June Jones, Former Hawaii Football Coach, Dies at 73
Former University of Hawaii head football coach June Jones has died at age 73, according to multiple reports. Jones was the program's winningest coach in the modern era.
June Jones, the former University of Hawaii head football coach who led the Rainbow Warriors to some of their most successful seasons, has died at age 73, according to multiple reports published on Thursday. Hawaii News Now, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser and Yahoo Sports all carried news of his death. The reports did not give a cause of death.
A record-setting run in Honolulu
Jones coached Hawaii from 1999 to 2007 and won 76 games in nine seasons, the most of any coach in the program's modern era. His 1999 team went 9-4, a turnaround that Hawaii News Now described as the biggest in NCAA history. That season earned him National Coach of the Year honors and a share of the Western Athletic Conference title.
His teams won two WAC championships, in 1999 and 2007. The 2007 squad finished the regular season 12-0 and played in the Allstate Sugar Bowl. Under Jones, Hawaii made six bowl appearances and posted three seasons of 10 or more wins.
His Run-and-Shoot offense was known for producing prolific quarterbacks, most notably Colt Brennan, a Heisman Trophy finalist. Reports say Jones coached five All-Americans, 52 all-conference players and 16 NFL Draft picks.
Playing and coaching career
Jones was a quarterback at Hawaii in 1973 and 1974. He returned to the school in 1983 as a graduate assistant, the start of his coaching career there. He also played in the NFL and CFL, and earlier played college football at Oregon, Hawaii and Portland State, according to Hawaii News Now.
After Hawaii, Jones coached at Southern Methodist University from 2008 until he resigned in 2014. He later coached in the NFL for three years. He was most recently offensive coordinator of the Seattle Sea Dragons. In 2016, he agreed to become offensive coordinator at Kapolei High School in Hawaii.
Tributes and what we know so far
The reports confirm Jones's death at 73 but do not describe the circumstances or provide details about funeral or memorial arrangements. Yahoo Sports also identified him as a former coach of the Atlanta Falcons, a role that was not detailed in the Hawaii News Now report. Further information from his family or the university had not been reported at the time of publication.
For many in Hawaii football, Jones is remembered as the coach who built the program's most successful era. His record at Hawaii remains the benchmark for the modern program.
