A new year
Although it appeared the selection process was set to a deliberate pace, Nick Rolovich actually completed his coaching staff in an earlier time than his two predecessors.
Greg McMackin, who was hired in January 2008, had the benefit of a Solomon-like split in which half the staff (and linebacker Solomon Elimimian, for that matter) remained and half followed June Jones to SMU.
Norm Chow, who was hired on Dec. 21, 2011, did not complete his staff until mid-January 2012.
Rolovich announced the final four members of his staff, including a non-coaching recruiting coordinator, on New Year’s Eve. According to people familiar with the situation, Rolovich made his decisions the past weekend but the process was delayed because of the holidays.
So, here’s what to expect:
> New defensive coordinator Kevin Lempa and his staff will evaluate personnel before deciding on a base defense. But Lempa ran a 4-3 during his three years as UH DC in 2000-2002, and helped create the opening four-man front used at Boston College the past three years. At the end of the 2015 season, UH was in a 4-3 base. (Linebacker Jerrol Garcia-Williams practiced at defensive end — the fourth down lineman — in the final week although he was a late scratch for the game against Louisiana-Monroe.) Also, people in the know believe Kory Rasmussen and Kennedy Tulimasealii are better suited for a four-man front — Rasmussen as a shade defender, Tulimiasealii playing the 3-technique.
> Sean Duggan was the surprise hire as linebackers coach. But Lempa endorses Duggan, a former Boston College linebacker, team captain and then graduate assistant. “Sean is going to be a great addition,” Lempa said. “He’s young, but this guy is really sharp. He was a three-year (starter) and a captain. He’s been in the system we’ve been running the last three years. He’ll do a great job.”
> The past decade, not all of the UH assistant coaches were in-the-living-room recruiters. Rolovich is seeking to change that, saying he wanted “nine John Stocktons” — point guards and assist leaders — working on recruiting. Rolovich succeeded in securing a recruiting coordinator separate from the staff of nine full-time assistant coaches. Jason Cvercko was the coordinator of recruiting operations at Nevada. Bo Montgomery, a UH intern who had helped with Boise State’s recruiting, also will help in organizing a recruiting effort that was scattered the past several years. Look for the Warriors to expand recruiting outside the United States.
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Back in the (prehistoric) day, when Reardon and I used to cover high school football, John Hao and Mark Atuaia ruled.
Today is their birthday.
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Also back in the day, the freshest music was played on KPOI, particularly the “Rabbett and Abbot” show.
Phil Miyamoto, who used the stage name “Phil Abbot,” died this past week.
He was a great radio guy, great family guy (his son Phil Miyamoto played volleyball for UH), and a fantastic guy.
Deepest sympathies to his family and loved ones.
hello & happy new year!
It’s starting out to be a good year. The weather is awesome. Nice and cool with the sun out shining and bright. Looking for the light to brighten for the football Warriors. It’s all feeling good.
2nd! Happy New Year Ahouse-san!
aw shucks, as I was making my last post, ST went on the open a new 1/1/2016 post
slow bird always loses
now, will Coach Rolo be successful in getting LOI’s from those “highly recruited” local players as hinted by the lady? who are they?
HAPPY NEW YEAR ALL!!!
LIVE ALOHA, PLAY WARRIOR!
DPK:
long time no see!
and, a most happy and healthy New Year to you and Sweetie!!!
Shinnen Akemashite Omedetou Gozaimasu!
watching the nation’s weather map daily, the “cold” finger from the artic is holding steady over the Rockies and mid-west and now slowly spreading east and down to the Gulf of Mexico
Boise’s high is 12 and low of 5 degrees today.
good to live in Hawaii!!!!!
Looking forward to seeing LBs Jerrol Garcia-Williams and Makani Kema-Kaleiwahea healthy and ready to go in 2016.
Looks like Michigan under Harbaugh will be force to be reckoned with in 2016. They’re running all over Florida.
LB Jahlani Tavai will hopefully also be in the mix after a productive redshirt freshman season (56 total tackles).
Hope that JGW is kept at LB……along with Williams Jr., Mageo, Matautia……since so little experience returning.
Would rather see some OLBs (Castro, Kema-Kaleiwahea, Tavai) instead move to DE (to join M. Koloamatangi, Manoa, Kauhi, Tago?)……with KT, Rasmussen, Fa’alogo, Gifford, Choi, Akoteu as DTs.
DE Jamie Tago still with the team?
Recruiting is getting a little more expensive, especially for Hawaii.
