June Jones declines University of Hawaii football coaching job. Possible investigation?

[bigislandkurt]

There! I said it.

[EITSwarrior]

At this point I can't really see anyone else to be honest. Stutz maybe. Rolo...maybe too early to dip into that pool again IDK. Timmy Chang maybe. Miano maybe.

[ulua]

Some possible candidates per KHON2.

https://www.khon2.com/sports/uh-immedia ... signation/

Candidates are listed in alphabetical order of last name:

Robert Anae, Syracuse offensive coordinator

Anae, a Kahuku alum and former Hawaii graduate assistant, came close to landing the job in 2020, even flying to the islands to interview for the job in person back when he was Virginia’s offensive coordinator.

Keith Bhonapha, Boise State associate head coach

Bhonapha is a former Hawaii running back and also began his college coaching career at UH. He has steadily climbed the ranks, coaching running backs at Boise State and Washington before returning to Boise following the 2021 season.

Timmy Chang, Colorado State receivers coach

Chang was a record-breaking quarterback for UH in the early 2000s, signing with the Warriors over multiple offers from what was then known as the Pac-10 Conference. Since then, he’s accumulated a decade of college coaching experience, following Jay Norvell from Nevada to Colorado State last December.

Chad Kauha’aha’a and Ikaika Malloe, UCLA defensive assistants

Kauha’aha’a, a Baldwin alum, is currently the defensive line coach at UCLA. Malloe, a Kamehameha alum and former UH assistant in 2008, is currently the outside linebackers coach for the Bruins. Both Kauha’aha’a and Malloe are known within college football circles as ace recruiters, especially when it comes to relating to with players of Polynesian descent.

Brian Smith, former Hawaii and Washington State offensive coordinator

Smith, who was also considered during the 2020 search, was an integral part of the Rolovich era as an assistant coach and played for UH from 1998 to 2001. After WSU decided to go in a different direction offensively following to 2021 season, Smith was a finalist for the Idaho State head coaching job but didn’t land the position. Idaho State’s decision could very well soon be UH’s gain.

Tony Tuioti, Oregon defensive line coach

Tuioti, who graduated from Hawaii in 2000, has vast experience as an assistant at UH, Nebraska, Cal, Michigan, and with the NFL’s Cleveland Browns.

Former Hawaii coaches June Jones and former UH assistant Rich Miano

In Hawaii’s last three coaching searches in 2015, 2020 and already in 2022, Jones and Miano have always emerged as the crowd favorites. In 2022, the interest level in applying for both are currently unknown.

[BigWave96744]

I don't have a good feeling about our program, no matter who comes in.

I wouldn't be jumping for joy yet. Just remember out went Mack and in came Chow, and before that out went Wags and in came Von Appen. Too much people with $$$, Politics or a loud mouth wants "Their guy in"

[couz808]

Hopefully it’s a run and shoot coach. Brian Smith would be excellent candidate. Maybe Timmy Chang but I don’t think he’s ever been a offense coordinator or a qb coach. June Jones or Rich Miano would be good in the short term. Maybe they could bring in Timmy Chang as offensive coordinator and groom him to be the successor.

[WarriorTyme]

My favorite is June Jones, he just might be the preverbal shot in the arm to get the Hawaii program back on track. Nothing beats experience in how to build a winning program in a tough recruiting market like Hawaii. With coaches leaving Oklahoma for USC or Notre Dame for LSU there is no long term coaching mentality anymore. Add over 3000 players in the transfer portal, up from 1200 last season, even the players are not staying long term for various reasons. Having said that, I like all those candidates listed by KHON 2, let's see who actually applies for the job? UH can't hire somebody who didn't apply.

[gpmcconnell]

Anyone but June Jones. The Miano one makes me laugh, he would’ve be a candidate for high school jobs in most states. Let’s get a young up and comer. Adrian klemm or Lewis powell

[gpmcconnell]

My favorite is June Jones, he just might be the preverbal shot in the arm to get the Hawaii program back on track. Nothing beats experience in how to build a winning program in a tough recruiting market like Hawaii. With coaches leaving Oklahoma for USC or Notre Dame for LSU there is no long term coaching mentality anymore. Add over 3000 players in the transfer portal, up from 1200 last season, even the players are not staying long term for various reasons. Having said that, I like all those candidates listed by KHON 2, let's see who actually applies for the job? UH can't hire somebody who didn't apply.

Remember when June Jones abandoned the program for SMU?

[Irse]

My favorite is June Jones, he just might be the preverbal shot in the arm to get the Hawaii program back on track. Nothing beats experience in how to build a winning program in a tough recruiting market like Hawaii. With coaches leaving Oklahoma for USC or Notre Dame for LSU there is no long term coaching mentality anymore. Add over 3000 players in the transfer portal, up from 1200 last season, even the players are not staying long term for various reasons. Having said that, I like all those candidates listed by KHON 2, let's see who actually applies for the job? UH can't hire somebody who didn't apply.

