SMU's Jones and Mumme: Meeting of the offensive minds

By Dan Wolken
USA TODAY Sports

Over 30 years that made them famous, humbled them and ultimately validated their influence on the game, two of the greatest offensive minds in football had always somehow ended up in roughly the same place.

June Jones and Hal Mumme never had the chance to work together, but even as their paths diverged after meeting as young assistant coaches in the WAC – Jones rising to NFL stardom before reinventing himself in college, Mumme toiling in football backwaters before taking the SEC by storm – one was never far from the other, either physically or philosophically. . .

But through the decades, as their ideas have increasingly pollinated football at all levels, the most intriguing question about their relationship remained unanswered: What would happen if you married Jones' "Run-and-Shoot" with Mumme's "Air Raid?"

We're about to find out.

In one of the offseason's most interesting under-the-radar moves, Jones brought Mumme to SMU this spring as the Mustangs' passing game coordinator, pairing two of the most revered offensive minds in the modern era of college football.

For Mumme, now 61, it represents one last shot to make an impact at an FBS-level program after spending four years far from the spotlight at McMurry University in Abilene, Texas. And for Jones, now entering his sixth season at SMU, it's an opportunity to inject new ideas into a program that has improved but not yet broken through like his teams at Hawaii.

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