SMU mourns June Jones, coach who revived Mustangs, at 73

June Jones has died at 73. He coached SMU from 2008 to 2014 and took the Mustangs back to bowl games for the first time since the NCAA's 1987 "death penalty." He was one of the people who made the run-and-shoot offense popular. The University of Hawai'i confirmed his death, ESPN reported. CBS Texas and the Dallas Morning News reported that Run and Shoot Certification, the coaching clinic he ran with Mouse Davis, also announced it on social media Thursday.

Jones arrived on the Hilltop in 2008 after nine seasons at Hawai'i. He led SMU to four straight bowl games, the program's first postseason trips in a quarter century, and won division titles in 2009 and 2010. He stepped down two games into the 2014 season. SMU's athletic department said in a statement, reported by CBS Texas, that Jones "helped restore a winning tradition on the Hilltop."

Many of the people now in charge at SMU were not part of that era, but the program's return to relevance started there. Before Jones, SMU had spent two decades as a cautionary tale. His teams gave the school a credible product to sell again, and the investment that eventually took the Mustangs into the ACC built on that.

His career covered most levels of the sport. An Oregon native, Jones finished his college playing career at Portland State, where Davis introduced him to the run-and-shoot. He then played quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons. He later coached the Falcons from 1994 to 1996 and served 10 games as the Chargers' interim coach in 1998. He turned down the chance to keep the Chargers job and went back to Hawai'i, where he became the school's winningest coach at 76-41. His 2007 team started 12-0 behind Colt Brennan and reached the Sugar Bowl. He also coached Hamilton in the CFL and the XFL's Houston Roughnecks.

What it means for SMU at Syracuse

The current Mustangs will play their first game since Jones' death on Saturday at Syracuse (ESPN2). They arrive at 6-1 and have won four straight. Last week they beat Cal 59-20, after grinding out wins over Virginia (23-13) and Boston College (25-16). The only loss was 41-31 at Louisville, then ranked No. 23. The season opened with a 27-24 win at Florida State, so this group has won ACC road games before.

The board on this site expects a comfortable SMU win. On Novig, one of 11 venues on the game page, the Mustangs are favored at -326 on the moneyline and Syracuse is +317. Novig has SMU at -10.5 on the spread, priced at +102. The best SMU price anywhere is on a shorter line: FanDuel's -9.5 at -122. Sportsbook hold on the spread runs from 3.4% to 7.0%, a wide enough range that the venue you check changes the number you see.

The total sits at 57.5 on Novig, with the over at -106 and the under at +102. FanDuel has the best under, at 58.5 for -112. That number makes sense for a team that has scored 56 or more three times this season, though the Mustangs also held each of their last two ACC opponents to 16 points or fewer.

The Mustangs' season continues on the SMU team page.