3 minSports
Former Hawai'i and Atlanta Falcons coach June Jones dies at 73
June Jones, who led the University of Hawai'i to its historic 2007 season and coached the Atlanta Falcons, has died at age 73 after months of health problems.
June Jones, a longtime football coach who built a lasting reputation at the college level and later led the Atlanta Falcons, died on Thursday at the age of 73. Jones had been placed in hospice care two weeks earlier after dealing with health issues earlier this year, according to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. The University of Hawai'i, where he served as head coach from 1999 to 2007 after playing quarterback for the Rainbow Warriors, confirmed his death.
Jones was best known in Hawai'i for transforming the program into a national force. He led the Rainbow Warriors to conference titles in 1999 and 2007, and the 2007 season was historic. Hawai'i opened the year 12-0 and earned the school's first-ever Bowl Championship Series bowl appearance, the Sugar Bowl. Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi, a former Rainbow Warriors player and assistant coach, recalled that the team came back from a 21-point deficit twice in the game against the University of Washington to win against a formidable opponent. "The 2007 season and making the Sugar Bowl, that went over what anybody ever thought was possible," Blangiardi said in a statement. "That kind of coaching and who he was was very, very special."
Timmy Chang, Hawai'i's current head coach, became the NCAA's all-time passing yards leader while playing under Jones. Chang said "words can't express the sorrow" he feels at his former coach's passing. "Coach Jones was a father figure, a mentor, and a visionary who revolutionized the game," Chang said in a statement, as reported by ESPN. "He believed in a young kid from Hawai'i and gave me the opportunity of a lifetime to run his offense. And his impact didn't stop when my playing days ended." Chang added that Jones helped guide him as he moved into coaching and took over the program, and he pledged to spend his career honoring Jones's legacy and his passion for the university.
Jones's football career began in college. After playing at Hawai'i, Portland State and Oregon, he signed as an undrafted free agent with the Atlanta Falcons, spending four seasons with the club as a backup to quarterback Steve Bartkowski. He started five games in his NFL playing career and won one of them. He later became the Falcons' head coach from 1994 to 1996 and was named interim head coach of the San Diego Chargers in 1998. He had an opportunity to remain in that role but chose to return to Hawai'i as head coach instead.
After leaving Hawai'i, Jones coached at Southern Methodist University from 2008 to 2014 and also worked in the USFL and the CFL. His death closes a career that linked a playing and coaching life across college and professional football, and that left a deep mark on the Hawai'i program he led to its most celebrated season.
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