Jump to content

June Jones

Edit links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Barak181 (talk | contribs) at 05:20, 24 March 2007. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

June Jones

June Sheldon Jones, III (born February 19, 1953, Portland, Oregon) is an American football coach, formerly with the Atlanta Falcons and currently with the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Warriors.

Playing Career

Jones played the quarterback position on three college teams: Oregon (1971-1972), Hawaii (1973-1974), and Portland State (1975-1976). Thereafter, he entered professional football, playing for the Atlanta Falcons 1977-1981) of the National Football League and the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League (1982). In four seasons with the Falcons, Jones completed 75 of 166 passes for 923 yards with three touchdowns and seven interceptions.[1]

Coaching Career

In 1983, Jones started his coaching career as a graduate assistant under Dick Tomey at the University of Hawaii. He then spent two years in the USFL, first as the wide receivers coach for the Houston Gamblers, then as the offensive coordinator for the Denver Gold. In 1989, he got his first NFL coaching position serving on Mouse Davis's staff for the Detroit Lions.

Atlanta

Jones would join the Atlanta Falcons organization in 1991 as the assistant head coach for Jerry Glanville. In 1994, Jones would replace Glanville as head coach, a move that would cause a rift between the two men. Reportedly, they did not speak to each other for several years following this event. [2] Favoring a powerful, high-scoring offenses, Jones emphasized an aggressive game. Quarterback Jeff George passed for 3,734 yards and 23 touchdowns in Jones' first year. In 1995, the Falcons went to the playoffs but lost in the first round to the Green Bay Packers. The subsequent year the team posted a 3-13 record, leading to Jones' dismissal. Jones' coaching record over three seasons in Atlanta was nineteen wins and twenty-nine losses.[3] He also clashed with quarterback Jeff George during his final season, including a well publicized and widely broadcast shouting match during a September 23 game against the Philadelphia Eagles. The feud contributed to both men being released by the organization.[4] [5] [6]

San Diego

Jones returned to coaching when the San Diego Chargers hired him as quarterbacks coach on January 20, 1998. On October 13, 1998, head coach Kevin Gilbride was let go after the sixth game and Jones became the interim head coach. In games coached by Jones, the Chargers won three of ten games, giving Jones a career NFL coaching record of 22 wins and 36 losses.[7]

Hawaii

Jones joined the University of Hawaiʻi-Mānoa football team as head coach, replacing Fred von Appen, who was fired when the team lost 18 games in a row, including all twelve games in the 1998 season. Jones led the Warriors to a 9-4 record and a share of the Western Athletic Conference football championship in the 1999 season, making it the most dramatic turnaround in NCAA football history.[8] With Jones's success on the field, and media-friendly persona off the field, he instantly became one of the most famous people in Hawaii, with some people making "June Jones for Governor" T-shirts.[9]

During his tenure at Hawaii, he has coached five All-Americans, 52 all-conference performers, and eight NFL draft picks. In particular, Jones claims to have made a special effort to recruit local talent in his players and coaching staff. One of the most notable of his recruits was quarterback Timmy Chang, who became the all-time NCAA leader in passing yardage.[10]

Jones nearly died in a car accident on February 22, 2001, missing the spring season because of his injuries.[11]

On December 24, 2006, Jones passed Dick Tomey to become the winningest head coach in Hawaii football history (against an all-college schedule) with a 41-24 victory over Arizona State in the 2006 Hawaii Bowl.

Criticism

Jones' time in Hawaii has not been without controversy. He has set new precedents as head coach, and some fault him for discarding long-standing traditions.[12] After his first season, he made several changes to the identity of the football team, including changing the name of the football team from "Rainbow Warriors" to simply "Warriors."

During the 2004 season, after negotiating a contract with a $800,000 annual salary making him the highest-paid public employee in the state, he faced discontent from fans, faculty and media about his struggling team.[13] The team eventually finished with a 7-5 regular season and a victory in the Hawaii Bowl.

Jones has been criticized for rarely running the ball, preferring a wide-open pass-heavy offense. Many college football followers disagree with Jones's Run & Shoot approach, but the success of his quarterbacks (most notably Timmy Chang and Colt Brennan) have pointed out to some people that the pass-happy offense that Jones runs is effective, and his teams can definitely score and win off of it.


Coaching Record

College

Template:CFB Coaching Record Start Template:CFB Coaching Record Team Template:CFB Coaching Record Entry Template:CFB Coaching Record Entry Template:CFB Coaching Record Entry Template:CFB Coaching Record Entry Template:CFB Coaching Record Entry Template:CFB Coaching Record Entry Template:CFB Coaching Record Entry Template:CFB Coaching Record Entry Template:CFB Coaching Record Team End Template:CFB Coaching Record End

NFL

Team Year Regular Season Post Season
Won Lost Ties Win % Finish Won Lost Win % Result
ATL 1994 7 9 0 .438 3rd in NFC West - - - -
ATL 1995 9 7 0 .563 2nd in NFC West 0 1 .000 Lost to Green Bay in Wild Card Round.
ATL 1996 3 13 0 .188 4th in NFC West - - - -
Atlanta Total 19 29 0 .396 0 1 .000
SD† 1998 3 7 0 .300 5th in AFC West - - - -
San Diego Total 3 7 0 .300 0 0 .000
Total 22 36 0 .348 0 1 .000

† Became interim head coach when Kevin Gilbride was fired after the sixth game of the season

References

  1. ^ http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/JoneJu00.htm
  2. ^ Tsai, Stephen (Aug 3,), "Glanville devoted to football and Jones", The Honolulu Advertiser {{citation}}: Check date values in: |date= and |year= / |date= mismatch (help)CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link)
  3. ^ http://www.pro-football-reference.com/coaches/JoneJu0.htm
  4. ^ http://www.nflhistoryguide.com/af/history.htm
  5. ^ http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/08/29/SPGFCKQUQ01.DTL
  6. ^ http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A03E0D91F3DF937A1575AC0A960958260
  7. ^ http://www.chargers.com/history/chronology_90s.htm
  8. ^ http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F03EFDC113DF931A15752C0A9669C8B63
  9. ^ http://starbulletin.com/1999/11/23/features/story1.html
  10. ^ http://starbulletin.com/2004/11/07/sports/story2.html
  11. ^ http://starbulletin.com/2001/02/23/news/story1.html
  12. ^ http://starbulletin.com/2004/08/27/news/story2.html
  13. ^ http://www.thehawaiichannel.com/news/2431864/detail.html

External links

Preceded by Atlanta Falcons Head Coaches
1994–1996 		Succeeded by
Preceded by San Diego Chargers Head Coaches
1998 (Interim) 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Hawaii Warriors Head Coaches
1999– 		Succeeded by
current
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=June_Jones&oldid=117461091"