And now real work begins
By Ferd Lewis
Advertiser Staff Columnist
It took 3 1/2 on-again, off-again years to get football coach June Jones' new contract from the drawing board to final approval by the University of Hawai'i Board of Regents yesterday.
And, that might have been the easy part.
For now comes the not inconsiderable task of living up to the rising expectations generated by a contract that, at a $800,016 annual base salary — and a potential $125,000 more in incentives — has made Jones the highest-paid state employee.
No easy task even for someone whose team is a consensus pick to win the Western Athletic Conference. Jones' success in dramatically turning around the Warriors' fortunes whetted an appetite for victory in 1999. Now, his own fortune untethers expectations in a way that perhaps only Alex Rodriguez and pro athletes who do their banking by Brinks can appreciate.
How much patience, you wonder, will some of the fans at Aloha Stadium display if the Warriors' offense spits and sputters for three quarters? You don't want to even imagine what might happen if the Warriors should somehow find themselves trailing Division I-AA Appalachian State late in the season opener.
And while UH has taken great pains to argue that Jones' raise has not driven the latest round of premium seating price hikes, somebody who has just coughed up an additional $50 bucks for the same seat in the orange level might not draw such a distinction if Texas-El Paso is running up and down the field here in October.
Nor will the guy who took UH and gave the 22 points on his weekly parlay card.
How long before somebody grouses, "We're paying the coach $61,500 a game for this?" Or, computes how much each interception costs?
While the coaches at next month's annual WAC meetings will undoubtedly congratulate Jones on his good fortune and might even beg for agent Leigh Steinberg's cell number, they will also fasten a bigger target to his back. Only instead of a bull'seye, this one will be a neon dollar sign.
Imagine, for instance you are the UTEP coaching staff earning the WAC's version of minimum wage. As a 10-man group, they made a reported $635,718 last season — or about $165,000 less than Jones will cash in UH checks for the first year of his five-year deal.
How much do you think a defensive coordinator, making one-thirteenth as much as Jones, will be motivated to try and shutdown the Warriors' offense? Beating UH might not give him a leg up on an instant raise, but you've got to believe it will make the flight back a whole lot easier and something to strut about.
"Given that he has gotten a great deal of money, it carries with it a great deal of responsibility," UH President Evan Dobelle said. "(But), I think he is up for the job."
Here's hoping the Warriors' season is right on the money.
