June Jones is Smarter Than Your Average Pineapple

Wonder if SMU AD Steve Orsini has an extra $400k laying around. Just in case. SMU football coach June Jones is going back to Hawaii. Relax. It’s just so he can avoid re-paying his former employer a cool $400,000. The University of Hawaii thinks Jones owes it the cash –...

By Richie Whitt

May 30, 2008

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Wonder if SMU AD Steve Orsini has an extra $400k laying around. Just in case.

SMU football coach June Jones is going back to Hawaii. Relax. It’s just so he can avoid re-paying his former employer a cool $400,000.

The University of Hawaii thinks Jones owes it the cash – half his annual paycheck while turning the Warriors from bitch-slapees to BCS big boys – for terminating his five-year contract before its June 30 expiration date. Jones, making a healthy $2 million on The Hilltop, disagrees, claiming he had a legally amended agreement with former athletic director Herman Frazier that waived the penalty. The AD was fired the day after Jones left Hawaii for SMU.

Since Jones’ agent, Leigh Steinberg, promises he has detailed emails from Frazier about the agreement and since such changes are allowed under UH rules, SMU’s boss seems in the clear. Mediation is set for June 9th in Honolulu.

Expect Jones to win. After all, he’s no dummy.

Take, for example, his recent reinstatement of two-year starter and record-setting quarterback Justin Willis. Even if Willis has had disciplinary problems before, hey, how’s Jones gonna implement his Run ‘n Shoot without a shooter? -- Richie Whitt

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