Back in the good ol’ days — 2010? — parents came along on their own dime on recruiting trips. Now a school can pay for up to five people, I believe, per recruiting trip. That’s a lot of aloha.
I think Jamie Tago is back.
He got into a little non-football trouble last year.
Kema-Kaleiwahea moved to DE at the end of the season.
I think Jahlani Tavai played a little DE last year, too.
A-House:
Boise sure has changed in the past 10 years.
Downtown is vibrant.
Boise is clean and inexpensive.
But the thermometer, like the turf, is blue. Brrrrr.
Didn’t former Canadian SB Dane McArthur initially visit the UH coaches on a family Christmas vacation? I think that got the ball rolling with him coming to UH. Hope UH can start recruiting players in the Pac NW and Canada, again.
Forgot about Jeremy Castro. Hopefully, he can come to the forefront and live up to his billing and potential (former UCLA player). Did the OSU transfer, Slade-Matautia quit the team?
Castro had a season-ending injury. I think he’ll be back for spring ball.
Chargers Titans next season in San Diego Book your tickets!!
Agree w those positions kapakahi. Hope tavai can become a good pass rusher at DE
ST,
With LB being an immediate recruiting need position (since losing Gener, Fonua & Poti), what’s the latest with JC LB transfer prospects Inoke Ngalo and/or Abraham Reinhardt?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXFJMi3opR8
http://www.hudl.com/athlete/2971033/highlights/306360386/v2
With recruiting costs evidently getting more expensive for UH to host out-of-state visitors, maybe these two (2) All-State local HS LB prospects should be actively recruited by UH…..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdHAW_0rWjY&feature=youtu.be
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICNgezqCKAM
Good to see that UH (Rolo) has already offered a couple of local Class of 2017 local HS DBs……
http://www.hudl.com/athlete/2849155/highlights/306810509/v2
http://www.hudl.com/athlete/4101927/highlights/287066376/v2
Happy New Year to ST, Tsai-kos, and The Warrior Beat!
…I remember around now in 2007 when ST mentioned the blog might shut down until next season and I made my first post. Here are the first 5 comments on January 1, 2007…
Hopefully some Rolo, Smitty, and/or Abe can make it up to Oceanside next weekend to catch the Polynesian All-American Bowl game (as well as the Underclassmen Showcase) next Saturday (Jan. 9) for some first-hand talent evaluation of some Poly prospects from all over (the mainland, Hawaii & American Samoa)……as well as re-connect with former teammate Pisa Tinoisamoa (who is coaching one of the all-star teams).
http://polynesianallamericanbowl.com/bowl-game-1/
http://polynesianallamericanbowl.com/paabunderclassmencamp/
Happy New Year, folks!
Hopefully the new year brings better fortune for the UH football program. The staff is looking a little on the young side but given the financial constraints its understandable. Also, focusing in the west for recruiting, and not east, will cut down on the travel cost for the program.
And might I add that none of the NY day games have been worth watching. Nothing but blowouts!
Great and Happy New Year All!
Congratulations to all on Coach Rolo’s now complete staff and let’s see ’em go after it hard now that all the holidays are over.
Condolences to the Miyamoto Ohana.
Also to the families of Trapper and Natalie Cole
Geez, that McCaffrey kid is amazing!
Happy New Year!
Welcome to all the new football coaches.
#WarriorBall begins Monday!
staff will evaluate personnel-would that be ALL bloggers
base defense–can the bloggers seek a mobile defense
people in the know believe–would that be bloggers as well
HIS LOVE WILL REIGN FOREVER…..HIS LOVE WILL REIGN FOREVER
^
?
#29
Tell me about it. Watching McCaffrey play his HS ball was pretty cherry. Come to the Rockies and recruit Coach Rolo!
ST & Tsaiko Blog Dogs:
Best Wishes for a healthy and prosperous New Year!
The periodic reminder as the new year begins – kids, don’t drink or do drugs.
Hoping that this top OC HS QB prospect ends up tripping UH…..
http://www.ocvarsity.com/ocvarsity/modster-81797-arizona-made.html
http://www.hudl.com/athlete/2706747/highlights/285948473/v2
s novym godom!
Dave Aranda will become LSU’s DC according to FootballScoop.
Aranda, it’s all about the money. Wisconsin is pretty tight when compared to top power 5 teams. So to me it’s a no brainer and a very good move for him financially. LSU should be in the hunt for a playoff spot as long as they find a good QB. One good such QB for them is Davis Webb who is transferring out ofp Texas Tech. He can play immediately because he’s graduating with his degree in June.
day ended in a “bust” as the wind, chill, and rain descended into our valley
surprised so many games today were lopsided — who would have thought!
