Departure of June Jones to SMU: Hawaii Football Fans Dismayed but Not Surprised

I'm a University of Hawaii alum and UH football fan. And I'm writing this without having read any internet, print, or television news source. Everything I know about the Junes Jones situation is from a radio news clip I heard yesterday that said that Jones is bolting from the University of Hawaii to head to SMU for a salary in the $2 million range. The news clip also indicated that Hawaii's governor Linda Lingle and University of Hawaii president David McClain made pleas to Jones not to leave to no avail.

What this likely means is that UH could not put enough bucks on the table to appease Jones. And this comes after Jones has said time and again that he would be very happy staying in Hawaii to coach for the rest of his career. Of course, sports fans across the nation have heard this rhetoric before from many other coaches, and most of these same coaches have pulled up stakes and headed to happier and more prosperous hunting grounds when bigger bucks and bigger opportunities presented themselves.

Is it surprising that Jones left? Not at all. Many fans here likely bought into Jone's rhetoric. And, to give the man his due, he probably meant what he said about being happy here and making Hawaii his lifelong home and place of employment. But there are many other fans, this one included, who were realists. Yes, there was a hope that Jones was sincere in his statements about staying forever, but many of us knew that when UH became successful, alluring job opportunities would come for him. And we knew that if the allure was great enough, Jones might entertain the thought and then leave.

Well, he's gone, so what now?

There will be search for a new coach. And who will it be? Without the benefit of the media speculation, I know not what the reporters have found out or who they're guessing will be the next guy to lead the Rainbow Warriors. Will it be a current UH assistant? Will UH court a rainmaker, just like SMU courted and wooed Jones? Will UH slip into obscurity like it did under Fred Von Appen? All these questions and more remain. And we'll find out the answers soon enough.