Still Get Chance

Maybe. Dave Reardon writes that UH hasn't received June's resignation, and he may not have sent it yet.

Jones remained the Hawaii coach yesterday, as UH athletic director Herman Frazier said he had not been notified that Jones was resigning. Jones, though, had sent an e-mail to a few friends saying he was planning on leaving the Hawaii job, and the nine-year UH coach also had drafted a resignation letter -- which was not sent to UH, according to a close friend of Jones'.

"My understanding is that he wanted to go to SMU, have a conversation in person with them, do his interviews, look them face-to-face and make a decision," said Jones' friend Artie Wilson.

By yesterday afternoon, several local news outlets had gotten word of the correspondence, and at least one took it to mean Jones had made his decision, and reported he had resigned from UH.

Stephen Tsai, who wrote yesterday that June resigned based on what his friend Al Souza said, writes today:

Athletic director Herman Frazier, through a spokesman, said he had not received the resignation letter, which was supposed to have been sent to his office yesterday morning.

Frazier also had not heard directly from Jones yesterday.

"I told him to call me before he made a final decision," Frazier said.

But Souza said Jones has indeed resigned.

"I won't acknowledge what he's done or not done," Steinberg said.

Tsai talks to Frazier about how it even got up to this point:

Frazier said the Board of Regents did not approve a measure to increase the ceiling for the head coach's salary until last July, not leaving him enough time to assemble an offer by Jones' deadline.

Frazier confirmed he did not have contract talks with Steinberg during the 2007 regular season.

And to put it out there again:

"The issue of June's compensation has never been June's concern," Steinberg said. "June's focus has been the facilities, and the ability to take the program to the next level. And I'll leave it at that."

What Frazier says about that:

Frazier said his main focus was to make an initial financial offer, then work on the other concerns in future discussions.

So if I'm reading that right, it's taken him since July just to come up with a number.

Stanley Lee talks to Jim Donovan, Mufi Hannemann, State Rep Mark Takai as well as coaches Dave Shoji and Mike Wilton about the situation.

"I'm extremely disappointed" Mayor Mufi Hannemann said. "I think the state and the university is just too little, too late. They stepped up too little, too late."

Hannemann even added he wished the university was a City & County institution, not a state one, so he could act upon the situation.

"Hawai'i just celebrated a few days ago, the biggest sports success it has ever had," said Takai, who attended the Sugar Bowl. "How can you fumble that?"

"I genuinely like June Jones," Wilton said before last night's match against UCLA. "I think he's a genuine guy and he cares about other people. I'm just really sad right now."

Ferd Lewis talks to former UH athletic director Hugh Yoshida, Donovan, Takai and others about the ramifications for UH if Jones left.

"It would be very disappointing," said Yoshida, who hired Jones away from the San Diego Chargers in December 1998. "It is a big blow to the program at a point where it was getting to the cutting edge."

Football is the financial engine for the 19-sport athletic program, bringing in more than a quarter of the revenue that it takes to run the $23-million athletic program.

State Rep. Mark Takai D-34th (Newtown, Waiau, Pearl City), a former UH swimmer and frequent critic of Frazier, said, "I think (a loss of Jones) means a step back, not only for the athletic program, but the entire state."

In times like these, we can rely on Paul Arnett to be blunt as ever.

A last-ditch effort to keep Jones in charge was made yesterday morning. As usual, crisis management rules in the 50th state, leaving the players left behind wondering just what the hell is going on.

Jones could have kept this thing from flying off the tracks by not going to Big D and realizing that what he's about to do is a huge mistake. Money aside, SMU is not a good fit for a guy who wears aloha shirts and plays golf in his bare feet.

As a person who grew up in Dallas and whose high school graduation was at Moody Coliseum, let me be the first to say that Jones' act won't be allowed in this upscale community where he'll be the poorest person in the room. Granted, the facilities are topnotch and the on-campus stadium is practically new, but the team sucks, has sucked and will continue to suck no matter what Jones tries to do to improve it.

Yowza.

Ferd Lewis writes about the window that is still open for June Jones to come back.

Although Jones has sent out "resignation notes" to several friends and prominent boosters, apparently a mechanism to his being able to accept an SMU offer, agent Leigh Steinberg said the "situation is fluid."

Asked if the door is still open to UH, Steinberg said, "Yes."

It is a golden negotiating ploy to be sure. The kind of leverage the agent who inspired the film "Jerry Maguire" makes a handsome living providing. The kind of a bind UH stumbled right into like a rube in the big city.

It keeps the pressure on SMU, which fired its coach Oct. 28 and needs a name replacement, pronto. It also adds logs to the bonfire under not only UH athletic director Herman Frazier on the lower campus but now Hawai'i Hall and Bachman Hall, offices of Manoa Chancellor Virginia Hinshaw and UH President David McClain. It must be getting warm in the Board of Regents chambers, too.

Great column.

And check out the info uhfootballgirl posted last night in the comments for ways that you can make your voice heard, if it's not already too late.

P.S. Check out last night's news coverage from KHNL, KITV, KGMB and KHON.

P.P.S. Stephen Tsai has a list of what UH would lose if June does go.