dpThe run and shoot lost one of its pioneers and best-teachers on Thursday.
Run & Shoot Certification, the coaching clinic account built around the renowned offense, announced the passing of June Jones, Thursday afternoon.
“We mourn the passing of the legendary June Jones,” the post read. “June’s greatest legacy wasn’t the records, championships, or the offense. It was the people he believed in, the opportunities he gave, and the lives he forever changed.”
The cause and date of death had not been released. Jones was 73 and is widely regarded as one of the most innovative offensive minds the game has ever had, whose ideas continue to be used at every level of football.
A Portland, Oregon native, Jones played quarterback at Oregon, Hawaii and Portland State before signing with the Atlanta Falcons as an undrafted free agent. He spent five seasons in Atlanta (1977-81) and one with the CFL’s Toronto Argonauts before getting into coaching as a graduate assistant under Dick Tomey at Hawaii in 1983.
From there he went everywhere the offense went. Jones coached receivers for the USFL’s Houston Gamblers in 1984, coordinated the Denver Gold’s offense in 1985, worked in Ottawa, then coached quarterbacks for the Houston Oilers (1987-88) and Detroit Lions (1989-90). He returned to Atlanta in 1991 and was promoted to head coach in 1994. The Falcons went 19-29 in three seasons under Jones, including a 9-7 finish and a Wild Card trip to Green Bay in 1995. He went 3-7 as the Chargers’ interim head coach in 1998.
Hawaii is where he became a legend.
Jones took over a Rainbow Warriors program that went winless in 1998 and went 9-4 in 1999, sharing the WAC title and beating Oregon State 23-17 in the Oahu Bowl. It was the best single-season turnaround in NCAA history at the time, and it earned him National Coach of the Year honors.
He won 76 games in nine seasons, the most of any coach in the modern era of Hawaii football, with six bowl trips, two WAC titles and three 10-win seasons. The 2007 team, led by Heisman finalist Colt Brennan, finished the regular season 12-0 and played Georgia in the Sugar Bowl on January 1, 2008. Georgia won 41-10, but nobody who coaches the game forgets what that Hawaii team did with an offense most of the country had written off. Jones sent 16 players to the NFL Draft from Manoa and was inducted into the UH Sports Circle of Honor in 2024.
He left for SMU after that season and took on a different kind of rebuild. The Mustangs went 1-11 in his first year, then went 7-5 in 2009 and beat Nevada 45-10 in the Hawaii Bowl for the program’s first bowl trip in 25 years. SMU went to four straight bowls under Jones. He resigned two games into the 2014 season, citing personal issues, with a 36-43 record.
Jones never stopped coaching. He was offensive coordinator at Kapolei High School in Hawaii and athletic director at Saint Louis School in Honolulu, then led the CFL’s Hamilton Tiger-Cats in 2017 and 2018. In 2020, his Houston Roughnecks were 5-0 when the XFL canceled its season due to COVID-19, and he was named the league’s Coach of the Year. He was offensive coordinator for the XFL’s Seattle Sea Dragons in 2023.
For high school coaches running some version of four verticals, choice routes or receivers reading coverage on the fly, a good chunk of that playbook runs through June Jones. He coached it at every level of the game, in three different pro leagues, at a high school and at two college programs nobody expected to win, and he won with it.
Our thoughts are with the Jones family and the hundreds and hundreds players and countless coaches he gave a shot.
Stay tuned to The Scoop for more as details become available.
