Update: SMU coach June Jones clarifies Mumme won’t have an offensive coordinator title, via the Dallas Morning News:
Hal Mumme bringing Air Raid to SMU, according to report
The former Kentucky coach and father of the Air Raid has reportedly concluded his long quest back to the national level.
Richard Lyons, Allsport
Asked about reports on Friday saying Mumme was being hired as offensive coordinator, Jones said, “It’s accurate we’re going to talk but the coordinator thing is not.”
Jones said he will remain the primary offensive coordinator and will continue to call plays. Jason Phillips, brought in from Houston before last season as co-offensive coordinator and receiving coach, will have more input in alterations to the Run-and-Shoot as Jones seeks to enhance the passing attack.
The Air Raid will reportedly pair with the Run ‘n’ Shoot. Hal Mumme will join the coaching staff at SMU, according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch’s Mike Barber, linking up with fellow passing game guru June Jones.
The Mustangs currently list Dan Morrison as associate head coach and offensive coordinator, though Jones has always been the team’s primary play-caller.
Still, a Mumme-Jones tandem would further ramp up this year’s especially wild spread offense matchups:
do you like points RT @brianmfloyd: So, Aug. 31: Mumme-Kingsbury, Leach-Malzahn. Oct. 5: Leach-Dykes, Holgo-Briles.
— SBN College Football (@SBNationCFB) February 23, 2013
Mumme’s had a complicated few weeks: first he reportedly took the job as offensive coordinator at James Madison (hence, presumably, Barber’s connection to the story) after coaching in his native state of Texas at tiny McMurry (which is a couple hours west of SMU’s campus). However, on Feb. 21, news broke he in fact wouldn’t be taking that job, and that he had an offer to be an offensive coordinator at a BCS school. SMU is soon to be a BCS gig, with Big East membership drawing nigh.
SB Nation broke down seven potential destinations for Mumme with that report in mind. We didn’t even consider SMU. We’re sorry.
For a coach with as much of a legacy as Mumme, he hasn't really done much in the way of big-time head coaching. His only stint at a BCS school - either as an assistant, coordinator, or head coach - was his four-year stay at Kentucky. He had reasonable success, going 7-5 and 6-6 in 1998 and 1999, breaking all sorts of SEC offensive records and getting the Cleveland Browns to draft Tim Couch first overall.
As far as college football impact goes, he launched the career of Mike Leach, who was his offensive coordinator at Kentucky for two years before moving on to Oklahoma and eventually the head coaching gig at Texas Tech, eventually making the Air Raid fully mainstream. Mumme’s tenure at Kentucky ended amidst major sanctions, with the team committing over 30 recruiting violations, causing it to lose postseason eligibility in 2002 as well as 19 scholarships. He resigned after a 2-9 season in 2000.
Other than the Kentucky job, Mumme has never really had a big-time gig. He started at Iowa Wesleyan, and moved to Valdosta State, who made the Division II Quarterfinals twice under Mumme, before going to Kentucky.
Afterwards, he took over Southeastern Louisiana, going 12-11, then had a rough 11-38 stint at New Mexico State, a notably difficult place to win. Since 2009, he’s been the head coach at McMurry, a school transitioning from Division III to Division II, going 28-16 with a team that was 0-10 the year before his arrival.
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