Following an absolutely dreadful start to the season in which his team was outscored 88-6 over the course of a week, SMU head coach June Jones resigned on Monday afternoon.
“This afternoon, I talked to my staff and players and notified them that I have decided to resign as SMU head football coach effective immediately,” said Jones in a statement. “It was a very difficult decision for me to make, as you can imagine. I have devoted my life for the last 50 years to playing and coaching this game and it has been a great journey. This job has a lot of demands, as you know, and along with that journey comes a price that is paid. I have some personal issues I have been dealing with and I need to take a step away so I can address them at this time.”
Defensive coordinator Tom Mason will serve as head coach for the remainder of the season, and associate head coach/quarterbacks coach Dan Morrison and co-offensive coordinator/wide receivers coach Jason Phillips as co-offensive coordinators. “We have some talented and really good kids, who just happen to be young. Tom Mason will take over the head coaching duties. Tom has done a great job with the defense since coming to SMU,” Jones said.
Jones deserves credit for bringing SMU football back from the post-death penalty doldrums, leaping from a 1-11 debut in 2008 to back-to-back Conference USA West Division titles in 2009-10 and four straight bowl appearances from 2009-12. The Mustangs slipped to 5-7 in 2013 and, apparently, once they started falling down that cliff there was no going back. SMU currently ranks last or second to last nationally in a number of offensive categories. For instance, the Mustangs’ six points this season came on a 33-yard touchdown pass as time expired to close the North Texas game on Saturday. It took them a full 120:00 to score this season.
Jones went 36-43 in seven-plus seasons at SMU, and is 112-84 in more than 16 seasons as a head coach. Prior to arriving at SMU, Jones led Hawaii to an undefeated regular season and a Sugar Bowl appearance in 2007.
SMU is off this week, but hosts Texas A&M and TCU to close the month of September.