Global News

Monday September 06, 2010

SMU football coach June Jones has signed to a two-year contract extension that will keep him at the school through the 2014 season, athletic director Steve Orsini announced Friday.

"I love the area here," Jones said Friday. "I've met some of the nicest people at SMU and in the area. everything a person needs is here."

Jones helped the Mustangs earn a share of the Conference USA Western Division championship and snap a 25-year bowl drought last season. SMU finished with an 8-5 record -- marking the largest turnaround in the nation in 2009 -- and a 45-10 win over Nevada in the Hawaii Bowl.

"Coach Jones has brought a winning culture to our football program, and under his leadership, I know he will soon exceed my goal for the football program here at SMU -- and that is to be a perennial top-25 team," Orsini said. "He has more than earned this extension and we are so happy to have June Jones here on the Hilltop."

Jones was named Conference USA coach of the Year by the Sporting News in 2009. he has managed to put SMU in position to be competitive for the long haul and commonly points to fellow Dallas-Fort Worth school TCU as an example of building a solid program that is annually competitive.

"It's a four- or five-year plan to get where we're competitive in every game we play and I still think that's the case," Jones said. "We won some games last year and what I think happened is we gained confidence and won more games. That doesn't mean we were better than some of those teams we beat, but we were able to get it done."

The Mustangs open the season Sept. 5 at Texas Tech (2:30 p.m. CT, ESPN). SMU received votes in the associated Press and USA Today preseason college football polls.

Information from ESPNDallas.com's Richard Durrett was used in this report.