June Jones Death: Run-and-Shoot Pioneer and Undefeated Hawaiʻi Coach Passes at 73

June Jones, the coach who installed the run-and-shoot offense at the University of Hawaiʻi and guided the team to an undefeated regular season, died on Thursday. He was 73 years old. The Hawaiʻi football program released a statement confirming his death but did not specify a cause. The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported that Jones had entered hospice care in his native Oregon two weeks before his passing.

Timmy Chang, the current head coach at Hawaiʻi, described Jones as a mentor who gave him a career-defining opportunity. Chang, who set the NCAA record for career passing yards under Jones before it was broken, said, "He believed in a young kid from Hawaiʻi and gave me the opportunity of a lifetime to run his offense."

Jones developed his coaching philosophy while playing quarterback at Portland State under Mouse Davis. Davis is credited with popularizing an offensive system that featured four receivers running fluid routes and rarely running the football. Other notable coaches who adopted the run-and-shoot included Jerry Glanville, Wayne Fontes, Jack Pardee, and Kevin Gilbride.

After playing for the Atlanta Falcons in the 1980s, primarily as a third-string quarterback, Jones moved into coaching. He joined the Houston Oilers in 1987 as an assistant to Glanville and quarterback Warren Moon. In 1991, he returned to Atlanta with Glanville and assumed the head coaching position after Glanville was dismissed.

The Falcons called Jones a visionary in the passing game in a statement released Thursday. Under his leadership, the team reached the playoffs once with quarterback Jeff George. Jones was fired after three seasons, a short tenure attributed to the defensive wear caused by the fast-paced offensive style.

Following a brief interim stint with the San Diego Chargers, Jones returned to Hawaiʻi in 1999. The team had finished the previous year with a 0-12 record. Jones led the Warriors to a 9-4 season in his first year, culminating in a victory in the Oʻahu Bowl. He finished his nine-year tenure in Honolulu with a 76-41 record, making him the winningest coach in the program's history.

His most prominent achievement occurred in 2007. Quarterback Colt Brennan led the offense to a 12-0 regular-season mark, securing a spot in the Bowl Championship Series. The Rainbow Warriors traveled to New Orleans for the Sugar Bowl and lost to Georgia by a score of 41-10. Jones later coached at SMU, where he compiled a 36-43 record over six seasons.

Hawaiʻi Gov. Josh Green praised Jones as an exceptional human being who put the state in the spotlight. Green noted, "He was a motivator of young people and he was a winner. He won big moments for us." Jones remained a popular figure on the islands, often drawing more attention than other major sports in the state.