Remember when June Jones abandoned the program for SMU?

I don't remember that. I remember that his contract ran out when he left because Frazier did not offer him one. And he was willing to take a pay cut as long as the money they saved would be put back into the program. That is what I remembered.

[Irse]

I don't have a good feeling about our program, no matter who comes in.

I wouldn't be jumping for joy yet. Just remember out went Mack and in came Chow, and before that out went Wags and in came Von Appen. Too much people with $$$, Politics or a loud mouth wants "Their guy in"

I think we'll take a few steps backward before things will get better. We lost too many good players. I wouldn't expect a winning season for a couple of years. Then again we didn't have one this year with a lot of returnees from our MW West division championship team.

[gpmcconnell]

My favorite is June Jones, he just might be the preverbal shot in the arm to get the Hawaii program back on track. Nothing beats experience in how to build a winning program in a tough recruiting market like Hawaii. With coaches leaving Oklahoma for USC or Notre Dame for LSU there is no long term coaching mentality anymore. Add over 3000 players in the transfer portal, up from 1200 last season, even the players are not staying long term for various reasons. Having said that, I like all those candidates listed by KHON 2, let's see who actually applies for the job? UH can't hire somebody who didn't apply.

Remember when June Jones abandoned the program for SMU?

I don't remember that. I remember that his contract ran out when he left because Frazier did not offer him one. And he was willing to take a pay cut as long as the money they saved would be put back into the program. That is what I remembered.

Yea let’s hire a 70 year old who last coached college in 2014 and had to resign for “personal issues”. He left that program broken. Also remember the whole Arizona state situation while he was coach there? June Jones is a snake. We can do way better than him

[Maui Boy in Alaska]

If it's June Jones, I will be ok with it, but at age 68, hard to get excited about him. I would love to see him in the role of OC/QB coach for a younger coach to be more of a mentor.

Rich Miano is 59, and loves Hawaii and the program. Could be the head coach for the next 10-12 years. He can connect with local players and has a lot of experience around football in different capacities. What could be a downside is he has never been a coordinator at the college level. But if he had someone like a June as his OC and a strong DC, you can look past that lack of experience. His experience as a player, 13 as assistance coach at UH, and again love for the program, does make him active as someone who will not leave the program for a bigger paycheck.

Robert Anae, who is 63, has a resume of good college football experience. He is from Hawaii with connections to the North Shore. However, I do not like his strong ties to BYU and I would worry about a Norm Chow 2.0. I could be dead wrong on this, but just my $0.02 on Anae. But if he gets the job, I will always support a local guy in the head coach role.

Brain Smith is young and has strong ties to the UH program. He would need a strong DC and a good QB coach. But he probably understands more than most, the challenges at UH and what it takes to win in today's world of college football.

Timmy Chang is young and has strong ties to the UH program and the state of Hawaii. If he got the job, I would hope someone like June Jones would join him to be a mentor and OC with him.

Ikaika Malloe would be my dream DC for UH, but is making too much money at UCLA to come to fill that role at UH. If he got the head coaching job, he would need a strong OC. But he does bring a lot of experience and has recruited Hawaii well for years. My worry would be if he has any real success at UH, he would be hired away for a more high-paying power 5 school. But that will be the trade-off for most coaches UH gets, but if we get a few 9-10 win seasons, will be more than ok with that trade-off.

Holding out hope coach Rolo gets vaccinated, and sees there is no place like home. Had success as a player, assistant coach, and HC at UH. But being vaccinated would be a deal-breaker in the state of Hawaii.

Names not listed:
Ken Niumatalolo could also decide he is ready to come home. I am not sure fans would want to see the old spread triple option again. But his record is a pretty good one, and it's not like Navy is an easy place to win at, yet he has.

Dino Babers who is 60, has 10 years of head coaching experience. Yes, he has not had a lot of success at Syracuse, but COVID really impacted the last 2 years for that program. He loves Hawaii would improve the offense.

[gpmcconnell]

If it's June Jones, I will be ok with it, but at age 68, hard to get excited about him. I would love to see him in the role of OC/QB coach for a younger coach to be more of a mentor.

Rich Miano is 59, and loves Hawaii and the program. Could be the head coach for the next 10-12 years. He can connect with local players and has a lot of experience around football in different capacities. What could be a downside is he has never been a coordinator at the college level. But if he had someone like a June as his OC and a strong DC, you can look past that lack of experience. His experience as a player, 13 as assistance coach at UH, and again love for the program, does make him active as someone who will not leave the program for a bigger paycheck.

