Much like putting chocolate on cheesecake, pairing two titans in their field always sounds like a great idea. History, however, has shown that the results can run the gamut from mindblowingly awesome (e.g., "Alien vs. Predator") to downright depressing ("The Two Coreys").
In the field of high-powered, pass-happy offenses, June Jones and Hal Mumme certainly qualify as icons. Could the two thrive together? It's a scenario that no longer exists only in football junkies' flight of fancy, as Mumme is reportedly joining Jones' staff at SMU.
A founding father of the Air Raid offense, Mumme has bounced around all levels of college football in the nearly 25 years since he started coaching. He is probably best known for a four-year stint at Kentucky in the 1990s. He teamed with fellow offensive guru Mike Leach during that stretch to raise the lowly Wildcats to a measure of respectability prior to resigning amid charges of numerous NCAA rules violations.
Since then, Mumme has primarily held down gigs at small schools such as as McMurry University and Southeastern Louisiana. Now, he'll be serving as the lead offensive assistant to Jones, the man who put the shoot in the Run 'n' Shoot scheme.
In theory, the points should be coming by the bucketloads for the Mustangs this fall. In practice, teaming the two strong-willed offensive savants could play out like college football's version of "Righteous Kill."
(Oh, and SMU's season opener: Kliff Kingsbury's new outfit at Texas Tech. Get your tickets now.)
