AND MANY THANKS TO BOOYA!

Gary Dickman asked a lot of questions during the segment. Hollis has a good character about him and answered most of the questions with a slight pause as he reflected his opinions. He appreciated the recruiting trip here when he was hosted by Koloamatangi (Leo I think) and Lakalaka. They drove him to Tantalus (blindfolded) then let him take in the view, He was sold on becoming a Warrior.

He stated that the toughest road crowd was not at the Big 10 Stadiums, it was Boise (for him) because the crowd made so much noise “you could see it” (the shaking of the field). He was also impressed and appreciated the Hawaii fans, especially the amount that would travel and support the program on road games.

As for his opinion when asked about Coach Chow he related an account in where the entire team (and coaches) walked off to the locker room directly after a home game leaving he and walk on (Ex Serviceman) Jeremy McClam to stand for the alma mater by themselves with the band. He felt it was odd to allow that to happen and that was the probable starting point to when Chow lost the team (Coaches and players). As for the Halloween game against Air Force He stated that in game bickering among players go on in every game so the on field stuff that was going on wasn’t that big of a deal, but when the coaches got into it, it didn’t surprise him. He knew this would happen at some point of that season. He felt it (all the turmoil) helped him to become a better leader. That would later benefit the 2016 team,

His thoughts on Coach Rolovich was that when he was first introduced to him, he thought he was a “weird guy”. But he stated that every UH fan should be “so appreciative” as to the creative ways he has laid the foundation for the program. He also stated the bowl game vs. Middle Tennessee was the best game preparation he’d ever been a part of. From game plan to pre game speech to play calling, everything was “perfect”.

His thoughts about the transfers in his opinion was all based on “fear”. He felt they were all scared away by the fear that there would be failure and that it takes a special person to trust in your (and your teams) abilities when times get rough. He relayed a story of his conversation with Nick Nelson when Nelson’s transfer was signed and sealed. Nelson thought that he wouldn’t get the necessary exposure in Hawaii to raise is draft status. Hollis told him that “if you have it, they will find you anywhere”, and at Wisconsin it might be a risky move because it would make it easier to see if you “don’t have it”. He also felt that last years team lacked Senior leadership. They had a more talent than 2016’s team but leadership makes a difference.

Hollis is an intern (at KHON?) with Spangler as his mentor and DeMello as his super mentor. He has an easiness about him that makes him entertaining. The interview lasted my whole drive home so it was a long, special segment. There is a lot of stuff I’m probably forgetting and some stuff I just couldn’t get to so sorry for that. If anyone else heard the broadcast and can elaborate (or correct any misrecollections) more please do.