the WAC twice and second two other times. SMU In a press conference at the Hall of Champions adjacent to Gerald J. Ford Stadium on January 7, 2008, Jones was introduced as the new head football coach at Southern Methodist University. He was the school's fifth coach since the NCAA-imposed "death penalty" in 1987. Jones signed a five-year contract with SMU, paying him two million dollars annually, and making him the highest-paid coach in Conference USA. He guided the SMU Mustangs to a 1–11 record in 2008. On November 28, 2009, Jones coached SMU to a win over Tulane, ending the regular season with a 7–5 record, the most SMU victories in a season since the 1980s. The 2009 season included a win over the defending and eventual repeat C-USA champion, East Carolina. The 2009 season also saw Jones utilize the ground game more than in recent seasons. Jones led SMU to its third bowl-eligible season, and to its first bowl game (Hawai'i Bowl) since the 1984 Aloha Bowl and the NCAA-imposed death penalty. SMU defeated Nevada, 45–10, to finish the season 8–5. As in 1999, Jones coached his team to the most improved record in Division I football. In 2010, Jones coached the Mustangs to a .500 season. The Mustangs went 7–7 overall with a conference record of 6–2, helping them clinch the C-USA Western title. The team beat the previous year's C-USA champion, East Carolina, in overtime in the final regular-season game but lost the Conference USA Championship Game in Orlando to UCF the next week. Jones and the Mustangs went to their second consecutive bowl game, the Armed Forces Bowl, losing to the Army Black Knights, 16–14. The game was played at SMU's Gerald J. Ford Stadium because the game's normal venue, Texas Christian University's Amon G. Carter Stadium, was undergoing renovation. On September 8, 2014, Jones stepped down as coach of the Mustangs, citing "personal issues". Jones led the Mustangs to four straight bowl appearances before finishing 5–7 in the school's first season as a member of the AAC and starting the 2014 season 0–2, losing by a combined total of 88–6. While at SMU he was publicly questioned about the number of non-native Texas players on the team along with the lack of recruiting that was happening. High school football After interviewing for the vacant coaching job at Hawaii, Jones was hired as the offensive