June Jones

June Sheldon Jones III was born on 19 February 1953 and grew up in Portland, Oregon, the second of four children of Marilyn and June Jones Jr. He played quarterback for three college teams: Oregon in 1971 and 1972, Hawaii in 1973 and 1974, and Portland State in 1975 and 1976. At Portland State, coach Mouse Davis introduced him to the run and shoot offense, and Jones passed for 5,798 yards with 50 touchdowns and 20 interceptions in two seasons, showing that the system could make a quarterback thrive.

He was not drafted but played for the Atlanta Falcons from 1977 to 1981, completing 75 of 166 passes for 923 yards, and then for the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League in 1982.

Jones started coaching in 1983 as a graduate assistant under Dick Tomey at Hawaii. He coached receivers for the Houston Gamblers and was offensive coordinator of the Denver Gold in the USFL, spent 1986 with the Ottawa Rough Riders, and then coached quarterbacks for the Houston Oilers and Detroit Lions. He joined the Atlanta Falcons in 1991 and succeeded Jerry Glanville as head coach in 1994. With Jeff George at quarterback his run and shoot offense flourished, and the Falcons reached the playoffs in 1995, but a 3 and 13 season in 1996 ended his tenure. In 1998 he was quarterbacks coach and then interim head coach of the San Diego Chargers.

Instead of staying in San Diego, Jones accepted the head coaching job at Hawaii, which had lost all twelve games in 1998. His 1999 team went 9 and 4 and shared the WAC title, the most dramatic turnaround in NCAA history at the time, earning him national coach of the year honours. In nine seasons he went 76 and 41, reached six bowl games, won two WAC titles and coached five All Americans, 52 all conference players and 16 NFL draft picks. His 2007 team finished the regular season 12 and 0 and played in the Sugar Bowl.

After a contract dispute he moved to SMU in January 2008. He took the Mustangs to four straight bowl games, including the 2009 Hawaii Bowl, their first bowl since the NCAA death penalty, before resigning in September 2014. He later served as offensive coordinator at Kapolei High School and athletic director at Saint Louis School, head coach of the Hamilton Tiger Cats from 2017 to 2018, head coach and general manager of the XFL's Houston Roughnecks in 2020, and offensive coordinator of the Seattle Sea Dragons in 2023.

Jones made Hawaii his home for much of his life and became one of the best known figures in the islands during his time at the university, with fans printing "June Jones for Governor" T shirts. He was badly injured in a car accident in February 2001, which kept him out of spring practice that year. He was known as a coach who never held full contact practices, and he made a point of recruiting local players and coaches.

June Jones died in Oregon on 29 October 2026, aged 73. According to a close family friend quoted by the Honolulu Star Advertiser, he had suffered health problems during the year and had entered hospice care two weeks earlier. His death was reported by Hawaii News Now, the Star Advertiser, CBS Sports and USA Today.

Jones is remembered as the winningest coach in University of Hawaii football history and as one of the great champions of the run and shoot, the pass first offense he learned from Mouse Davis and took to Atlanta, Honolulu and Dallas. His 1999 turnaround and the unbeaten 2007 regular season remain high points of Hawaii football, and his quarterbacks Timmy Chang and Colt Brennan set passing records under him. He was inducted into the Hawaii Circle of Honor in 2024.