Q: Do you attribute a lot of your numbers and success and numbers to former Hawaii coach June Jones?
A: Absolutely, hands down, and hopefully I'll have a long career in the NFL. But I think he'll be one of the most talented coaches I've ever been around. He's an absolute guru on the football field. I remember going through his offense, and his one goal was to make it through a game without running the football. I swear that was a goal of his, and he got close a lot of times. But he was so good at throwing the ball on people that it really gave me these outstanding numbers that got myself out there on the map. And what happened was we started winning football games, and when you win games everything falls into place.
Insane_Pony_Posse wrote:Didn't June Jones have running backs from Hawaii picked in the NFL draft?
In the 2007 NFL Draft the Miami Dolphins drafted Hawaii fullback Mauia Reagan and the Philadelphia Eagles drafted Hawaii running back Nate Ilaoa. In fact in the 2007 NFL Draft, only six NCAA schools had more players selected than Hawaii: Texas, Ohio State, Michigan, Tennessee, Notre Dame and Florida.
Nate Ilaoa would have had a 1,000 yards in 2006 in a rotating backfield if Jones didn't pull him for parts of a few games for fumbling. That was also the year of Hawaii's most prolific offense. Don't let JJ's rhetoric fool you -- he knows the value of the running game. When the running game gets good enough where the QB can freeze the secondary with a play action fake, the Run and Shoot becomes nearly unstoppable.
