Sidelines
IT isn't easy getting the job you've always wanted. On the first day it is, when everything's great, and everything's new, and everyone loves you, and you've never been so happy. You just know that every little dream is going to come true. But then later, when the excitement wears off and the day-to-day settles in, well, it's still great. It is, it really, really is. Except that little things go wrong, and somebody's on your okole and you've had the same small headaches, the same tiny annoyances, the same occasional frustrating days that you've always had. Even dream jobs have
pros and consThey didn't all just disappear the way you'd planned they would all those years.
It's here. It's now. It's everyday, day after day after day life, sometimes boring, sometimes aggravating, sometimes satisfying, sometimes intoxicating. You've got to deal with it. It's not just something to dream about in a far off and perfect future, with expectations stacked to the sky.
It's a job. You've gotten everything you've always wanted, and it's still just a job. And somewhere, out there, just out of reach, there are other jobs, better ones.
Hawaii is the job that June Jones always wanted.
BEFORE THE SEASON even started, he twitched in his seat, parched for new excitement. He talked about speeding without seat belts, going to the edge without a helmet, about how refreshing pain felt. Read that sentence again. He said it was as if he were back in his 20s. Read that sentence again.
He had other things going on, besides the game. He had life, real life, the kind of stuff that doesn't stop because you make big bucks and your face is on TV and everyone wants to call you a saint. The kind of thing that doesn't go away just because you've got the job you always wanted.
It started to look like it might have all hit him. Like 3-9 had hit him. Like life had hit him. Like, despite his dismissive protests to the contrary, the accident had really hit him. Like it was all piling up and, after a disappointing start, he was ready to just leave, give it all up and go golfing. That's what it looked like.
At the Quarterback Club, he buried his head in the San Diego newspaper while the other speakers spoke. At personal appearances he sometimes failed to appear personally. He seemed annoyed, frustrated, fidgety, restless. He looked ready to bolt.
Jones had been a pro guy, and this wasn't a pro town, this was a long, long way from the big time. And he'd been here three years, and with an exception or two, he'd never been anywhere for more than a few years at a time. He likes turning things around, the thrill of it, the challenge of it, the instant gratification of it. This is a man always looking ahead to the next challenge, always impatient. He turned down a head coaching job in the NFL to jump to UH. What does that tell you?
This is a man who played football at three colleges.
This is impatience personified.
The games were exciting, the relationships with the players were important, the will to win was still there, but the rest of it? It might have just become another job.
And we wondered if the honeymoon was over.
WE'RE WONDERING IT again now, despite his dismissive protests to the contrary. You can almost feel the panic in the air. The rumors are out there, and the rumors don't even have the decency to be rumors anymore. They're headlines now. They seem real now.
He's stunned of course. June Jones is always stunned. Shocked. SHOCKED! But if nothing else, Jones is a pro. He knows the game, knows how this stuff works. He started the whole Georgia Tech thing by telling the local media one thing and ESPN quite another. He "hinted he might be interested in the vacancy at Georgia Tech if his contract negotiations did not progress," wrote ESPN's Len Pasquarelli. That's exactly what Jones did. And then he brought up Notre Dame for no reason at all. He knows what he's doing. He's getting himself a raise.
And he'll get one, a big one, and he deserves one.
But there are other whispers, more realistic ones, NFL whispers. Might he hop back into the pros as an offensive coordinator for glamour and big bucks? Jones denies everything but doesn't say no to anything. Assistant coaches aren't sure what their futures hold. It's all so mysterious, possibilities swirling everywhere like snowflakes in a glass globe.
Hawaii is his first choice, but Jones is an NFL man, a professional football coach, which means he's driven in part by ego and ambition and desire to play on the sport's biggest stage. And there's nothing wrong with that. This is about competitive drive, about striking while the iron is hot. It's what makes him a heck of a good coach. It's why UH, hoping to turn football into a big-time sport, is trying to lock him up.
Maybe he would go to the mainland, back to the big show. It's not about money (of course!), it's never about money, but it could be about career, about life, about expectations, about a heartbeat he can still hear an ocean away. About an offer you just can't refuse.
That's why he came here. And that's why we're not sure he won't leave.
BUT THERE WAS a change in Jones as the season went on, you could see it, hear it, feel it. He was relaxing. Yes, the winning streak helped. Winning changes everything, winning charms everyone. But it was more than just that. This was a man at peace with himself.
It was as if he was falling in love all over again. Like it wasn't perfect, but, yeah, he liked this job that he'd always wanted. He liked it just fine.
"Being able to control who the players are in the game is something that college, that sometimes in the pros you don't have the luxury of doing, that you're kind of forced to play certain guys," like Jeff George, like Ryan Leaf, and you saw how that turned out. "And I didn't do that," Jones said. "I didn't compromise that as a head coach. I played who I thought were the guys, but that sometimes upsets other people in the organization. And right now, you know, when you make those type decisions, football-wise, there's nobody to answer to. You just go do it.
"And that's why I like this better."
It took him this season, it took him three seasons to find that out. It was a revelation. He loves being a big man in a small place, with -- no matter what he tells you -- less pressure and better job security. Loves being in charge. Loves being The Man, loves having nobody to answer to, loves doing things HIS WAY. And his system was working, how sweet that was. He'd always known it would, but there's a difference in knowing something's going to work, and then, seeing it work, watching it actually happen before your very eyes. Making it happen.
He's got everything he wants here, professionally. A part of his life is almost perfect. He knows that now. This is the job he's always wanted. You could see it. You could feel it. He had accepted his fate as a college coach, and decided he liked it. We've seen each other naked now. He has his flaws, and we have ours, too. And it was OK. It was going to work anyway, after all. He was a man at peace.
It was as if the honeymoon was over, yes, it was definitely over, but maybe, just maybe, the marriage had begun.
BUT THE SCENARIOS still swirl. He's not closing any doors, and the first ESPN interview was a big, well-placed message. Pro possibilities still lurk. Life is still there. All the wild cards that could carry him away are still there. You can sense the panic in the street. On the radio, the phone lines are lit up. On the Internet, you can feel the desperation in the postings: He SAID he wanted to be here for the rest of his career!
No, Georgia Tech or San Diego State or Notre Dame isn't going to happen. Yes, he likes it here, Hawaii is his first choice. They're negotiating with a passion. They want to get it done. Beyond that, no one knows much, really. And those few who do know what Jones is thinking are loyal to the death.
What we do know is this: This is the job that June Jones always wanted.
"This is the only game in town," he said. "You know, and I'm sorry, there's other UH sports, but I mean, nobody feels like they do (after BYU) except over the University of Hawaii football program. That's what made it unique to me, that's why I was intrigued to be here, and I wanted to do that for everybody. Not just for myself, but for the players, for the fans, for the coaches, the community, for you guys.
"That's what motivates me."
This is the job that June Jones always wanted.
Kalani Simpson's column runs Sundays, Tuesdays and Fridays.
He can be reached at ksimpson@starbulletin.com