Hawaii and June Jones were working on a potential reunion, but there is one issue, according to a report.
The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman reported early on Friday that Jones was “close” to becoming Hawaii’s next head coach.
However, Feldman later said that Jones had turned down the job. Hawaii athletic director David Matlin reportedly said the two sides could not come to an agreement on a deal.
So, what was their issue? According to what Jones’ agent Leigh Steinberg told Pete Thamel, Hawaii wanted a succession plan in place for Jones if he were to take the job. The Rainbows were also reportedly offering Jones a very short-term deal.
It sounds like Hawaii would eventually want Timmy Chang to take over as head coach, but Jones doesn’t want any staff hires forced upon him.
Jones said on Twitter that “no coach in their right mind would accept” the offer he received.
Chang, 40, was a rock star quarterback at Hawaii from 2000-2004. Jones was Chang’s head coach for all five seasons. Chang’s first coaching job was as a graduate assistant under Jones at SMU in 2012 and 2013. Chang coached under Jay Norvell at Nevada from 2017-2021 and has followed Norvell to Colorado State as his wide receivers coach.
As Thamel said, Jones doesn’t have any issues with Chang, but the 68-year-old probably doesn’t want to have someone on his staff the athletic department is waiting to make his replacement.
Jones had a successful run as Hawaii’s head coach from 1999-2007 before leaving for SMU. He coached in the CFL for two seasons in 2017 and 2018. He was 5-0 in the XFL in 2020 before the league shut down.
Hawaii is looking for a new coach after Todd Graham was forced out.
If Jones doesn’t take the job, that might be for the best, since reunions don’t often produce great results.
More must-reads: