The search for the next University of Hawaii head football coach took a jarring turn Friday when talks collapsed between athletic director David Matlin and popular candidate June Jones.
The breaking points were the initial two-year offer and the athletic director’s insistence on veto power over Jones’ potential hires for assistant coaches, according to the former UH coach’s camp.
Jones, the winningest head coach in UH’s Division I football history, had applied to return for a second tenure with the Rainbow Warriors. In nine UH seasons through the 2008 Sugar Bowl, Jones was 76-41, including 12-0 during the 2007 regular season.
While Jones maintained he still would like to be the successor to Todd Graham, who resigned last week after two seasons, it appears UH officials are open to pursuing other candidates.
Jones, who applied for the job Monday, and Matlin met Friday. Jones was prepared to ask about the financial pool for assistant coaches, the recruiting budget and the resources to advance the state’s only NCAA football program. UH is reeling from players’ criticisms of Graham’s leadership that attracted national coverage and sparked a state legislative hearing, several departures through the transfer portal, and the uncertain future of a planned replacement for Aloha Stadium. In 2021 UH played its six home games in the 9,000-seat Ching Complex on the Manoa campus.
Instead, according to agent Leigh Steinberg, Jones was told he would be offered a two-year contract. In contrast, Graham had a five- year deal. Rich Hill, who was hired as UH’s baseball coach in June, also inked a five-year contract.
“That is a longer rebuilding job than necessarily two years,” Steinberg said.
>> RELATED: Dave Reardon: The fix was in, but UH football program is still broken
Steinberg said UH’s proposal also called for the athletic director to have final approval on Jones’ hires for assistant coaches — “which are conditions no coach really agrees to,” Steinberg said. “June said, ‘Under these circumstances, how can I take this job and not do what I did the first time I was here? Which was choose coaches who will be the best.’”
Jones turned down those conditions during the meeting. Financial terms were not discussed.
“Dictating who can be on my staff and only 2 year contract … what recruit would come if I was here for 2 years?” Jones tweeted. “This has never been about money — but it is about giving me the ability to turn our program around and not have people tell me who is on my staff or how to coach my team.”
Steinberg said this is a “bump in the road” and hoped talks would continue. He said Jones still is interested in coaching the Warriors.
After news of Jones’ rejection circulated, Matlin issued this statement:
“We met with Coach Jones earlier today and, unfortunately, could not come to terms with an agreement for him to be our next head football coach. I understand that there has been a lot of support for Coach Jones this past week but he has declined our offer. I respect his decision and we need to move forward in our search. At the end of the day we couldn’t agree on a succession plan that I felt was important for our student- athletes and supporters of Rainbow Warrior football. We are working tirelessly to get a head coach on board to lead our program and are fully aware of the sensitivity to national signing day on Feb. 2.”
On Monday, Jones, 68, applied for the head coach’s job. The next day, Rich Miano withdrew his application and supported Jones’ candidacy. Miano, a popular football analyst, is a former UH safety who transformed from a walk-on to an All-WAC defender. Miano played 11 NFL seasons, then coached 13 seasons with UH, completing his tenure as interim head coach in 2015. Miano was expected to rejoin UH if Jones was hired.
Jones and Matlin met in a Zoom meeting Wednesday. Matlin, who returned Friday from a mainland trip, also interviewed other candidates Wednesday, including former UH quarterback Tim Chang, now the receivers coach at Colorado State, and Brian Smith, a former UH center and associate head coach who was Washington State’s offensive coordinator the past two years.
Jones received widespread support from former and current players, coaches, politicians and business leaders.
During his tenure as UH head coach, Jones helped developed Nick Rolovich, Tim Chang and Colt Brennan into record-setting quarterbacks. Under Jones, several players went on to the NFL, including Davone Bess, Chad Owens, Nate Ilaoa, Ashley Lelie, Pisa Tinoisamoa, Ikaika Alama-Francis and Samson Satele.
The Rainbow Warriors, who have been training under interim head coach Jacob Yoro, are falling behind in the recruiting battle. They have nearly 20 scholarships to fill. Beginning today, there are only two recruiting weekends ahead of the Feb. 2 signing period for football prospects.
