Team preview: SMU

The Blue Ribbon College Football Yearbook previews the 2008 SMU Mustangs, exclusively on Insider.

Updated: July 1, 2008, 9:43 AM ET
Blue Ribbon College Football Yearbook
Editor's Note: ESPN Insider has teamed with Blue Ribbon College Football Yearbook to provide a comprehensive look at the Division I-A teams. To order the complete 2008 edition of Blue Ribbon College Football Yearbook, visit www.blueribbonyearbook.com or call 1-866-805-BALL (2255).

(All information as of June 20, 2008)

COACH AND PROGRAM

In the five years before June Jones arrived at Hawaii in 1999, the Warriors won 12 games. In his first year on the job, the Warriors won nine games. He went on to win 76 times in nine seasons at Hawaii, topped off by a 12-1 record and a trip to the Sugar Bowl in 2007.

In many ways, Jones loved life in Hawaii. He loved the players, the people, the lifestyle. What he did not love was an administration that rarely seemed to understand the challenge he faced, including a $50,000 recruiting budget for a program isolated on an island located 2,559 miles from Los Angeles.

Jones also came to realize he had done about all he could at Hawaii. It was time for a change. After spending most of his career trying to turn losers into winners, Jones needed a change. That's when SMU came calling.

"The same thing that originally took me to the job at Hawaii are some of the reasons why I came here," Jones said. "It was just time for me to get re-energized and take on a new challenge. The condition of this program is pretty similar to the program Hawaii was in when I came there. Pretty much every job I've had has been that way. It gets you going."

To continue reading this article you must be an Insider

SPONSORED HEADLINES

MORE COLLEGE FOOTBALL HEADLINES

MOST SENT STORIES ON ESPN.COM