Three weeks ago today June Jones was out of football. Today he's been named the head coach of the Canadian Football League's Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
Jones joined the club as assistant head coach on Aug. 2. The Tiger-Cats are off to an 0-8 start to the year, and removed defensive coordinator Jeff Reinebold earlier this month.
“June and I have established a great relationship, and I feel comfortable and very confident with him handling the on-field product moving forward,” VP of football operations and former head coach Kent Austin said in a statement. “This organization, its’ fans and partners deserve a championship calibre team and we fully expect to work together to return us to that level.”
Jones, 64, had been working as the athletics director at Honolulu's Saint Louis School before getting the call to Hamilton. He previously served as head coach of the Atlanta Falcons, San Diego Chargers, Hawaii and SMU. He led Hawaii to its highest peak ever in 2007, an undefeated regular season with an unprecedented appearance in the Sugar Bowl. That success led him to SMU, where he took the Mustangs to their highest points ever post-death penalty, with back-to-back Conference USA West Division championships in 2009-10. Jones resigned two games into the 2014 season and had not worked in college or professional football until joining the Tiger-Cats this month.
Jones also spent a season as a player and an assistant coach in the CFL, serving as quarterback of the Toronto Argonauts in 1982 and as offensive coordinator of the Ottawa Rough Riders in 1986.
Hamilton is off to the worst start in its franchise history, dropping six of its eight games by 15 points or more, including their last two. The Ti-Cats are off this week before playing their first game under Jones opposite Toronto on Monday, Sept. 4. The season concludes Nov. 3 against the Montreal Alouettes.
As always, stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.