The Arizona St. Sun Devils were all set to hire SMU head coach June Jones. They forgot one little thing though--they apparently forgot to tell their boosters. In less than half an hour, the Sun Devils went from having a new head coach to falling right back down the chute to square one.
@ASUDevilscom
ASUDevils.com Source: ASU has "cold feet" over Jones deal due to booster pressure. Meeting to take place now. Deal in serious jeopardy
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@DougHaller
Doug Haller 2:15 Update: Arizona State has broken off talks (for now) with SMU coach June Jones, per a source.
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Perhaps ASU boosters are wary of the fact that Jones is on the older side, just like Dennis Erickson was. Arizona State probably wants to trend young and go with a newer face to the college football coaching game instead of sticking to a trend of hiring older, more established candidates on the downside fo their career.
So now instead of having a new coach in place ready to get things going, Arizona State is stuck having to find someone else again. And it looks like a grave blunder by the ASU athletic director Lisa Love. That the boosters were so firmly against this move seems to reflect a lack of communication between the athletic department and the ASU community, and could spell the beginning of the end for her.
To discuss the Arizona State head coaching search, go to House of Sparky.