Time for a change?
… And who will decide if a change is to be made?
Athletic director Ben Jay will meet with football coach Norm Chow this week to discuss the season just completed and the future. No major decisions at UH are made by one person these days, and it’s no secret that Jay is on the hot seat himself as well.
Many fans want a change after three years of Chow. UH has gone 8-29. There has been improvement, but it is slight. The team went 4-9 this year after 3-9 and 1-11; and the Mountain West ain’t exactly the SEC.
Some say another year is warranted, to see what UH will do with players that Chow recruited having reached full maturity.
Yes, UH has financial woes … but that has never stopped it from buying out coaches and administrators it wants out before. That’s as recent as basketball coach Gib Arnold. It would cost more than $750,000 to bid aloha to Chow.
Weigh in, just keep it clean and civil please.
Did Greg McMackin turn out to be Bob Wagner take two or what? Not all that long ago, Mack was forced out cause 6-7 didn’t cut it for the mighty Hawai’i Warriors. UH had standards! Now Norm Chow sits at 8-29 through 3 seasons, and there is now a legitimate argument to allowing Chow to come back for “improving” to 4 wins this season? Would anyone from 2010 believe any of that?
I’m still flabbergasted as to how bad the QB spot, Chow’s supposed expertise, has been since he took over. Night and day from the R&S days when average talents looked great.
I don’t know what UH needs at head coach. I’m not going to make like I know exactly how to turn things around. This program has too many issues to blame one or two things. But I know this: if you think Norm Chow will ever get Hawaii to consistent 7+ winning seasons, I’ve got beachfront property in Iowa to sell you. And make no mistake about it….Aloha Stadium isn’t filling up again until this team winning consistently. Something must change.
I’m torn. I am fully aware that Norm Chow is an experienced and knowledgeable coach…but, perhaps the ‘peter principle’ is at work here. I don’t blame Chow for giving it a shot, his first try at Head Coach, and who knows perhaps he will evolve into a really good one? The man is 69 yrs old….this works against this evolution idea, so I think a younger man with a fire in his soul needs to be considered for the Head Coaching job at UH. Time for Norm to retire and enjoy life.
I personally do not want the State legislature to fund anymore buyouts, especially when the taxpayer ends up holding the bag (like the rail for instance). Taxes are simply increased whenever stupid mistakes are made.
Me wish he just step down n just ask for 3 installments at 250 K each year..n call it quits… he is not the man for the job..he should be able to see that..
He is bringing more harm then good..be a very tremendous handicap to try n sell season tickets next year if he is still there….
BJ is not a promotion man..he is a ‘doom n gloom’ dude…they need to sell 45 K season tickets next year..almost double what they have sold now…n 4 sure..BJ can’t do it…will be more talk of closing yellow section again..just watch…
And when men’s basketball starts to ‘fade’….ticket sales will take a hit also…
but not 2 worry the ‘H’ zone…will pull us out…like the funds from our ‘menehune’ bowl GAME he projected…we are going to…that he penciled us in…ha ha ha what a ‘bookkeeper’ that is called ‘creative financing’…n if did that in business..he be in jail maybe….
Every year it’s been the same challenges and roadblocks for Norm. If his team showed continued improvement I would be content with him staying for year 4. But personally, I don’t believe he took the opportunity as an Asst. HC to learn to be HC. His not willing to put in the time to learn is biting him in the butt. So glad he got his chance to be HC. Now he and America knows how that worked out. I think he has enough money to last his lifetime and live comfortably with his wife.
jeremy ur spot on there..
blunite… vote democrat… they rob the rich n give to the poor..problem is most in hawaii is in the poor bracket..so they take from you n give to the undocument3d..or illegal aliens…vote obama…he he he
I still stand by what I said preseason…
5 wins = Chow is safe
4 wins = maybe
3 wins or less = probably fired
Given than several of the losses were close and combined with UH’s financial woes, Chow is likely going to get one more year.
That’s just my unbiased opinion.
At 2-8 this season, I wanted to see a change. With 2 wins in the last three games, and the thought of seeing how Chow’s recruits will do next season is making me think, he should return next season.
But, the most important reason I can’t see a buyout is that UH doesn’t have an infinite amount of money to throw around. Maybe, this time UH should consider being fiscally responsible. The school is already strapped for money. And, the state does not have an abundance supply of money it can spend. UH and the state fiscal status is like a zero sum gain. Someone’s financial gain is someone else’s financial loss.
