After discussions with June Jones go nowhere, Hawaii hires former QB Timmy Chang as its next coach

Former Hawaii quarterback Timmy Chang is the Warriors new coach.

Chang, a Honolulu native, was announced as Hawaii's new coach on Saturday, a day after the school said discussions with former coach June Jones had broken down.

Chang played at Hawaii from 2000-04 when Jones was the head coach and finished his career with 17,072 passing yards and 117 TD passes. Chang threw for over 4,000 yards in each of his final three seasons with the school and was 358-of-602 passing for 4,258 yards and 38 TDs with 13 interceptions as a senior in 2004.

Chang was Hawaii’s starter in every season he was there and played a fifth season in 2004 after playing in just three games in 2001 and getting a medical redshirt. Chang has the NCAA record for most plays (2,587), pass attempts (2,436) and interceptions (80). Only Case Keenum (19,217) has thrown for more yards in his college career.

Hawaii had a winning record in four of the five seasons and won at least nine games in three of those seasons. Chang had the single-season passing yards record for the Warriors until it was broken by Colt Brennan in 2006 when Brennan threw for 5,549 yards.

Jones wanted to be Hawaii's coach

Hawaii's coaching search began earlier this month after Todd Graham resigned amid allegations of player mistreatment and a wave of transfers from the program. Jones, who coached at Hawaii from 1999-2007 before he went to SMU, said publicly earlier in the week that he was interested in coming back to Hawaii.

But negotiations broke down on Friday after Jones, 69, and Hawaii were unable to agree on a succession plan for after his tenure. Jones said that he still had interest in the job, but said he believed no coach would accept the terms that Hawaii presented to him.

Hawaii was 6-7 in 2021 and ended the season after it was unable to play in the Hawaii Bowl against Memphis because of COVID-19 cases. The Warriors had a combined record of 11-11 in Graham’s two seasons with the school. He replaced Nick Rolovich after Rolovich went to Washington State following a 10-5 campaign in 2019.

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