comscore Former UH coach June Jones to be offensive coordinator at Kapolei | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
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Former UH coach June Jones to be offensive coordinator at Kapolei

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  • STAR-ADVERTISER / 2015

    Former University of Hawaii head football coach June Jones, who was last at SMU, will take over a Kapolei High School offense led by current freshman Taulia Tagovailoa.

  • JAMM AQUINO / AUG. 29

    Former University of Hawaii head football coach June Jones, who was last at SMU, will take over a Kapolei High School offense led by current freshman Taulia Tagovailoa.

Kapolei football coach Darren Hernandez said on tonight’s OC-16 telecast of the Junior Prep Sports Paradise Football Classic that June Jones will take over as his offensive coordinator next season.

Jones, the former University of Hawaii football coach, who was last at SMU, will take over an offense led by current freshman Taulia Tagovailoa. Tagovailoa threw for 2,784 yards in 10 games as a freshman with 22 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.

Kapolei had never had a quarterback throw for more than 300 yards in a game until 2015, when Tagovailoa reached that mark four times. He threw for a school record 534 yards and six touchdowns in a 41-0 win over Castle in the first round of the OIA playoffs and also threw for 448 yards against Moanalua, 394 yards against Mililani and 356 yards against Kahuku.

Tagovailoa’s father, Galu, was the offensive coordinator this past season but is stepping down to spend more time watching both of his sons. Tua Tagovailoa is currently a junior at Saint Louis and was named first team all-state this season by the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.

Jones recently applied for the vacant head coaching job at Hawaii that eventually went to Nick Rolovich.

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  • JJ offensive coach of a Hawaii high school team and Rolo the head coach of UH after the Chow failure? Maitlin better have extra sensory powers cause UH football cannot financially afford to maintain a losing football team post Chow. Maitlin in a couple years will either be a hero that deserves a massive payraise or should be fired for a bad choice in choosing Rolo over JJ and Miano. I hope for everyones sake that Maitlin was right but successfully coaching at the Div 1A or NFL level is like choosing a surgeon, lawyer or airplane pilot where lives are on the line; you don’t really to choose a newbie to operate on your loved one or be you pilot to fly you where you have to land at a tricky airport runway in bad weather.

    • JJ is at the right level in his coaching career. And yes, UH officials are lame but in this case, and given the actual record known to them about the fiasco at SMU and earlier at the UH, they certainly made the right choice.

        • She won’t respond. She only makes one comment to be irritating but never backs up her comments with facts. Her opinion is based upon what she hears from others rather than actually knowledgeable facts. She also only comments to make negative remarks as evidenced by her never commenting on the basketball team recently. Simple-minded follower. It’s better to ignore her posts and disregard them as trolling.

        • You might want to do your own research. Start with the Dallas news stories. It is all public information. That said, JJ is at the right level given his performance in recent years. I am sure he is sincere in working with teens.

  • Would have loved to see JJ as the UH / OC but it’s
    great to see he is giving back to the community w/
    the kids @ Kapolei … the ILH & Kahuku better get
    their “D” order when the playoffs come … I’ll be
    watching …

  • Great to see JJ at Kapolei. He has a great arm to work with in Taulia. It’ll be fun to watch the “explosion” happen.
    I’d like to see some new offensive plays that he probably has in his back pocket. OIA, watch out next year!

  • My question is, was JJ even offered the offensive coordinator position at UH? It seems to me if he was offered it he would have accepted it considering he’s now willing to be an OC at a local high school. It also seems as if money isn’t an issue either.

  • To all parents. Please watch your daughters- jones is no on the loose. Why is he doing this?? With all the coaching in college and the pros he is now going to be a offense coach at a high school?? He is a sick man. All you jones backers who think highly of jones. Think about it he has not been even mentioned for a college position with all the vacancies around the nation. There must be a reason if he is as good as his backers claim. Like I stated before HE QUIT UH and SMU and no one really knows the reason- I cannot recall any reasoning why he quit that he stated in a news conference-all the reasons I have read is just people coming to their own conclusions.

    • It is unfortunate that individuals like you continue to throw erroneous dirt on JJ’s character. You have always been serving false negative comments on the blogs. I wonder what kind of sorry person you are that just live your life believing rumors and heresay without any proof. If you are referring to Lily at UH, she has already stated that the rumor was ugly and not true and that she does not even know JJ.

    • The other person publicly denies any connection or truth to the accusation therefore your comment right now has ZERO worth. If you have first hand knowledge then make a public swonn statement and don’t do it anonymously.

    • interesting comment that he has not been mentioned for the many college vacancies. further, he is not mentioned for the many nfl vacancies also. many vacancies, but no mention of interest in jones. is he overrated by the people of hawaii only?