Of course, I’m not sure what the power brokers that influence decisions at the school will make. Based on previous decisions by UH, I’d say they will buyout Chow’s contract. While their at it buy out BJ contract also.
…zero sum game…
Correction…they’re at it…
Change is needed.
This coaching staff doesn’t know how to win:
* When behind (e.g., 28-0 at Fresno), we mix up the plays and get more aggressive … and find success, but too little too late.
* When we’re ahead, we play “field position” or not to lose, and the conservative approach doesn’t work.
* Haven’t beaten anyone with a winning record … very telling.
* Our offensive scheme requires equal or better talent to succeed.
* Whether we’re behind or ahead, we manage the clock worse than I’ve ever seen at UH.
I appreciate Chow giving it a shot here, but he’s clearly a fish out of water on the sidelines – unsure what to do, who to talk to, where to go other than to pace back and forth. Agree with the commenter above – Chow didn’t learn the art of head coaching.
For both AD and Football Coach, UH needs proven leaders from smaller, lower budget programs … now folks from the “big-time” who don’t know how to manage when the cupboard is lean.
Have a lot to say about peoples in Hawaii. You should all be quite whatever you say!. Because you’re never did support University of Hawaii sports events at all!. In our country we always supporting our University sports events even if a losing season or not. Ya!. Look at this it taken University of Alabama five years for recent head coach to make it a national power house team. From a losing football team that Hawaii had beat them. Another thing is that Steve Young won’t a young quarterback at BYU. So you’ll have to remember this that Norm Chow is a great head coach!. He just needs new asst. Coaches and most of all positions player most not get hurt or season ending injury!. Will if the University of Hawaii do let go of Norm Chow!. Good Luck! to find one that will take the pay and also take the B.S from the peoples that doesn’t or does support University of Hawaii football another sports too!. People of Hawaii have to remember this UH football program is the only big time sport to be play!.
The problem…with not letting him go… n the reasons given..is basically all for the the wrong reasons to keep him….
Unfortunately….due to our situation n where we are in the pacific ocean…that is the reality off it…but agree you 808…. BJ SHOULD GO ALSO..
If BJ wants to help his own job status, he would distance himself from Chow and let him go. He was not his hire, but has stuck with him throughout. He can’t take a stand with one sport and not another. There are positives in other sports that BJ can point to, but needs sell to his bosses that he will try to turn around football too. That starts with a new coach.
My take on football …
I admit to being duped over the past few weeks. The two wins in a row over two VERY bad teams (did you watch SJSU on Sat? Horrible!) gave me hope as a fan that the team wasn’t that bad. Saturday was a reminder of who the UH football team is/was – talented in spots, but poorly coached and predictable on offense and very simple/beatable on defense. I was not duped by the 4th quarter comeback either. Fresno had decided to rest on their 28 point lead and it came back to bite them. That is Fresno’s bad that UH capitalized on.
I have tried to give Chow the benefit of the doubt until about 3/4 of the way through the season. I’m done being duped into thinking he can turn it around. I must also point out that UH will be without Chow’s biggest excuse next year – Joey Iosefa. Last year, Chow’s excuse was that the offense revolved around what they had planned to do with Joey and losing him was something they didn’t have the talent to overcome. This year, he put a lot of weight on the fact that Joey missed half the season and they weren’t able to do what they wanted to until late in the year. Well, next year no more Joey. What will his excuse be then?
4-9 … improvement? In math only. Not enough. Time to say aloha Coach Chow. The aloha that means goodbye.
This is a business. It has been an overall failure going on three years. Incompetent is the word. Time to hire new young blood with new ideas. The fan base will shrink considerably if Chow stays the administration needs to use outside donations and allow this to happen It’s common place at other colleges.
Ben jay is the next one to go. He really is out of touch with the steadfast fan base he keeps tweeting about Ohio State. Well Ben , you should have stayed in Ohio cause you haven’t got the touch of fund raising here in our state. Rick Blangiardi would have made a better AD. Maybe Keith Amemiya.
Jjay… spot on…u n me see eye to eye on BJ’s fiasco as a AD..
I say we let Coach Chow do his magic for another year. Just two things can happen. The Warriors will show a little improvement and the fans will disappear or the Warriors will regress and the program will disappear. Ahh Virginia!, there maybe a Santa Claus after all. Let us not forget the third scenario, a passer from a storied program will lend his aura and his arm to turn Coach Chow’s fortunes around. Well it is the holliday season, why not some optimism. Merry Chistmas!
