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June Jones declines Hawaii job: 'No coach in their right mind would accept!'

June Jones wanted to return to Hawaii and lead the football program again.

In fact, he still wants the head job.

Jones, though, declined Hawaii’s offer to return and lead the program to replace former coach Todd Graham on Friday night.

The terms, he said on Twitter, simply weren’t acceptable. “No coach in their right mind,” he said, would accept the job that was presented to him.

Jones said on Twitter that he was only offered a two-year contract and hinted that he was going to be told which coaches were going to be on his staff, instead of having the freedom to do that himself.

According to a statement from the school, Jones and Hawaii athletic director David Matlin disagreed about a succession plan following Jones. Per ESPN, Matlin eventually offered Jones a three-year deal, but it wasn’t enough.

The former Atlanta Falcons head coach was at Hawaii from 1999-2007 and is the winningest coach in school history. He went 76-41 in his nine seasons there and led Hawaii to a Sugar Bowl during his final season before leaving for SMU. He spent seven seasons with the Mustangs.

Jones has a career college head coaching record of 112-84 and was 22-36 in the NFL. He spent three seasons as the Falcons’ head coach from 1994-1996 and was the interim coach for the San Diego Chargers for 10 games in 1998.

Head coach June Jones
June Jones, seen here in 2008 leading Hawaii, declined an offer to return to coach the school on Friday. (Matthew Stockman/Getty Images) (Matthew Stockman via Getty Images)