Former college and NFL coach June Jones, a pioneer of the run-and-shoot offense, has died. He was 73.
Jones’ death was announced by the Run & Shoot Certification program, a coaching program he and fellow pioneer Mouse Davis created. A cause of death was not divulged.
“We mourn the passing of the legendary June Jones,” the program’s social media account announced. “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.”
Jones went 112-84 in 16 seasons as college head coach and 22-36 in four seasons as an NFL head coach. In most of his stops he used the run-and-shoot offense, a pass-heavy, four-receiver attack where reading the defense at the line of scrimmage determined where the quarterback would go with the ball.
He had his greatest success at Hawaii, where he won 10 or more games on three occasions from 1999-2007. The Rainbow Warriors went 0-12 in 1998 and improved to 9-4 in Jones’ first season.
Jones’ biggest accomplishment was the 2007 team going 12-1 and losing in the Sugar Bowl to Georgia behind record-setting quarterback Colt Brennan.
Brennan passed for 14,193 yards and 131 touchdowns in three seasons (2005-07) in the run-and-shoot. He passed for 5,549 yards and 58 touchdowns in 2006 when Hawaii went 11-2.
After the Sugar Bowl season, Jones left for SMU and went 36-43 in six-plus seasons (2008-14). He stepped down after the Mustangs lost their first two games in 2014.
In the NFL, Jones became head coach at the Atlanta Falcons in 1994 after serving as an assistant the previous three seasons. He guided Atlanta to a playoff berth in 1995 but was let go after a 3-13 mark in 1996 that included a volatile in-game shouting match with quarterback Jeff George. Jones was 19-29 with Atlanta.
In 1998, Jones was on the staff of the San Diego Chargers and promoted to head coach after Kevin Gilbride was fired six games into the season. He went 3-7 in San Diego in a challenging situation in which No. 2 overall pick Ryan Leaf (15 interceptions, two touchdown passes) caused headaches on and off the field.
Jones was involved in a serious auto accident on Feb. 22, 2001, in which his car left the road and slammed into a concrete pillar. He sustained major head and internal injuries and spent close to two weeks in a coma.
Jones survived the accident and was back on the field for the 2001 season.
Jones also was a college quarterback at three schools (Oregon, Hawaii, Portland State), a member of the Falcons from 1977-81 (17 games, five starts) and played for the CFL’s Toronto Argonauts in 1982.
Jones was inducted into the Portland State Athletics Hall of Fame in 1998 after throwing for 5,798 yards and 50 touchdowns in the run-and-shoot offense under then-coach Davis.