Good x.mas thought SICKMAN FRAUD…
UTAH LOST 3 QB’s this season…we lost two…
Can’t count our chickens.. till the season is over…
it woolsey n witteck get a hurt in spring ball.. what we do ???
Just my opinion…
They need Rick n the ‘Home Team’ back again…Oceanic 16 is not good for the people of Hawaii…
KGMB N ALL ITS ‘POWER’ IS WHAT WE NEED…
big big mistake..when they flashed them millions in front of BJ’s eyes…
he was not thinking long term…n what was good for the people of hawaii… now we pay…through the nose…for his being’ greedy’…
dave must be sleep good..lots of ‘action’ his site tonight…he he he
Athletic Director Ben Jay he is doing a great job!. Better then the last one that University of Hawaii had. Because the last one never resigned June Jones before the Sugar Bowl. Ben Jay is try to bring in the money for the football program and the University too!. He the only one that schedule big University to play the University of Hawaii football program. Try to look at others teams in the Mountain West Conference with they’re schedule and also they’re Stadium too. A lots of them schedule big University to play but not UNLV they play only one big University. But others plays three or more in there schedule including UH. And some University’s most need a new football stadium to hold more fans. University of Hawaii should be grateful and proud that whatever Ben Jay is doing for them!. Look he already scheduled for the football program!. Ohio State, Michigan, UCLA, Kansas, Wisconsin, Washington, Oregon State and other big time University too. I’ll be really shock if he schedule teams like LSU, Georgia, Alabama, Georgia Tech, Miami, Clemson, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Baylor, Texas and Penn State. And other conference’s team’s out from like SEC, ACC, BIG-12, BIG-10, PAC-12 and SWAC. And never schedule teams from Division 2. Jay will put the University of Hawaii football program on the map!. Jay is try to show that the University of Hawaii football program aren’t scared to play with bigger University at all!. He knows that he is bringing the the money in!. People and fans of University of Hawaii football what happened if the warriors went 13-0! Same year beaten Ohio State, LSU, OKLAHOMA, Arizona State and Florida State and beaten teams from the Mountain West by 30 or more points like 82 -7 over UNLV would you go and support the football program?!. What happened if they open the season with Baylor, Georgia Tech, Southern, Michigan State and Mississippi State would you go and support the football program?
I for one cannot endure another Norm Chow season. I’m not used to losing football that is the tradition that Norm Chow football is providing. Soon there will be less than 20000 in the seats to watch the UH games that is Chow’s doing. We are not chasing championships as promised. How can we get recruits that we need when no one wants to go to their games. Yes it will be costly but it will also be very costly not to do it. And probably include a new AD if he is not careful. Look at our basketball program we have no coach for next year or recruits to help and will probably lose some of the players that are here now. Can we let the football program go the same way, we need new direction and Norm has already stated he will not leave. I used to love our programs but now we are becoming a joke to our people. Don’t blame the players as in any business the manager are the ones to blame.
I really proud to be a University of Hawaii football fan!. I don’t live in Hawaii and never went to the school campus. I really support the sports program and whatever they are going through!. Around here in the state and other countries say the worst things about the University of Hawaii football and other programs. Like a sample in Vegas lots of peoples say that the University of Hawaii football program should be in Division 2. Also they’re never beaten UNLV at they’re home stadium only once and never beaten them by not more then seven points. I’m like underdog and really like the people that live there because they respect other race!. In recently reading and looking at the score and look how many people go to the game. it’s really embarrassing to see how many people shows up to support their football program!. At UNLV home games we had 16,000 or more to see them play. But in Hawaii they’re only 16,000 or less to see the warriors play!. It’s really shows that people in Hawaii don’t care or support there football program!. So that it’s really true whatever people say about UH football program!. I hope you all remember this!. They’re were teams like Long Beach State, Pacific, San Barbara and some other university don’t have any football program at all!. If it does happen in Hawaii don’t cry about it” It’s all your fault”!. The university is trying there best to keep it on but remember this no money or support it could happen!. Picture this why the tops local high school’s players don’t stay home? Not because a lot’s of mainland support it’s because you don’t support them playing college ball at home. Because people who live up here really support there football program!. SO COME ON AND SUPPORT THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII FOOTBALL PROGRAM! & OTHERS SPORT EVENT TOO!. HAVE SOME PRIDED & SUPPORT! .
