent comments about the non-'Group of Five’ conferences possibly moving their football seasons to the spring were my own, and not those of SMU or the American Athletic Conference. Not being in one of these leagues creates unique challenges, and requires us to think out of the box. My comments were an example of this, and, I hope, triggered others to do so as well.
“Our conference experienced a great deal of national success in its first season. Two teams were ranked in the top 15 of the final AP poll and five were selected for bowl games. At SMU, we strive for that same level of success and will compete for American Athletic Conference Championships. We want to compete with and beat teams from the “Group of Five.”
So, there’s that.
And, hopefully, this’ll be the last time we ever have to discuss the USFL-ish notion of college football being played in the spring instead of the fall where it belongs.