Posted on: Friday, July 25, 2003

UH's Jones remains unsigned

Advertiser Staff

A month after the University of Hawai'i Board of Regents approved the contract that will make football coach June Jones the highest-paid state employee, the contract remains unsigned.

While all parties say they expect a resolution before the season begins Aug. 30, nobody is saying exactly what the holdup is.

"It is just some very, very minor things," Herman Frazier, the UH athletic director said. "I wouldn't even call it a 'holdup.' "

Jones this week said pension and benefit items were not holding up completion of the contract but declined to say what the hitch was. Last week, Jones said, "There's a lot of stuff in the contract; a lot of wording that's never been had before, and that's new to everybody."

Prior to leaving for the Mainland and today's Western Athletic Conference football meetings in Boise, Idaho, Jones said he had yet to see the contract.

Jones, who has agreed to a five-year deal, is scheduled to receive an annual salary of $800,016 plus incentives that could add an additional $125,000.