How about we change our local, yokel sportswriters like Reardon and Tsai who probably don’t even know how to put on a jockstrap much less a shoulder pad??
When chow is gone i’ll be back to support our once proud football program.
The Fresno game, the last half Fresno let Hawaii catch up – the last two touchdowns by Hawaii, the Fresno players were just standing around and let the UH receiver catch the ball. They did not even try to tackle the receiver. So, it was not that UH played better in the second half, but Fresno let up and allowed them to score. You can check the replay of the last two touchdowns by Hawaii. yes, believe that chow should be let go; in the long-run, he will do more damage to the football program. If he is retained for a 4th year, no body will buy season tickets, go to the games or purchase PPV. The team will lose many on the defense and key players on the offense an no current players that can take their place; chow has not been able to recruit players; if the players lost cannot be replaced, then their record next year will be worse than this year.
If you are going to fire everybody who will be left holding the bag? Sometimes the cure is worse than the ailment. It is inevitable Norm Chow will retire either when he is ready or someone fires him before that. Unless you people are in the position to do something about it I’d leave it to the people who are getting paid to do this kind of activity.
Ahhh. The proverbial chicken or the egg. Which came first. Is UH football support, or the lack thereof, the fault of the fan base or the UH administration? Is the lack of transparency in hiring and firing coaches reason for the fickle and soft fan support? Is the hiring committee for football coaches, filled with questionable people, and the lack of transparency in the process, somewhat responsible for the lack of buy in by fan base when things go bad? Is the hypocritical nature of UH admin cause for lack of solid fan support (i.e. UH bosses want autonomy from legislature to do their job, but do not give UH athletic admin autonomy from upper campus to do their job)? Is a UH AD who complains and cries about problems and lacks a “can do” attitude against all odds, a turn off to fans?
Time for a change? Maybe that’s a question better served by asking about the business model UH athletics currently operates under.
I think UH and UNLV are in a similar position most won’t like to believe. Both programs are strapped with money. This is something the state can fix. If UH keeps all the income it earns, then maybe football and athletics would be in a better financial position. It wouldn’t solve everything. But, it would be a start.
Of course, that involves state politics. I’ll leave politics for another forum to discuss and debate.
We’ll soon find out what will happen if Chow stays or goes. Or, if they completely clean house and get rid of Ben Jay also.
I just don’t understand the thinking about why to keep Chow.
1) No record of head coaching success. This isn’t arguable — his win loss record doesn’t lie.
2) UH will continue to lose money. This is supported by the fact that season ticket sales are declining, walk-up sales are non-existent, and attendance is pretty much at an all-time low.
3) There is no excitement for next year. The only excitement I’ve seen is with people who think there is a possibility for Chow to get fired.
The only arguments I’ve seen in favor of keeping Chow is 1) UH can’t afford it. 2) Chow might get better. 3) We should support the program no matter what.
1 seems silly — sometimes you have to spend money to make money. If Chow continues, it’s not hard to see the trend line under him is to lose even more money and the revenue base. Just do a basic math equation. One game we had about 20,000 people. Under previous coaches we could do at least 30,000. That’s 10,000 less paying tickets, times $20-$50. Hundreds of thousands (10,000 x $30) lost per game.
There’s nothing supporting #2, just faith based on — what exactly? It’s not clear. Just that someone who has never put together a winning season as a head coach in his entire life will suddenly figure out how to win.
3 is silly. If every fan took that attitude, we would be in year 15 of something of head coach Fred Von Appen.
Les: you’re so weird. dave reardon’s post asked for discussion, so now people are discussing. then you come around telling people to shut up and stop discussing because…. idk why. probably because you feel personally offended by this.
Also, the people ARE in a position to do something about it. It’s callled “not attending games and not buying season tickets.” If the product is substandard, and nobody wants it anymore, that sends a powerful message that change needs to happen.
Look, idk if you’re understanding this, but college football is a business. myth of the “student-athlete” aside, the university goes into major division I college football to make money (usually off the backs of unpaid players who for the most part, graduate at much lower rates than the regular student body) through ticket sales and merchandising to the appeal of the UH brand to attract more students. Once you finally understand this, then you’ll get why people are reacting the way they are.
If the product is not good, then the people aren’t entertained. If the people aren’t entertained, then they’ll stop going to games. If they stop going to games, then the seemingly incompetent ben jay has a few choices: find money for a buyout and fire chow, keep chow and watch him not only drive the program off a cliff, but set the bus on fire before he leaves, or cut UH football (which would probably be really stupid).