  • Not sure why some feel you need give back when we owe you more for all you did for UH. Looking forward to see how Kapolei QB does with you as his coach in the future.

    • If I had a son that played football-I would send him to Kapolei. That’s a no brainer. Between Jones and Hernandez, and the connections they have in getting players to college, you would have to be a fool to pay money for private schools.

        • Kapolei High is a highly regarded public school academically! Do your homework before you open your pie hole through you keyboard? What a thought!

        • jimmyhouse67, I’m sure you didn’t mean to, but your comment is an affront to Hawaii public schools, where many of us got an excellent education that makes us competitive with graduates from anywhere in the islands, in the country, and the world. Our DOE has some of the best teachers and administrators in the state. I’m not dissing our private schools. I think they’re great. But let’s not diss our public schools, which are regularly producing world-class graduates.

  • My thought on this… JJ taking OC job at Kapolei. Could it be JJ and Rolo had a Talk? JJ did not take the OC at UH because of a plan that both Rolo and JJ
    came up with? Such plan like JJ finds good Kids around the island to train QB’s? Maybe its a secret plan to produce Highly talented QB’s for furture UH teams? I know Im just dreaming but the thought that JJ is willing to support Rolo from the outside of UH BS… That sounds awesome! But whatever the reason its going to be very exciting to see what JJ can do. Roll is starting off in the right direction and hoping that JJ will help Rolo become a better Headcoach from the sideline and not actually being in the spot light.

  • All eyes will be on the Kapolei football team. If JJ pulls off an excellent season there as assistant couch. And UH still sucks, with Rolo! Well? Maybe then ,we’ll all know that ,by not picking JJ for the UH football head couch job was just another UH mistake. IMUA

    • I was not happy with DM selecting an inexperience HC and raising his salary from $160K to over $400K. Young and energetic do not necessary equates to a winning football program. I always say HC experience matters. DM second bad decision was to promote the compliance officer to AAD. He evaded the questions on the Animal Show when asked why did you promote her? Only to say, the administration did not supported her and that they hired additional compliance officers. In the beginning I was happy hiring DM as the new AD… now I am beginning to question his decisions.

  • There is only one college football team in this beautiful state & JJ applied and didn’t get the HC job. It’s obvious he calls Hawaii home and didn’t receive any calls from college or pro teams on the mainland. He still has the “coaching bug” so in order to coach here, HS is his only alternative. Good for him to want to help his friend Coach Hernandez & develop the young football players of the state. If he refused the job offer by Coach Hernandez, there would be those of you out there who would be all over JJ thinking he’s too good for the youth of Hawaii. Nothing but a positive to have a coach with his knowledge & experience to want to work on the HS level. And it’s an OIA school. If it was a ILH school, that would give some of you something else to cry about…. Good luck Coach Jones…

    • Thank you for your comment. Yours is one that stands out among all the negative or unintelligent ones. Your comment is what should be made and you should post more of them as it seems 75 percent are just spewing hate and innuendos.

    • Agreed. What an opportunity for that football team. JJ probably invested his money, so income isn’t an issue. He says he is “home”. My sense is this story is about love of the game. This job will be fun and rewarding for him. It may be the best job he ever had. This is good news.

  • From Div 1 College head coach to Offensive coordinator of a High School? For reasons not clear must be unemployable and needs the $$$. To say he’s “giving back” is likely inaccurate.

  • In other breaking news, Chef Roy Yamaguchi will be in charge of breakfast at my child’s school. Seriously, kudos to JJ who is giving back to the community.

    • Rumors are heard but never seen. If you have a point of view based on facts and rational thinking, people might finally decide to pay attention to anything you have to say.

  • Lots of folks think he is overqualified to do high school but at this stage in his career he probably doesnt need the money and wants to give back. That would be a good quality in my eyes.

  • We don’t have to think too hard on this. JJ is a coach, a proven winner at the pro and FBS levels, and an offensive genius. And despite the flak he receives from some hardhearted fans, JJ continues to love Hawaii. What we also need to remember is that JJ is a coach’s coach. He’s probably had more influence on coaches with Hawaii roots than any other coach in UH history. The simple fact is players love to play for him and with him, and fans love to watch his teams play — regardless of what they believe about his personal life. JJ inspires the lives that he touches. Period. His head coaching career is definitely not over. He’ll be back. For now, he’s just doing what he loves, something that he’s been quietly doing anyway with local high school football teams — working with QBs and offenses. JJ knows football and knows how to get the best out of everyone. A HUGE mahalo to Coach Hernandez, the heart and soul of Hawaii prep football, for giving JJ a chance when so many, it seems, have turned their backs on a friend and mentor. Go Hurricanes!

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