Hawai'i HC June Jones turns down program's offer to return

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Hawai’i is still on the look for its next head football coach, as June Jones turned down the school’s offer Friday.

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NEW ORLEANS - JANUARY 01:  Head coach June Jones of the Hawai'i Warriors hangs his head against the Georgia Bulldogs during the Allstate Sugar Bowl at the Louisiana Superdome on January 1, 2008 in New Orleans, Louisiana.  (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)

Upon Todd Graham resigning as head coach after verbal abuse allegations on Jan. 14, Jones immediately expressed interest in the job. Jones was head coach of the Rainbow Warriors from 1999-2007, a time in which Hawai’i enjoyed the most success in the history of the program. Jones went 76-41, capping off his eight-year run with a Sugar Bowl loss to Georgia in 2007.

But there won’t be a reunion for the 68-year-old and Hawai’i after all.

"I understand that there has been a lot of support for Coach Jones this past week, but he has declined our offer," athletic director David Matlin said in a statement Friday night, via ESPN. "I respect his decision and we need to move forward in our search. At the end of the day, we couldn’t agree on a succession plan that I felt was important for our student-athletes and supporters of Rainbow Warrior football."

NEW ORLEANS - JANUARY 01:  Quarterback Colt Brennan #15 of the Hawai'i Warriors talks with head coach June Jones against the Georgia Bulldogs during the Allstate Sugar Bowl at the Louisiana Superdome on January 1, 2008 in New Orleans, Louisiana.  (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)

While Matlin said there was a disagreement on a succession plan, Jones explained his side on