Either way, the discussion on these issues are healthy because for the most part, we are PAYING CONSUMERS of the product. UH football is also a part of the cultural landscape of hawaii, to varying degrees. so people talk about it. especially when the football team sucks.
so again, like i said last time. please shut up about telling people to shut up.
…Ben Jay (should be the first to go, he had no business here in the first place), then Norm, then all The Regents, and lastly the UH Administration….they All need to go. Take the waste out and start over….I’ll gladly pay raised taxes for that!
David J you certainly had a lot to say, however, your grammar is pretty bad. So in your country whereever that is thank you for trying.
Chow: enough already
It’s simple: UH should get the best head coach it can get.
I’ll explain: UH knows its situation. It will not get Nick Saban to coach here, at least not until he’s 80 years old because UH specializes in giving coaches one last ride. UH’s economic situation forces it to hire a young coach, who will finally hopefully bring some fire to the job.
So keep Chow if no can find one slightly better young coach (like Dino Babers).
Stop being afraid Worriers fans. Firing a coach does not have to mean starting over from 1 win and taking three years to get to 4 wins. There is a little bit of money leftover to find a new coach.
Just please no more Dick Tomey or June Jones. Go with a young guy who is trying to build his reputation. Not guys basking in their reflected glories.
My wife and I have good season ticket seats so I will renew for another season. But the games are boring. The attendance will go down. Boring.
I’d like to see one more year with a QB like Wittek at the helm and our WRs back from injury. Our OL will be big time next year. Joey will be hard to replace so hopefully our RB stock can step it up. I think the team improved (albeit very minimal) from year to year under Coach Chow. Not enough for the mass majority but I always have faith. What will need to improve is the play calling both situational and aggressiveness. Not sure who’s really calling the plays but it has to get better. Coach Clune will improve this defense. My 2 cents.
Chow has not improved the team since he got here. The statistics show that. I recommend anyone interested in this go look at stats for 2012 – 2014– to be fair to Chow– look at stats for the conference only, so we take out the PAC 12 teams and the lower division teams. Offense, defense, and special teams (other than punting and kicking) are all still at the very bottom or near the bottom and the offensive statistics– some have gotten worse since 2012. Look at Dick Tomey’s favorite stat– turnover margin where we are worst in the conference– fumbles, interceptions, sacks of our QB, all have led to turnovers, while we are one of the worst conference teams in causing or recovering fumbles, sacking the other teams QB, intercepting passes, and so on.
Just an idea! Need new AD,someone with football experience.
Why not move Chow into AD job and have him pick a new
coach.He could pick Utah DC,June Jones etc…
Jay needs to ask the player in confidentiality what they think about the system and the coaching staff. Here is a fan’s assessment of what I think for what it is worth. Looking from the outside I see Chow as an admirable man and human.
Good coaches know how to prepare but great coaches know how to win. They are survivalist and will themselves to win.
Here is my report card:
Defense – A
Offense -D
Special Teams -B+
Attendance – F
Financial Support – D-
Community and Press Rapport – C-
2015 Starting Returnees – 6 OFF, 6 Def
The team schedule was not as tough as earlier thought – most teams on the schedule had mediocre and losing records. Rumor has been that Woosley did enough at end of season to be the favorite starter for next year with Witek in the wings waiting. Seems like a good situation. However, the two are completely two different QB’s. One a runner trying to learn to be a pocket passer, the other will have to be a runner to avoid sacks. However, Witek was good enough to win the starting job at USC for several games including in a big time rivalry game against Notre Dame. The question remains will the turn around even slight for 2014 be enough from the dismal 2013 be enough to be optimistic for 2015? We know the brand we are going to see, will it bring more wins. Will it bring in more fans more revenue? Do we start from scratch? Jay has much to ponder on this week and the following days to come…
I propose a 1 cent tax to help the UH athletic budget. You can probably figure it out yourself and do estimates, but a 1 cent tax on anything purchased $10 or more would generate quite a bit of money. The general public wouldn’t even feel it by paying 1 cent on purchases, but it can amount to a lot with a lot of people contributing. And the best thing is that tourists can help a lot too as they have a lot of money to spend while they are visiting here. They won’t feel it either. Example, a tourist spends $60 on an aloha shirt in Waikiki, 1 cent to UH. A senior citizen couple (like myself and my wife) go to McDonald’s and eat breakfast for $10.00, 1 cent to UH. I would bet you can generate several million dollars just with this one idea and we wouldn’t be talking about athletic budget deficit at the University of Hawaii. It would be a painless process financially. Everybody in the community can participate, including visitors, including our competition. People have to spend money every single day.
