Former SMU and Hawaii coach June Jones, pioneer of run-and-shoot offense, dies at 73

Former college and NFL football coach June Jones, who helped popularize the run-and-shoot offense, has died at age 73, according to reports. His company, Run and Shoot Certification, confirmed the death and said his kindness and generosity would be remembered. Jones led the University of Hawaii's run-and-shoot offense, which produced two of college football's all-time leading passers, before taking over at SMU in 2008. After going 1-11 in his first season there, the Mustangs won bowl games in each of the next two seasons, and he stepped down two games into the 2014 season. Jones also served as Atlanta Falcons head coach from 1994 to 1996. A family friend told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that he had entered hospice care two weeks earlier.

Left-leaning CBS News leads with Jones's run-and-shoot legacy and his SMU career, quoting Run and Shoot Certification and an SMU Athletics statement crediting him with restoring the Hilltop's winning tradition. It says he coached nine seasons at Hawaii. Alternative outlet ESPN's brief excerpt matches that core, describing him as a longtime coach who helped popularize the run-and-shoot. Right-leaning Daily Mail leads with his Falcons role and the team's tribute, quoting a statement calling him a visionary in the passing game. It highlights his hospice stay and his turning down the San Diego Chargers job to take over a Hawaii team that had gone 0-12, and says he ran Hawaii for eight years. Its excerpt does not mention SMU. Both sides agree on his death at 73 and his influence on the run-and-shoot; they differ in emphasis, with the left centering his SMU career and legacy and the right centering his Falcons tenure and Hawaii turnaround.