Jones progress encouraging

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Encouraged by the improved condition of June Jones, the University of Hawai‘i football team expects to proceed normally while its head football coach recovers from Thursday’s single-car accident on the H-1 Freeway.

UH athletic director Hugh Yoshida said no glitches are anticipated for the month-long spring football practice, which begins Thursday, and it is hoped that Jones, who is in guarded condition but now breathing on his own at The Queen’s Medical Center, will return to his duties before the start of training camp in August.

"At this juncture, that’s our expectation," Yoshida said.

Yoshida said Jones already has completed his administrative work for the fiscal year that ends June 30, and has made preliminary plans for the next fiscal year budget. The schedule is in place. The administration handles ticket sales, and the Newport Beach, Calif.-based Steinberg Moorad & Dunn Sports Management is in charge of marketing. The assistant coaches usually handle the early evaluation of next year’s recruits.

Yoshida said there are no contingency plans if Jones is not ready to coach by August. "We’ll cross that bridge if we ever come to it," Yoshida said. "But we expect him to come back."

On Friday, Yoshida announced that associate head coach George Lumpkin would oversee the 15 spring practices. Lumpkin, who has been associated with UH for nearly 30 years as a player and coach, is No. 2 on the organizational chart.

"June is the commander," assistant coach Mike Cavanaugh said. "(Lumpkin) is the sergeant at arms."

Cavanaugh said spring practice, which focuses largely on instruction, should run smoothly. While a complete itinerary has not been mapped, the coaches finished their evaluations Wednesday and "we know what we need to do," Cavanaugh said.

What’s more, it is the position coaches who usually run spring practice, anyway, with Jones serving as the coordinator.

"Coach Jones is the grandfather," UH slotback Craig Stutzmann said. "The position coaches are like fathers.

They’re more closely involved in the day-to-day teaching. Coach Jones gets to have fun with us and not worry about the little things."

The transition also should be eased because only three of this year’s 23 new recruits are enrolled in school this semester. The rest will arrive in August. Also, most of the starting jobs, including quarterback, already are set.

During spring practice, Yoshida said, defensive coordinator Kevin Lempa will oversee the defense and four assistants — Cavanaugh, Ron Lee, Wes Suan and Dan Morrison — will handle the offense. Suan has the title of offensive coordinator, although there is no question UH’s run-and-shoot offense is Jones’ creation.

Dick Tomey, a former UH head coach and a close friend of Jones’, had planned to attend training camp. While Tomey, who recently resigned as Arizona’s head coach, will offer some pointers, he will not serve in any official capacity.

"Because of the situation with June, you don’t want to do anything to upset the apple cart," Yoshida said. "We already have a good staff in place."

Said Stutzmann: "We have some good leaders. Our seniors will be able to help the younger guys go through spring ball. We have great coaches. We respect them. We won’t miss a step with them."

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