Here’s my report card.
Offense – D (not enough points scored, too many 3 and outs, too many punts, very few explosive plays, average B score would be for a team to average 30 points per game.
Defense – C (played well in spurts, gave up big pass plays and could stop a good running team, like San Diego State, and Nevada). They had trouble stopping perimeter plays and it showed lack of speed on the outside. At times, missed a lot of tackles.
Special Teams -B Punting and punt coverage were excellent. Kicking was average. Gave up some yardage on kickoff returns, field goals were average.
Coaching – C- to D+ An improvement over 2013, but still only 4-9 and you can’t really give a passing grade, can you? Several close losses, but still can’t get over the hump. Sorry!
Its time for UH to hire young innovated Coaches….Here’s my picks..
Head Coach…Rich Miano
offensive coach…Rod York. ( who could get the local boys to stay home plus this guy is great with the zone read type of offense …
Not quite sure what’s gonna happen to Chow, but all indicators point to him staying.
Now my question is about what’s gonna happen on the field next year and primarily the most critical position on the field, QB. We will enter yet another season banking on unproven talent. Has Woolsey progressed enough to be considered a sure thing? Is Wittek the savior we’ve been waiting for (didn’t show it in his time at USC)? Bank on Zwahlen coming back from his LDS mission? GO BOWS!!!
42…
My Report Card:
Overall Offense: D
QB = F: Just a terrible year at QB, from a statistics standpoint and injury standpoint. Could go down as one of the worst QB years ever at UH.
RB = B-: Injuries played a big role, but the group did ok.
WR/TE = D+: Losing Haynes and Stubblefield in the pre-season proved to be massive. Dropped passes was a major issue all year and the healthy WRs struggled to get open. Pedroza is good, but needs an outside burner to lift coverage off of him. Kemp looks to be a solid contributor for years down the road, but needs to work on being more sure handed. TEs were underutilized/not targeted as much as they should have been.
OL = A-: Easily the bright spot of the offense. Allen, and Tupai are very solid. Clark did well after changing positions. Afusia did well but had injury issues. Overall, pass protection was major improvement over last two years.
Overall Defense = C: Started well, but injuries and fatigue took their toll as the year went on.
DL = B: Did surprisingly well considering the transition to a 3-4. Samia, KT, and Yap did a good job plugging up gaps. However, the pass rush was lacking consistency.
LB = B: Overall was pretty good, but once JGW went down, it lacked speed on the edge. They definitely wore down as the year went on and guys were slowed by injuries.
DB = D: Too many blown coverages and CBs getting toasted. Happened about 3-5 times every game, with the offense cashing in on 1-3 every game. Not enough turnovers created to make up for mistakes.
Special Teams = A: Overall was very good special teams units. Harding was amazing. Not sure whether to congratulate him on setting a record for punts in a year though??? Although his wacky style created many turnovers for UH. Hadden was better this year than past years. Long snappers were very good all year.
Overall Coaching = C+
Chow/Wynn = C-: In spite of all the complaining by fans, the playcalling was more creative. However, it still got very conservative and predicable in stretches of each game. Part of it was coaches erring on the side of caution, but a bigger part of it was forced on them because of lack of confidence in the QB. Had the QB played better, the complaining would be much less vocal. Hard to dial up a passing game when the completion % is well under 50%, which is was on several games.
Clune = B+: I thought Clune did an excellent job in transitioning the defense to the 3-4. The majority of the games, Clune made the right adjustments and contained the opponents after halftime. There were 7 games when UH held opponents to only 1 or fewer 2nd half scores (4 second half shutouts). I don’t think that’s ever happened at UH. Only knock on Clune’s year was the lack of consistent pass rush. Clune exceed my expectations given the mess he inherited from Kaumeyer. The D gave up big plays, but they were more individual breakdowns than schematic problems like 2013.
Demo = A: Demo had a great year. Well designed punt schemes enhancing Harding’s skill set. Demo’s schemes definitely changed how opponents handled punt returns. Overall, good job on kickoff coverage and punt return. So-so on kick returns.
Post 31 by eric hit the nail on the head. Chow needs to be removed. There are good reasons to do it, and the reasons not to do it don’t hold water. It’s easy to say “we can’t afford the buyout.” But what we actually can’t afford is another million dollar drop in annual revenue from plummeting football ticket sales.
