Former Falcons, Hawaii and SMU coach June Jones dies at 73

Longtime NFL and college football coach June Jones died Thursday. He was 73.

According to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, Jones had entered hospice care two weeks ago.

Jones was a former NFL quarterback who was an early adopter of the run and shoot offense during his four-decade career at the college and professional levels. He was the head coach of the Atlanta Falcons from 1994 through 1996, before he was the head coach at Hawaii and SMU.

Jones became the head coach of the Falcons after serving as the team's offensive coordinator under Jerry Glanville. He then replaced Glanville, as the Falcons went 19-29 in his three seasons in charge. Atlanta made the playoffs in 1995 after going 9-7, but lost to the Green Bay Packers in the wild-card round. He was fired a year later after tension with quarterback Jeff George led to a 3-13 season.

After spending the 1997 season out of football, Jones became the quarterbacks coach of the San Diego Chargers. He then served as the team's interim coach for the final 10 games of the 1998 season after Kevin Gilbride was fired.

From there, Jones became the head coach at Hawaii and is the school's winningest coach. A former college and NFL quarterback, Jones had played two seasons for the Warriors in the 1970s.

Hawaii went 76-41 in Jones' time with the team and won at least 10 games in three of his nine seasons. In 2007, his final season at Hawaii, the Warriors went 12-0 in the regular season before losing to Georgia in the Sugar Bowl.

As Hawaii went undefeated, quarterback Colt Brennan was a Heisman finalist and set the career record for touchdown passes at the FBS level. Brennan threw 38 TDs in 2007 after throwing 58 touchdowns in 2006.

Jones left Hawaii for SMU, where he coached for six full seasons. The Mustangs were 36-43 with Jones as the head coach. Jones' tenure ended two games into the 2014 season as he cited personal issues for his decision to step down.

SMU, which had moved to the American Conference from Conference USA in 2013 and is now a part of the ACC, went on to finish 1-11 after Jones' resignation.

Jones continued to coach after stepping down from SMU. He coached high school football in Hawaii before coaching in the CFL, the reincarnated XFL and the short-lived "The Spring League." Jones' last major coaching job came in 2023, when he was the offensive coordinator for the XFL's Seattle Sea Dragons.

After playing quarterback for run and shoot pioneer Mouse Davis at Portland State, Jones helped Davis bring the offensive system into the mainstream. The run and shoot offense popularized the idea of a pass-first offense with receivers running option routes based on where opposing defenses placed their coverages.

Jones was the quarterbacks coach for the Detroit Lions in 1989 and 1990 as Davis was the team's offensive coordinator. Davis later coached under Jones for the Falcons and at Hawaii.

Before he got into coaching in 1983, Jones was a quarterback for the Falcons for four seasons and spent another season in the CFL. Across his time in the NFL, Jones appeared in 17 games and made five starts for the Falcons over the 1978 and 1979 seasons. He finished his career 75-of-166 passing for 923 yards with three touchdowns and seven interceptions.