HONOLULU (KHON2) — University of Hawaii (UH) sports fans are surprised and disappointed that the university and June Jones did not reach an agreement on Friday, Jan. 21, as he was the top choice for many to lead the Rainbow Warriors football team.
On Friday, the university’s Athletic Director David Matlin said they did not come to terms with an agreement with Coach Jones. Matlin said they could not agree on a succession plan and that they would continue to work tirelessly to find a new head coach.
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For Pete Larrabee who attended UH Manoa during Jones’ tenure, the lack of agreement is disappointing.
“It’s a shame. I was here when he was actually coaching and I graduated in 2000, and he was the coach then, so I was looking forward to him coming back and bringing the team back to glories.”
Pete Larrabee, former UH Manoa student
Jones is the program’s winningest coach with a 76-41 record. Fans, like Kenny Flores Jr., were hopeful he would be the coach to rebuild the team.
Flores said, “Disappointing, they need to come to terms, let him make some calls, let him do his thing, let him build a program. He’s done it once, let him do it again. We need him, we need him here.”
Meanwhile, the university said it is working tirelessly to find a new head coach, and there is a name that came up several times by fans.
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“Timmy Chang, why not, let’s give him a shot. New blood, it’s going to be a three-year rebuild anyway,” UH Sports Fan William Labrador said. “Young, he’ll be more of a player’s coach as opposed to coach’s coach.”