BTO: thereʻs no way anyone could grade the defense as an A. UHʻs defense, to be honest, isnʻt all that good, and the secondary CONSTANTLY gives up huge passing plays, like the corners forget to cover the deep man, or any man in general. a C would probably be closer. it was the same for the last two years as well.
#42, raise taxes to increase revenue?The state is already taxed enough. How about UH and the power brokers at UH be a little more fiscally responsible from the start? Or, the state changes the business model so UH athletics keeps all the money it generates.
What’s next? We need something else, let’s tax the people again. Another new idea comes up again and we don’t have the money, let’s tax the people again. In the long run it places the state in a bigger financial hole.
With the rail transit, it started with the city and county of honolulu. With maintenance being an issue when it gets built, it will be a state problem. The county will look to the state for help in funding. There was 1 referendum on the ballot early in the process and the rail proponents won. Did any of the people in charge of rail consider the cost of maintenance? Of course not. There goes our property taxes. It will be increasing. The G.E.T. taxes for business will also increase.
But, since we are all in the mood of raising taxes, let’s just increase the sales tax to fix all the mess ups made by the decision makers at UH. Football should come first at UH. It should be #1 even before cancer research or medical research or any other department at UH.
Raise taxes? Let’s make this place the next Detroit where the city had to file for bankruptcy because they couldn’t pay their debts. Think again. We are a lot closer to the debt limit than we think.
Since 2012, Chow’s offense has been boring three quarters out of four.
Not exactly the kind of football that draws the crowds these days.
Kids these days aren’t into smash mouth, they want things that happen fast and often which may also explain why the spread, pass heavy, and no huddle systems have become popular. Conservative football has gone out the window and teams lay it out there piling up the score. Chow’s kind of offense is a dinosaur for today’s young fans and you can’t build a fan base from senior citizens.
Hello everyone. It’s pretty obvious that next year’s schedule will be pretty tough! From what I see, we have Ohio State, Wisconsin, Boise State, Air Force, Fresno State, Nevada, and San Diego State. As we all know these teams are coming off a winning season. With that said, I’m sure Hawaii (under Chow) will NOT win all these games! For the most part, It looks like another long season ahead! In fact, the most games they’ll win next season is 3 to 4 – maybe 5 – if Hawaii is lucky! No progress lies ahead; It’s quite obvious to say. The higher ups Should’ve hired someone else either Dino Babers or even Brian Norwood was a better choice!
itʻs not that “kids donʻt want to watch smashmouth football.” there are very successful teams that run the ball a ton, for example, stanford, arkansas (not successful but competent), air force, georgia tech, etc. Depending on the type of spread offense, a lot of them are run first offenses like oregon.
kids (and adults) donʻt want to watch boring, ineffective, and incompetent football.
Been reading all of the comments, no mater what is said and what coach is coaching Hawaii is a hard sell. I have been attending UH Football games for the last 30 years, during those years we had terrible seasons, no name players and less than able coaches. Somehow the stadium was always packed. It was hard trying to get GOOD seats during the Tomey Era, The same could be said for Wags as well, then when we got Von Appen things went down the tubes. We couldn’t pack the stadium with an undefeated season….whats up with that? IT is one reason why Hawaii will NEVER have a professional team in ANY sport, why it is because Hawaii is too critical and we miss the WHOLE point in supporting the TEAM. Yes, we can blame the coaches and find all of the reasons why the team isn’t doing well but the bottom line is you are either going to support the team or not. It is easy to sit back and critique, grumble and complain and it is another thing to get your butt out to the stadium to support the young men on the team. Again I used to go the games during losing seasons and the stadium was packed (over 35,000). True Fans come out regardless, true fans support the team no matter what. Anyone can support a winning team, it is not hard to be a bandwagoneer! If you are complaining have you attended all of the games? I am not a happy camper to go to the games and go home upset and disappointed, but me and my ohana are faithful, the players need support.
As for Chow, I agree his time may over, but not sure it will happen, It is evident that he can not be the HC, QB Coach & OC for obvious reasons. If he is to stay, he has to swallow his pride and just be the head coach, he bring in an OC (Rolo would be nice), reevaluate O Line Coach & LB Coaches (Klune too). On a plus side Chow has been able to attract some good players, I often wonder how it would have been if the talent on this team was there a few years ago during JJʻs era hhhmmmmmm, as for BJ he has definitely got to go.
