UH AD names surface … Ducks or Bucks? … Reggie, Reggie
There’s no selection committee yet, no state-required ad posted yet. But that doesn’t stop people from talking, and doesn’t stop unfounded rumors from turning into plausible speculation as to whom will be candidates for the University of Hawaii athletic director position.
UH spokesman Dan Meisenzahl told me Sunday there will be an announcement from the school this week regarding the AD position, but would not specify what it might be.
Five names have surfaced and none of the five have denied at least interest in the post, although none has “officially” said they want the job. All are of high name recognition in Hawaii.
They are Keith Amemiya, Rick Blangiardi, Mufi Hannemann, June Jones and John McNamara.
All bring perceived strengths and weaknesses to the table, and we’ll get into that later (or, now if you want in the comments … just keep it civil and clean).
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The national championship game is just a few hours away. After watching Oregon up close at the Rose Bowl, I’m convinced the Ducks are an unstoppable machine. And when a machine loses a part, you simply plug in a new one.
Receiver Charles Nelson is one of the players who gets targeted more now with the suspension of Darren Carrington. Nelson is quite a bit smaller than Carrington, but don’t be surprised if he comes up with a couple of big plays today. I say Oregon 45, Ohio State 35.
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Speaking of little big men, check out this short film by Ken Jeong about Reggie Ho. It might be the best 10-minute investment you make today.
Those are some good candidates– I like Amemiya and Blangiardi as the two strongest candidates. The other rumor is that one or more of these candidates (NOT June Jones, a friend and supporter of Chow) have been connected with a group which approached the UH about buying out coach’s contract.
ST: Thanks for the link to the Reggie Ho 30 for 30 video. Truly heartwarming. Another high character person from Kalaepohaku.
Sorry, DR, not ST.
Please not Mufi or Jones. McNamara is in there now so things may not change if he gets it. Hope they will be more people intrested.
Very nice one on Reggie Ho! Thanks for sharing, Dave!
Soar high, Ducks!!
so excited I took the day off. Go Ducks!
Whomever is the next AD, make sure it is stated in the contract that you will have the final say who is hired or fired as coaches for the University of Hawaii.
I’m going with Ohio St. Not that I like them; just think they have the edge with Urban Meyer at the helm.
Nice story on Ho. Looks like he was going to do the hula before he kicked the ball.
Blangiardi or Jones, the other two lose money and the third takes us backwards………
Next guy needs to be a leader who is willing to make tough decisions.
We need an AD that has some backbone, and willing to think “out of the box.”
We know that if JJ is hired, Rainbows would be gone
Blangiardi! If he were chosen he’ll give us free UH football on tv and get rid of Oceanic.
Business as usual. Nothing will change whoever gets the job. The new AD will continue to not have the authority to run the department and make the “tough decisions” on his own. Strings lead back to the UH President, Chancellor, and those unseen power brokers.
Amemeya is well connected and is good at rallying business support and fund raising, which is something the current AD has failed at miserably. Blangiardi could make a strong leader with his business background and personality. He knows the politics behind the university and how to deal with it. Interestingly, Dick Tomey’s name isn’t in the mix.
UH Standard Operating Procedures to hiring executive level positions….
1. Gather list of interested/desired candidates
2. Cross off the top 3 most qualified candidates
3. Find out which candidates are favored by political friends
4. Find out which of the remaining candidates will be a “yes man/woman”
5. Find out which candidate administration/BOR will benefit the most from
6. Select best remaining candidate,
7. If no candidates remain from steps 1-5, hire head hunting firm to expand search using same criteria as steps 1-5.
8. Hire cheapest option and hope for the best.
I’m only kidding, but it seems this has been the process the past 8-10 years or so.
12… Out of the box like Ben Jay?
Hiring the former associate AD of “The” Ohio St was pretty out of the box last time around.
I think we are both hoping for a better box to pull from.
Oh please please please let Gufi get the AD spot. Some people still don’t realize just how worthless that guy is. Gufi + Chow 2015!!
Wow… watching the Buckeyes spank the Ducks was something else….
Couple of thoughts I had going into the game were reaffirmed, plus a couple of new things…
1. The kryptonite for Oregon’s offense a really good D-Line. It’s been the one constant in all of their losses since Chip Kelly got to Eugene and installed this offense. If the Dline can consistently penetrate up the middle, it completely disrupts the timing of Oregon’s run game. Oregon must have rhythm and timing to function best. OSU collapsed the space Oregon needs to operate in the tackle box.
2. Ohio St had a massive physical advantage on both lines. The radio chatter from Hawaii/Oregon side media all mentioned Ohio St’s size at some point during the week. That was a sign.
3. Urban Meyer > Mark Helfrich… and it wasn’t close. No slight on Helfrich, Meyer is that good. I believe Meyer is now 3-0 when faced against the Heisman Trophy winner and Meyer’s defenses dominated the Heisman winner’s offense in each game (Troy Smith, Ohio St vs Florida; Sam Bradford, Oklahoma vs Florida; Marcus Mariota, Oregon vs Ohio St).
4. Urban Meyer is one of the best college coaches… ever.
5. Mariota is still no worse than a top 5 draft pick at this time. He didn’t have a poor showing. His Oline was completely overmatched plus the early drops were big killers. The only way he drops is if he has a poor pro-day workouts or a poor showing at one of the all-star bowl games (if he participates). Mariota will need to shake the “system QB” reputation that will be thrown at him. Spread-run/read option style QBs are now getting the same “system QB” label as the previous Run-n-shoot QBs used to get. The label is coming around because read-option QBs aren’t required to read coverage and go through progressions and its becoming apparent that this does not translate well into the NFL.
6. The outcome of the game could have been much worse for Oregon had Ohio St not turned the ball over so much.
7. Oregon now must rebuild, Ohio St looks like they are going to start a long run of dominance. I don’t see how anybody in the Big 10 will catch Ohio St. There’s a huge gap between them and the next best team.
Call all you bandwagon Oregon fans now go back to supporting UH?
The single most important attribute the next UH AD must have is the ability to raise funds. If they can’t do that nothing else matters. That’s why I think Mufi Hannemann would be a great choice. He has the connections needed to turn UH’s anemic fund raising around. No outsider can do that as Ben Jay found out the hard way.
If Rick B is interested and still has the energy and gusto to do it , the guy is outspoken , smart ,articulate , bleeds green and white , i say give the ball to Rick B and let him make the first down.
Mufi would be the best choice. He has lots of connections, can stand up to people who want to meddle in the athletic program (like some prior Regent who tried to pressure Donovan to fire a coach and when he didn’t had it out for Donovan), knows how to turn around businesses, smart and thinks out of the box. After turning around a City that was virtually bankrupt when he took over, the Athletic Dept. would be a piece of cake.
aloha everyone !! i been say it a long time for Rick Blangiardi, to be the next UH AD!! hawaii needs to clean the house and he the right for the job! but it would be nice if uh could get a two for one and also get Keith Amemiya, as number in charge !!
and other thing UH should just post the job !! and set a date!! dont go looking for someone to apply for the AD job!! we got the best guys for the job right in hawaii. just watch a UH basketball mans game and you see Keith Amemiya, right in the back of the coach watching the game!!
Mufi to UHAD?
I’m not for that, but maybe the light rail will now go to UH?