D.Aranda—It’s about coaching the elite football talent in the land and seeing what transpire ..very few coaches have the opportunity to coach elite talent.
Dave Aranda has really gone places after UH. Good for him.
D.Aranda–A man good at his craft…always seeks the advice from other coaches when facing upcoming opponents. Not afraid to ask other coaches how they defended certain plays..that’s how they can stop the opponents, of course he has his own ways..but added info is always helpful..
Other coaches of course meaning the team that just beat his upcoming opponent
asking information from the defensive coordinator or position coaches that just beat his upcoming opponent..Then puts together that info with what he has install. Love his passion for the game!
PRIDE ROCK ….WARRION ON…
WHAT GOOD IS IT? TO KEEP WHAT YOU HAVE…MORE FRUITFUL TO SHARE
All top bowl games were routs, pretty disappointing.
48. Agree and boring.
Breaking news, Cal QB Jared Goff has declared for the NFL draft.
That’s one thing I didn’t like about Norm Chow… I hate to pile on but he didn’t even consider retaining Aranda. I remember a post I think it was like a couple days after or before Christmas when NC was hired… My memory is saying Dec 19 or something? Aranda and two others let go… I don’t even think he evaluated Aranda’s performance…
Les Miles has wanted Aranda for some time now. I think he’s going to make over a mil a year at LSU… Good for Dave!
51……couldn’t agree more. I too am fatigued with the piling on of NC but you are right on. NC let go of two bright young coordinators and replaced them with others who were less qualified. This initial mistake set the tone for the rest of the abysmal four years we endured. I am glad both Aranada and Rolo landed on their feet and are now better off than if they had been retained by Norm. We the fans, the community and the institution however are way worse off. It still leaves a bitter taste.
Good thing for Aranda and Rolo, they weren’t retained by Norm. They picked up valuable experience leaving Hawaii. Also, i don’t remember Aranda’s defenses at UH as being as shut down as they are nowadays.
Kaumeyer had fairly good qualifications to be the DC for Hawaii when he was selected in 2012.
54…..I agree that Kaumeyer had pretty good qualifications when hired….his qualifications at the time may have been better than Aranda’s…..when I used the word qualifications in comment 52 I probably should have said capability or potential. Coach Kuameyer was not able to use the talent he had available to create a successful approach to defense…..of course we don’t know for sure if Aranda would have done better working under NC…..it seemed like very few (players, coaches) were able to excel under NC……although I think receiving coach Mac was necessary at the time I will continue to give him credit for allowing young bright coaches (eg Rolo and Aranda) to matriculate to coordinator positions. In this regard coach Mac seemed a much better judge of talent than coach Chow.
Relieving
I like the “youth” in this coaching staff … while it may be due to financial constraints, hopefully they will be able to relate to the players which will in turn result in wins. When that happens and the fans start flocking back to Aloha
Stadium and the $$$ comes back, we’ll be able to pay the coaches more.
Happy New Year everyone … Live Aloha / Play Warrior
#51 – 53. Norm’s biggest problem was the part of his personality that drove guys like Clay, Davis, Dew and Muir away from the program. All four were on bowl teams this year. When you lose talent because the coach “takes the fun out of the game” or is mindless and in flexible about his style of football, you’re in trouble. Fools up at the UH, decided to over-react to McMackin’s politically correct faux pas at the WAC Media Day and fired him as soon as he had a bad season. Coach Mac may not have been the best HC, but certainly knew how to surround himself with talent (Aranda and Rolo specifically) and to recruit.
Not really convinced that if Kevin Clune is named DC at Oregon State, it’ll mean even more of an exodus of local high school players. Hawaii will always lose its top players to P-5 schools and that’s a reality. OSU has always been a popular school for local kids, athletes and non-athletes. The facilities are continuing to be improved there, and it’s a nice (“Good Fun”) experience to live on the continent for 4-years for local kids whose families can afford it. The drive up to Portland is not long, and they can get their fix of poke and laulau at Uwajimaya’s in Beaverton.
The key for UH and Coach Rolovich and his staff is to “coach up” and develop the 1-2 star players that do sign with the Warriors, along with walk-ons. It’s nice to get a bounce back like Fred Ulu-Perry, but UH shouldn’t rely on them. Gotta build from within with high school players, along with those from the JUCO ranks.
New post: http://hawaiiwarriorworld.com/?p=35124