Former college football and NFL head coach June Jones, who was a pioneer of the Run and Shoot offense that changed the game of football, passed away on Thursday in Oregon at the age of 73.
Jones was a former Hawaii and SMU head coach who went 112-84 combined during his time at the 2 programs. But it was Jones’ innovation on the offensive side of the football that made his legacy. His Run and Shoot Certification program announced Jones’ passing on Thursday afternoon.
He had been dealing with health issues this year, entering hospice 2 weeks ago before succumbing to his sickness on Thursday.
Born in Portland, Oregon, in 1953, Jones made his coaching name in Hawaii of all places, leading the program to the Sugar Bowl in 2007 led by quarterback Colt Brennan. Hawaii lost that Sugar Bowl to Georgia, but it finished 12-1, and it cemented Jones’ status as a coach who could squeeze the absolute most out of his players — and especially his offenses — no matter where he was coaching.
During his glorious run in gorgeous Hawaii from 1999 to 2007, Jones went 76-41, capped by that iconic 2007 season when Jones made Hawaii football matter on a national scale.
Jones, who also played quarterback at Hawaii in 1973 and ’74 while also playing at Oregon and Portland State, is the winningest coach in Hawaii football history.
He was the head coach at SMU from 2008-14, so Jones went from Hawaii right to SMU, where he didn’t have quite the same success, going 36-43.
But Jones’ legacy will be forever known for his turnaround at Hawaii, where he inherited a Rainbow Warriors program that had gone 0-12 the season before he got there. Jones promptly led Hawaii to a 9-4 record in his first year there, and at the time it was the greatest turnaround in college football history.
Jones led Hawaii to 6 bowl games, including that famous trip to the Sugar Bowl at the end of the 2007 season. He was inducted into the Hawaii Circle of Honor in 2024.
While he was mostly known for his offensive innovation and time in the college game, Jones also made his presence felt in the NFL. He was the head coach of the Atlanta Falcons from 1994-96 and was the interim head coach of the San Diego Chargers in 1998.
Jones also spent time as an assistant with the Detroit Lions and Houston Oilers, and he was a head coach in the CFL and XFL.
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
