Before the SMU football team started another spring practice under head coach June Jones, the team announced the hiring of Hal Mumme from McMurry University, a Division II school in Abilene, Texas.
Some people may be confused as to why SMU would hire a coach from a Division II school but having Mumme on the staff is a great opportunity for the Mustangs. Mumme is the innovator of the “Air Raid” offense and has an extensive coaching tree that includes West Virginia head coach Dana Holgerson and new Texas Tech head coach Kliff Kingsbury, who helped Johnny Manziel win the Heisman Trophy this past season with the offense.
“I’ve known him for a long time and we’ve always been kindred spirits when it comes to throwing the ball around so I am really honored to be here with him,” Mumme said after his first spring practice on the Hilltop.
Mumme’s offense has been incredibly successful almost anywhere he or his disciples have gone, which also include the new University of California head coach Sonny Dykes, Baylor head coach Art Briles and Washington State head coach Mike Leach, just to name a few.
Although Mumme is credited as the inventor of the “Air Raid” offense, he had a little inspiration from Jones’ “Run-n-Shoot” when he was starting out on the offense.
“I stole about half of it from him so it’s pretty much the same. It’s like learning a second language, but other than that, you can lay the two playbooks down there and they are pretty much the same,” Mumme said.
What is even more interesting is that Mumme could have been on SMU’s staff a few years ago when Jones offered him a position, but the timing was not right for Mumme.
“I think I actually told him yes for a day. Then you get in that position when you start thinking about your staff, eight or 10 guys that would be out of a job. This year, it was kind of a deal where I had a young assistant, Mason Miller, who has done a great job,” Mumme said. “So it was a little better chance that he would become the replacement there and everyone would keep their jobs.”
Mumme touched on trying to develop the offense a little more with his “two cents” and that last year was unusual with Garrett Gilbert coming in that summer and having to learn it all so fast. Another problem was the tough out of conference schedule the Mustangs started with.
“We just got to be a little more effective than they were particularly at the beginning of last year. I think they will just get better from experience,” Mumme said.
One way the Mustangs could be more effective is to add more sets to the offense and modernize it more. Mumme believes with so many offensive minds on the staff, the system will improve this season.
“We’ll grow into that. I think the big thing for me was to take this to the next level. Tweak it just a bit,” Mumme said. “Bill Walsh used to say you have to tweak your offense about 20 to 30 percent every three or four years.”
Ultimately, Mumme is looking forward to working with Jones instead of just watching his offense to work on his own craft.
“I think there are so many people running the ‘Air Raid’ offense right now so I think the chance for me to combine what I’ve been doing with the ‘Run-n-Shoot’ is an opportunity I needed to do,” Mumme said.
Most importantly, Mumme will be charged with improving a passing attack that was average at best last season for the Mustangs. Gilbert’s ability to improve and Jones’ ability to work with Mumme will be a key storyline and a key factor in the Mustangs’ success this upcoming season.
