Extra Point
By Mike Fitzgerald
Monday, April 15, 1996
And I have come to this conclusion: The man is a nut.
Now put down the rope, loyal Rainbow rooters. This is a compliment. If a football coach seems normal, then there should be deep concern.
Obviously, he is well-read. In fact, I'm tired of reading about how much he reads. Hopefully, his team will make the right reads and we can read about that for a change.
Or we can read a scoreboard that shows Hawaii with a higher number than the opponent.
VonAppen's vocabulary, however, is frightening for a football coach. No, it's not crude. Just the opposite. When he starts explaining something, you reach for a thesaurus rather than a playbook.
One problem I see in this - as nice as it is for us writers after dealing with you-know-who - is that the players don't have any idea of what the heck he is talking about. A lot of these guys have only read Game Boy instructions before entering college.
Seriously, to try to put it as eloquently as possible, vonAppen is a hoot when he speaks. He is funny and personable, especially if there is a podium in the room.
Still, vonAppen hasn't won a single game as a college head coach yet. On the optimistic side, he hasn't lost one, either.
YES, vonAppen has made all the right moves so far with the fans and the media. But he realizes that he wasn't hired to spout Shakespeare or dig up artifacts in the Koolaus.
UH signed him up to resurrect a football program that is at rock bottom. His job is to get the rust rocking at Aloha Stadium again - and to win games.
Vonappen has put together an interesting and wide-ranging staff, to put it politely. In street lingo, this is quite a crew.
You have the three veterans of a million seasons or so - Walt Klinker, Don Lindsey and Don Dillon, ruffled guys who look more like they're ready for beer and a poker game, rather than blocking and tackling.
Then you have the four whippersnappers, who have little or no college coaching experience - Guy Benjamin, Ken Margerum, Tom Williams and Doug Semones - lads who seem to have just come back from a Rolling Stones concert.
Throw in the two leftovers from the Wagner era, Trent Miles and Ulima Afoa, and you have the makings of the wackiest college coaching staff in Division I history.
The common denominator is this, however. They all know a lot about football. They have played and coached the game all over the country. There is a lot of football knowledge under one roof - and a lot of enthusiasm as coaches, which will wear off on the team.
If they can show patience with the players - and each other - it might work out well.
Two more gold stars for the new regime: The team already appears to be in excellent shape, thanks to months of early morning workouts and a new concept called discipline.
The players' attitude also seems to be good, which is expected with a new staff.
An offense that actually heaves the ball will make us downright giddy. And the defense should knock down a few more bad guys than in the past.
But vonAppen and crew are still stuck with the same players who have been pretty much pounded by most decent teams that they played the last two seasons.
Being in good shape and having an improved attitude might not be enough to translate into victories, especially this coming season.
The recruiting class looks surprisingly good, but that's for two and three years down the line.
In the meantime UH loyalists, sit back and enjoy.
One way or the other it is going to be an entertaining season.
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