Robert Anae, who is 63, has a resume of good college football experience. He is from Hawaii with connections to the North Shore. However, I do not like his strong ties to BYU and I would worry about a Norm Chow 2.0. I could be dead wrong on this, but just my $0.02 on Anae. But if he gets the job, I will always support a local guy in the head coach role.

Brain Smith is young and has strong ties to the UH program. He would need a strong DC and a good QB coach. But he probably understands more than most, the challenges at UH and what it takes to win in today's world of college football.

Timmy Chang is young and has strong ties to the UH program and the state of Hawaii. If he got the job, I would hope someone like June Jones would join him to be a mentor and OC with him.

Ikaika Malloe would be my dream DC for UH, but is making too much money at UCLA to come to fill that role at UH. If he got the head coaching job, he would need a strong OC. But he does bring a lot of experience and has recruited Hawaii well for years. My worry would be if he has any real success at UH, he would be hired away for a more high-paying power 5 school. But that will be the trade-off for most coaches UH gets, but if we get a few 9-10 win seasons, will be more than ok with that trade-off.

Holding out hope coach Rolo gets vaccinated, and sees there is no place like home. Had success as a player, assistant coach, and HC at UH. But being vaccinated would be a deal-breaker in the state of Hawaii.

Names not listed:
Ken Niumatalolo could also decide he is ready to come home. I am not sure fans would want to see the old spread triple option again. But his record is a pretty good one, and it's not like Navy is an easy place to win at, yet he has.

Dino Babers who is 60, has 10 years of head coaching experience. Yes, he has not had a lot of success at Syracuse, but COVID really impacted the last 2 years for that program. He loves Hawaii would improve the offense.

Brian smith could be good, especially if he can get Jayden de Laura to come with him

[shrek2]

My favorite is June Jones, he just might be the preverbal shot in the arm to get the Hawaii program back on track. Nothing beats experience in how to build a winning program in a tough recruiting market like Hawaii. With coaches leaving Oklahoma for USC or Notre Dame for LSU there is no long term coaching mentality anymore. Add over 3000 players in the transfer portal, up from 1200 last season, even the players are not staying long term for various reasons. Having said that, I like all those candidates listed by KHON 2, let's see who actually applies for the job? UH can't hire somebody who didn't apply.

Remember when June Jones abandoned the program for SMU?

I don't remember that. I remember that his contract ran out when he left because Frazier did not offer him one. And he was willing to take a pay cut as long as the money they saved would be put back into the program. That is what I remembered.

This is interesting insight. I thought he left for the $ they offered at SMU which was $2M. I think he could be a good interim coach for a couple of years and train someone to take over in the long haul. I really don't care for the idea of TC coming back until he can be a QB coach or OC. I heard a podcast of an interview with him when he was at UNR and he still had the pidgin. Not good for national audiences and recruiting.

[Irse]

Remember when June Jones abandoned the program for SMU?

I don't remember that. I remember that his contract ran out when he left because Frazier did not offer him one. And he was willing to take a pay cut as long as the money they saved would be put back into the program. That is what I remembered.

This is interesting insight. I thought he left for the $ they offered at SMU which was $2M. I think he could be a good interim coach for a couple of years and train someone to take over in the long haul. I really don't care for the idea of TC coming back until he can be a QB coach or OC. I heard a podcast of an interview with him when he was at UNR and he still had the pidgin. Not good for national audiences and recruiting.

In reality, June coached the last game under his contract. But since the state's fiscal year is from July 1 to June 30, he was still under contract. Of course, there is no games played at that time and nobody knows what Herman Failure's intention was. He could have waited until late June and not offered June anything and June would be stuck without a job. Of course UH would also be without a coach and have to scramble to get one. UH tried to sue June but they settled.

Hawaii has resolved its financial dispute with former football coach June Jones over the early termination of his contract, officials said Friday.

Under the agreement, the June Jones Foundation has donated $100,010 to a scholarship fund for students pursing degrees in Hawaiian studies or language. In addition, an undisclosed donor has contributed $100,000 to the school.

The university has said it was owed $400,008 in damages because Jones left Hawaii before his five-year contract expired June 30. The figure represents half his annual salary with the Warriors.

Jones resigned and accepted a job worth about $2 million a year at Southern Methodist, six days after Hawaii lost to Georgia in last January's Sugar Bowl to finish the season 12-1.

Under his Hawaii contract, Jones was prohibited from accepting employment "under any circumstances" as a football coach at any NCAA school or professional team in the United States before the expiration date ... "without first obtaining a written release or a negotiated settlement."

"In the event the university releases coach of his obligations under this agreement, coach shall be responsible for paying to the university liquidated damages," Jones' contract stated.

Jones' agent has argued the coach had an agreement with former Hawaii athletics director Herman Frazier that there would be no penalty to leave after three years. Frazier was fired a day after Jones announced he was leaving.

https://www.espn.com/college-football/n ... id=3782575