Sidelines
Jones’ success puts 0-12
deep in the pastJUNE Jones has three nine-plus-win seasons and two bowls, and should get all the credit in the world. Hawaii is rolling along now, and winning now, and quite possibly will be in these hometown bowl games for years to come.
Hawaii has 10 wins now. A landmark accomplishment for UH, for Jones.
It's time to let the ghosts of 0-12 rest in peace at last.
There is still work to be done, yes. But Jones has proved himself, proved his worth as a college coach. And Hawaii's program is at the point where it is one of those rare college football teams with 10 wins.
Jones has all his players now. His system is in place now. The cloud of those losing times has been replaced by the sunshine of Christmas Day.
That is not to say that we should forget, or even -- depending on the depth of your feelings on the subject -- forgive the horrors of the Fred vonAppen era. No, you can't forget that, and shouldn't.
But the doom of 1998 is not lurking around the corner any more. Jones has seen to that. We can, and should, let it fade away.
Let the panic subside. Jones isn't going anywhere -- but if he were, 0-12 would not descend on the program like a swarm of locusts. Under Jones, Hawaii football has put those dark days behind it. And so should we. And so should he.
This is a new era. The Jones era. It's time to judge him on the games he has won rather than the ones the last guy lost.
He's too good a coach for us to do otherwise. He's shown us that.
And under this criteria, he's looking very, very good.
It is an insult to Jones to constantly compare his regime to the carnage that preceded it. Of course he's better than 0-12. Of course he is. Let me put it this way: duh!
He was better than that just by showing up, just by walking through the door.
The hiring of vonAppen (and perhaps even worse, offering him a contract extension, not to mention what he was given to work with) was one of the biggest blunders in the annals of competitive sport.
Even the guy who picked up a fumble and ran the wrong way came off looking better than this. At least he had nice form.
Yes, always remember those losses, and the mistakes that led to them.
But the time for obsessing is over.
Jones hasn't just revived this program. He's re-established it to where UH football is much more than on solid ground.
He doesn't need to drive his points home by reminding us of winless seasons.
There are those who keep 0-12 alive in order to make Jones look better. They shouldn't, and they don't have to.
He doesn't need the vonAppen comparison to make himself look good.
He had that at hello. Now he's raised the bar.
Now the state of Hawaii should be haunted no more.
Unfortunately, there are those still so shell-shocked by the vonAppen years that all they can fathom are 0-12 or June Jones. Those are their choices. That's all they can see.
But Jones' gift to us has been perspective. His hard-won success has shown that those dismal times were just an era. Like the eras of Tomey and Wagner and Holmes, other guys who won big games and brought home nine wins.
Jones joins them now. He is in the midst of carving out his own place in the rich history of Hawaii football.
A history that is so much more, once again, than that 0-12 streak.
Hawaii is better than that now, in these current days of glory. It's over now. It's time to look ahead. Time to let it go, and let those ghosts finally go in peace.
Kalani Simpson can be reached at ksimpson@starbulletin.com