College Football | Jones exits Hawaii for SMU job

DALLAS — On the 71st and final day of its coaching search, Southern Methodist landed the proven commodity it was seeking: June Jones.

After a night of uncertainty, Jones was introduced at a Monday news conference, flanked by SMU President R. Gerald Turner and athletic director Steve Orsini. Jones and his run-and-shoot offense had helped underdog Hawaii break into the Bowl Championship Series this year, landing a spot in the Sugar Bowl.

Into the wee hours Monday, Jones was torn between staying at Hawaii and taking on the SMU reclamation project. Jones inherits a program that won one game this season and hasn't been to a bowl since 1984.

"The only way is up, and I am good at going up," Jones said at the news conference.

Jones and SMU reportedly have agreed to a five-year deal worth slightly less than $2 million a year. The deal is funded by boosters and will make Jones by far the highest-paid coach in Conference USA.

"When he woke up this morning, he was at peace and felt great about the decision to come to SMU," said Jones' agent, Leigh Steinberg.

Jones, who arrived in Dallas early Sunday morning, met with SMU officials Sunday even while Hawaii made a late surge to sway him to stay. Hawaii came back with an enhanced offer, and passionate fans and even Gov. Linda Lingle called to intervene.

One of the most downtrodden programs in the Bowl Subdivision, SMU lured Jones, 54, away from a state where he perhaps could have been elected governor.

Steinberg said Jones was on the phone back to the islands late into the night. But Jones was impressed with SMU's on-campus facilities, his meeting with Turner, the support of boosters "and the singular vision and commitment from the top to the bottom," Steinberg said.

Before he left for Dallas, Jones reportedly sent a letter to friends announcing his intention to resign from Hawaii. The letter reportedly listed reasons why Jones wouldn't return to the school, centering on issues the athletic department had failed to address.

But Hawaii's late push dealt with the school's commitment to facilities and the program's infrastructure for the first time, causing Jones pause. As of late Sunday, Steinberg's thought was "someone was going to be horrendously disappointed," the agent said. "In 33 years of working in this field, I've never seen anything like that torrent of emotion. At the end of the day, he's left the program in tremendous shape and left a legacy that can be passed on."

Jones went 76-41 in nine seasons at Hawaii.

But facilities and resources at Hawaii never improved with the team. Hawaii waited until Thursday to make its initial offer to extend Jones' contract, which expires June 30.

Besides more money, Jones will be in the middle of the rich Texas recruiting base, and he will get better facilities. SMU recently built a brick-faced stadium and a modern training center.

"There's absolutely no comparison," Jones said.

At Hawaii, "the office that I sat in was the same office that Dick Tomey used in 1986. The carpet was the same ... You're talking about the NFL and a Pop Warner team."

SMU was 1-11 this season and Phil Bennett was fired after almost six seasons on Oct. 28.

Notes

• Players who said they will pass up their senior season to enter the draft included Kansas cornerback Aqib Talib, Kansas offensive tackle Anthony Collins, Texas tight end Jermichael Finley and Virginia Tech cornerback Brandon Flowers.

• Oregon State quarterback Sean Canfield had arthroscopic shoulder surgery after the Beavers' Dec. 28 Emerald Bowl victory over Maryland, Beavers coach Mike Riley said. Canfield will be a junior next season.

• Bob Palcic, who spent the last two seasons coaching the offensive line at Wisconsin, was hired for the same job on new UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel's staff. Neuheisel is a former Washington coach.

• UCLA will play at Arizona State on Nov. 28, six days after the original date. The game will be televised nationally by ESPN2.

• A player at Wingate — a small North Carolina university — and his wife were charged with murder in the stabbing death of his ex-girlfriend, a high-school cheerleader in South Carolina.

Pernell Clayton Thompson, 20, and Yolanda Dee Thompson, 19, were being held at the Union County jail in South Carolina, accused of killing 16-year-old Marisha Jeter, police said.