Not much more than a couple of touchdown passes from where he reinvigorated the University of Hawaii football program as head coach, June Jones is moving into administration as director of athletic programs and development at Saint Louis School.
After more than 30 years in coaching, “He (Jones) will be overseeing the athletics program as far as helping our students reach not only athletic excellence but also academic excellence, which is really a big part of why he wanted to be at Saint Louis,” said Glenn Medeiros, head of school for Saint Louis.
If Cal Lee steps down as head football coach, Jones, 63, is expected to assume that position as well. But “that would be June’s decision,” a source said.
Lee, 70, guided the Crusaders to the Hawaii High School Athletic Association Open Division title last month and has not said if he will return for 2017. He has said he will make a decision after the holidays.
Jones is expected to take on a major fundraising role for the school in addition to athletics. “He oversees all of athletics but will also help us with the fundraising we need on the athletic side, also helping to build scholarship opportunities and financial aid opportunities for all of our students,” Medeiros said.
Wade Okamura will remain as director of athletics, a position he has held since 2014, Medeiros said.
“June firmly believes in what we are doing up here (at Saint Louis) in giving the kids an opportunity to take the next step,” said Tony Guerrero, a member of the school’s board of directors. “It is not about football, it is about the education.”
Medeiros said, “I want Coach Cal to be back; he and I have a very good relationship. The position that June is here for is not one specifically for coaching, it is more of an administrative overseeing role. One of the reasons why I felt June was a good fit (is) because he has a good relationship with Coach Cal and that would be a good team. (So) I want him to be here, but ultimately that is something that he chooses.”
Lee served on Jones’ staff at UH.
Lee, a two-time national high school coach of the year, is in his third stay at Saint Louis, where he previously served in 1971 and 1982-2001. He and his brother, Ron, 72, engineered a run of 14 consecutive Prep Bowl and state championships in their tenures at Kalaepohaku. Saint Louis won 55 consecutive games from 1985 to 1990.
Jones has been a head coach in the NFL and
college and spent the past season as offensive coordinator at Kapolei High, where he mentored quarterback Taulia
Tagovailoa.
Sources said Tagovailoa is expected to remain at Kapolei and not succeed his record-setting brother, Tua, at Saint Louis. Transfer rules would mandate sitting out a year from competition.
At UH, Jones guided the Rainbow Warriors to what was the biggest single-season turnaround in NCAA history, taking a program that had gone 0-12 before his arrival to 9-4 in 1999.
When he left UH after the 2007 Sugar Bowl season, he was the school’s winningest head coach with a 76-41 record over nine seasons.
Jones spent six-plus seasons at Southern Methodist, resigning during the 2014 season. He was 36-43 with the Mustangs.
Jones was a quarterback at the University of Oregon, Hawaii and Portland State before going on to a five-year career in the NFL with the Atlanta Falcons and a year in the Canadian Football League.
He served as head coach of the Atlanta Falcons (1994-96) and San Diego Chargers (1998) before becoming UH’s head coach.
Jones was an unsuccessful finalist for the UH head coaching job that went to Nick Rolovich last year.
Medeiros said the school and some of its alumni had been in discussions with Jones about possible roles. “We have a lot of people at Saint Louis School that are friends, board members, alumni, that have been in communication with him, so we’ve been talking to him about possibilities,” Medeiros said. “We were able to put things together just recently and we’re very happy about it.”
Medeiros said, “It was important for myself, but also important to June, that we’re really trying to create a well-rounded student here at Saint Louis School.”
