By Ferd Lewis
Advertiser Columnist

If you're June Jones, University of Hawai'i football coach, you would probably welcome a nice, old-fashioned quarterback controversy right about now.

After the public firestorms of these past couple months, a quarterback debate has to seem like a day at the beach.

For a guy whose 9-3 record and demolition of Brigham Young meant such a great season on the field in the fall, Jones' offseason has been dotted with unaccustomed brushfires.

First, details of his salary negotiations and impasse were leaked, creating the kind of fallout that made him a staple of letters-to-the-editor pages and chat rooms. Then, a key bill that he had personally lobbied long and hard for since arrival, one that would have turned over operation of Aloha Stadium to UH, was effectively killed in committee and derided in commentary.

Now, there is the ill-advised letter on school letterhead on behalf of leniency in sentencing for Sukamto Sia, who was convicted of bank fraud. One that has prompted a good deal of head-shaking in the community as well as a public rebuke from UH.

Remember when the offseason was just that because very little of note ever happened?

Suddenly, the coach whose successes not so long ago inspired a line of "June Jones for Governor" T-shirts has seen his halo, if not his mandate, slip.

None of his on-the-field decisions, not even that curious third-and-two halfback pass late in the Boise State game, have inspired anywhere near the controversy that has surrounded Jones these past few months. Indeed, until the logo uproar of 2000, it had been a remarkably smooth ride for one in such a highly visible and demanding position.

Had Jones not stepped beyond the bounds of the traditional coaching box into the areas of marketing, stadium operation and politics, there would have been a lot less flak now. For one thing, a lot fewer toes would have been stepped on and fewer feathers ruffled.

But when Jones signed on at UH he promised to bring more than a run-and-shoot playbook with him. He also came with a bold vision of where UH should be and a blueprint for how it needed to get there.

One that, it now turns out, has sparked a knock down, drag out battle with those who have vested interests in the status quo in Halawa and in other areas.

And that's too bad because some of Jones' ideas are worth listening to and implementing, particularly when it comes to Aloha Stadium and the untapped potential it can have for UH.

That's one of the overriding disappointments of the whole Sia episode. Not just that there was such an error in judgment, but that in committing it now Jones has also given his opponents ammunition to question the ideas that do have merit and urgency.