June Jones, the longtime college and professional football coach who popularized the run-and-shoot offense, has died at 73.

The University of Hawai'i confirmed the death, and the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reports he died Wednesday in Oregon after entering hospice care two weeks ago, having suffered from type 1 diabetes and spinal problems.

Jones's career spanned the NFL, CFL, USFL and XFL, with head coaching stops at the Atlanta Falcons, Hawai'i and SMU, and his final job as offensive coordinator of the XFL's Seattle Sea Dragons in 2023. He was inducted into the Hawai'i Circle of Honor in 2024.

Jones is the winningest coach in modern University of Hawai'i football history, going 76-41 across nine seasons from 1999 to 2007, leading the Rainbow Warriors to six bowl games and three 10-plus-win seasons.

He famously turned down the chance to remain the Chargers' head coach to take the Hawai'i job in December 1998, accepting lesser pay. Hawai'i Gov.

Josh Green called him "an exceptional human being" and "a winner," while Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi, a former player and assistant under Jones, said "his legacy will live on." Sportscaster and longtime friend Artie Wilson told the Star-Advertiser, "This isn't my loss, this is Hawaii's loss."

After inheriting a program that finished 0-12 the season before, Jones engineered a 9-4 turnaround and WAC title share in 1999 — at the time, the greatest single-season turnaround in college football history, earning him National Coach of the Year honors, per the Star-Advertiser and Hawaii News Now.

The peak came in 2007, when the Warriors started 12-0, won the WAC, and earned the school's first-ever BCS bowl berth in the Sugar Bowl behind Heisman Trophy finalist quarterback Colt Brennan.

"The 2007 season and making the Sugar Bowl, that went over what anybody ever thought was possible," Blangiardi said.

Jones's run-and-shoot produced record-breaking quarterbacks, most notably Timmy Chang, who became the NCAA's all-time passing yards leader and now heads the Hawai'i program.

"Coach Jones was a father figure, a mentor, and a visionary who revolutionized the game," Chang said, calling him someone who "put Hawai'i football on the map."

Jones also gave opportunities to players others had overlooked, including Colt Brennan, linebacker Pisa Tinoisamoa and slotback Davone Bess, all of whom reached the NFL. "He took a chance on a kid from Oakland who didn't have any other options," Bess said.

He coached five All-Americans, 52 all-conference performers and 16 NFL Draft picks, per Hawaii News Now.

Jones's ties to Atlanta were rare: he joined the Falcons as an undrafted quarterback in 1977, backed up Steve Bartkowski for five seasons, then returned as offensive coordinator under Jerry Glanville before becoming head coach from 1994 to 1996.

His best Atlanta season came in 1995, when a 9-7 team featuring quarterback Jeff George earned the franchise's first playoff appearance since 1991, per Yahoo Sports, though he finished 19-29 overall as Falcons coach.

At SMU from 2008 to 2014, he led the Mustangs to four consecutive bowl games — the program's first postseason trips since its 1987 NCAA "death penalty" — and consecutive division titles in 2009 and 2010. He also coached future Hall of Famers Jim Kelly, Warren Moon and Barry Sanders at various stops.

Tributes continued to flow Thursday from across the football world, with Hawai'i's current program — led by Chang — pledging to carry Jones's legacy forward.

"I will spend the rest of my career trying to honor his legacy, his passion for this university, and the Aloha he shared with everyone he touched," Chang said.

Wilson, who grew up with Jones in Portland, Oregon, told Hawaii News Now that Jones's aloha was genuine: "June did not fake the aloha. When June gave a shaka, that was real."