Lot of opinions ou there and good observations. Money needs to come from somewhere. There are no BIG money donors around who could pay the buyout with their pocket change. Plus UH snookered by MW with travel subsidy amounts. Terrible deal by Donovan. That was not Ben Jay’s call. Good luck to next AD if there are not major changes in the state, the university, the conference agreements. Ben Jay is being brutally honest when he says that unless things change you can say aloha to football. No one wants to hear it but it is true. All parties need to wake up and smell the bacon. Times change and you either change with them or are left behind.
True fans are great to have but there aren’t enough of them to keep the program afloat on it’s own . If the program doesn’t appeal to the general public it will have great difficulty succeeding. It has to be much more entertaining until a sizeable fan base can be established. It’s not just the football game itself, though. The entire stadium experience isn’t all that pleasant. That needs to be reassessed and fixed.
It was great reading Truuhfan’s comments. The only comment of decency and a true perspective of what it takes to support a team…winning or losing.
Thank you Truuhfan for your nice commentary and I can only hope people that continue to be critical will suck it in and go and support the team …win or lose…but I know that’s asking too much because its easier being a Monday morning QB unlike Truuhfan who weathers the storm in good and bad times…..
Yes, a REALLY TRUE FAN……….thank you.
I live on the mainland and I buy from Rainbowtique and I donate. I wish I could get to Aloha Stadium to support, but I can’t. I don’t pretend to know all the politics that have been going on and what has caused the poor decision making process to result in such a deficit.
#44 the reason your theory is flawed is because lets assume you are correct and the 1 cent tax works. You have to realize that there will be a million other “projects” that politicians will come up with for a 1 cent tax. Before you know it, you’re paying 16 bucks for that same McDonald’s breakfast.
A state can’t tax its way out of a deficit without putting a burden on the same people that it’s trying to help. Higher taxes = less financial ability to spend. Less ability to spend results in less taxes being paid which in turn cause the politicians to…you guessed it…raise taxes.
I think the “true fan” criticism is a bit over played at this point. Sure there are bandwagon fans. But it is a bit silly to claim that someone not willing to pay to watch a terrible product is not a true fan. There are MANY fans that have to make a serious decision regarding whether or not to spend the money to attend a football game.
Let’s leave the high horses where they belong and enjoy the sharing of opinions. There are some interesting ones.
I think most support UH warrior football according to their own financial situation. Some can only go to watch 1 game a season. Some go and watch 2 games a season. The level of support varies.
The burden of improving the product on the field is left to the coaches and the athletic department to figure out and the school. That’s why they are getting paid. To say the consumer holds some fault and blame for the disarray of the athletic program or more specifically the football program is ludicrous. Why do businesses close? It is because theif profit margins are shrinking or because their debt is greater than their revenue. To blame it on the consumer is ridiculous. Why spend hard earned money on a crappy product?
Chow will return next season. It is what it is. We move forward. There are more important things in life than football. It is entertainment. It’s nothing more and nothing less.
I’ve always disliked the “true-fan” complaint … one of the good things about sports is that people can participate at the level that is comfortable for them. … It’s a leisure activity, and by definition there is no level of commitment requirement. Granted, there are many different levels of fandom, and the most avid who have committed the most time, emotion, money are the most frustrated when things don’t go well and some tend to lash out at those less committed during the hard times.
Here is a question for Dave and fans. How can Florida and Nebraska hire head coaches within weeks of the opening and it takes UH months? I have never understood why it takes so long to hire any coach.
I’m a die hard UH fan but let’s face it Ben Jay doesn’t know sports and is only a money guy. He needs to go. The AD needs to understand sports and realize that UH can sell out Aloha Stadium …but… needs a winner to do so. A good AD can surround him/her self w/ a good money person.
Holy lower campus!!!
Ding-dong the Ben Jay is, well, will be gone!
This IS the season of miracles!!!!!!
Now we see who steps up to correct the situation at UH athletics. Time to fish or cut bait. If D1 athletics is a game too rich for the powers that be then time to fold and walk away from the table. Better than trying to figure out how to do it without really spending any money. And good luck to whoever is crazy enough or good enough to jump in the middle of this mess.
Think Chow interviewed for OSU Beavers coaching position:
http://www.bizjournals.com/pacific/blog/2014/12/did-hawaiis-norm-chow-interview-for-the-oregon.html
Yes, I think it is time for a change to this column. Let’s try and keep our top prospects from leaving the state.