Warrior Beat

Hey, because of family events, the blog will be on a break for a few days. We’ll re-open for business Monday evening or Tuesday morning. Have a great weekend, folks.

Norm Chow said he will fill the last vacancy on his staff — the director of football operations — by mid-March. Chow said Olivia Vea will be a graduate assistant working under newly hired video coordinator Dory Kong. Inoke Funaki is the other GA. UH had hoped to hire Bobby Gray, a long-time high school coach, as a graduate assistant. But a new NCAA rule restricts a GA to a seven-year period after earning a bachelor’s degree. Gray earned his […]

George Lumpkin owns a custodial business and works in real estate. On Wednesdays, he is involved with a ministry that works with inmates. He also has accepted an offer to join the Kamehameha football coaching staff. After nearly 40 years with the Warriors as a player and coach (and the past two as director of player personnel), Lumpkin was not retained when UH changed head coaches. Lumpkin did not spend any time lamenting. Instead, he decided to  become involved in […]

A kicker for the junior college national champions will be joining the Warriors. Edgar Castaneda of City College of San Francisco said he has accepted an invitation from the Warriors. He arrives this summer and will have two years of eligibility. Castaneda, who is 5 feet 7 and 165 pounds, was the second-most productive kicker in California JC football the past regular season, averaging 8.6 points per game. He was 11th among all California JC players. The Rams went 11-0 […]

Norm Chow praised his latest hire, Dory Kong, who will serve as the Warriors’ video coordinator. She spent the last year as Old Dominion’s video coordinator. Prior to that, she worked for ESPN and at Stanford and Menlo College, where she earned a degree. Kong, who was raised in Hawaii, said she welcomed the opportunity to return to the islands and work under Chow. Chow said he has been impressed with Kong’s reputation for working hard, as well as her […]

Who says there are no good football bargains? In a four-for-one deal, former UH quarterback Shane Austin has found a mentor, role model, trainer and representative. Austin has signed with NFL quarterback Jeff Garcia. Austin already has competed in a regional combine. He will compete in another one next month, as well as UH’s pro day on March 5. j It is a fitting arrangement because Austin has drawn comparisons to Garcia. Austin said he will work on improving Garcia’s […]

A UH official noted that, for now, Juan Lozano has the title of director of football personnel, although he actually performs the duties of a football operations director, which means he does a lot of everything. From coordinating UH’s travel and practice operations to serving as the Warriors’ pro liaison, Lozano has a no-pause job. But Lozano is used to challenges. He earned a bachelor’s degree from UC-Berkeley and a law degree from Wisconsin. After working in private practice, he […]

The Linsantity is not unique to the islands. Through the years, there have been frenzies over Hawaii sports stars that have reached fever pitch. Such as: Jesse Kuhaulua Star is born: Kuhaulua went to Japan to become Takamiyama, a sumotori whose success helped popularize the centuries-old sport in Hawaii. In 1972, he became the first foreign-born sumotori to win a top-division championship. Interest was so great that delayed telecasts of tournaments aired in Hawaii on the channel that eventually spawned […]