June Jones, who rebuilt Hawaiʻi and brought SMU back to bowl games, dies at 73

Hawaiʻi was 0-12 the year before June Jones took over. His first team finished 9-4 and won the Oʻahu Bowl. The distance between those two seasons helps explain why Thursday's announcement carried such weight in Mānoa.

Jones died Thursday morning in Oregon at 73, the University of Hawaiʻi announced. SMU also issued a statement remembering its former head coach. His career crossed college football, the NFL and other professional leagues, with the run-and-shoot offense connecting much of that work.

At Hawaiʻi, he went 76-41 over nine seasons from 1999 through 2007, with six bowl appearances and two conference titles. The 2007 team completed a 12-0 regular season and earned a Sugar Bowl berth behind Colt Brennan, the school's first Heisman Trophy finalist. The Sugar Bowl gave a program far from the mainland one of college football's largest stages.

An offense that traveled

Jones encountered Mouse Davis and the run-and-shoot while playing at Portland State, ESPN's Adam Rittenberg reported. He later coached Houston Oilers quarterbacks and served as Atlanta's offensive coordinator before becoming the Falcons' head coach from 1994 through 1996. His professional stops also included an interim head-coaching stint with the Chargers, Hamilton in the CFL and Houston in the XFL.

The scheme was one part of his influence. Another was his willingness to build around it at programs with difficult recent histories. At SMU, where he arrived in 2008, Jones led the Mustangs to their first bowl appearance in 25 years and four consecutive bowl games, the university recalled Thursday.

SMU's own 2014 announcement of his departure described the progress he left behind. Athletic director Rick Hart credited Jones with helping reestablish the program as a winner. That contemporary assessment matters: the rebuilding work was recognized while its results were still fresh.

The rebuilding work

At Hawaiʻi, the connection continues through Timmy Chang, Jones' former quarterback and the program's head coach since 2022. In Thursday's university statement, Chang described Jones' guidance through his move from playing to coaching and his continuing support after Chang took over the team.

Jones' legacy belongs to those relationships as well as the passing records. Hawaiʻi's immediate turnaround, its undefeated regular season and SMU's return to bowl games were distinct accomplishments at schools that had needed a way forward. He gave each of them a recognizable way to play, then helped turn it into results.

Hawaiʻi said information about memorial services and ways to honor Jones would be announced in the coming days.