Aggies’ coach also
lives by the pass

New Mexico State’s Mumme
promises a fun game against UH

RENO, Nev. » Football coaches June Jones and Hal Mumme have similar philosophies when it comes to putting together an offensive game plan.

That means fans might want to sneak a midnight snack into Aloha Stadium when Hawaii hosts New Mexico State for a game that kicks off at 6:05 p.m. on Oct. 15.

Mumme laughed.

"Hey, they only stop the clock on incomplete passes," he said. "I think June and I are both planning on getting a lot of completions."

Jones and Mumme and the seven other WAC coaches took the podium yesterday to brief reporters at the Western Athletic Conference Media Days.

Three of the coaches are in their first year at their schools. Three are leading their teams in their schools' WAC debuts. Mumme falls under both categories. But he's no rookie.

In 14 seasons as a head coach, the 54-year-old Mumme has a 97-64-1 record. A student of LaVell Edwards' BYU passing schemes, Mumme built winning programs at Kentucky, Southeastern Louisiana, Valdosta State and Iowa Wesleyan.

At Kentucky, he took an offense that was ranked 109th in the nation to sixth in his first season as coach and guided the Wildcats to consecutive bowl games. But he was gone amid what he called a "train wreck" of NCAA recruiting violation allegations in 2000.

Mumme began rebuilding his career and image in 2002 at Southeastern Louisiana, where he launched a program from scratch. The Lions went 12-11 in his two seasons and led NCAA Division I-AA with 537.1 yards per game.

Jones and Mumme know each other from when Jones was head coach of the Atlanta Falcons and Mumme was in the middle of a successful run at nearby Valdosta State in 1993.

"I really look forward to playing June," Mumme said. "He's made such an impact on both levels, NFL and college. It will be a fun game, I promise. Probably a contest to see who breaks down and runs the ball first."

Jones is also familiar with Mumme's defensive coordinator, Woody Widenhofer. They coached together with the Detroit Lions in 1989 and 1990. Widenhofer was one of the architects of the Pittsburgh Steelers' defense that dominated the NFL in the 1970s. He helped them win four Super Bowls before becoming head coach at Vanderbilt.

"When I was at Kentucky, I used to spend about two weeks working on (preparing for) Woody," Mumme said. "There's not anybody on his team I'd want to recruit, then he holds everyone to 20 points and no yards. And he was doing it to Steve Spurrier, Phil Fulmer, the whole SEC."

Jones said he knows Mumme and Widenhofer will be prepared for the Warriors come October. The reverse is true, too, even though the Aggies are new to the WAC.

"It makes it a little more difficult, but when you play them down the road you get tape. I do have a background with them, and coaches don't change what they do," Jones said.

Mumme is a former UTEP assistant and was a wide receiver at New Mexico Military Institute, so he knows the lay of the land around Las Cruces -- and beyond. He spent a week driving around the state meeting with fans soon after he was hired.

"New Mexico is a great state, but there's a lot of distance between the people. I probably put 5,000 miles on the car in eight days," Mumme said. "I'll be glad when the season comes so I can get some rest."