By Dave Reardon
Friday, July 12, 1996Mike Fitzgerald is on vacation.
His column returns July 31.
Mike Fitzgerald is on vacation.
His column returns July 31.
"We will improve the talent," the new University of Hawaii offensive coordinator told the Honolulu Quarterback Club the other day. "That is, unless our recruiting budget gets cut back some more."
It was meant as a joke, but barely, in reference to a $50,000 budget cut the UH football program has been told to take by athletic director Hugh Yoshida. Men's basketball was told to trim $40,000 and the baseball team will have to cut $35,000.
Is it time for Benjamin and the rest of the new football staff to wake up and smell the Kona, and realize they're not in Kansas, Boulder, Palo Alto or San Francisco anymore? That this is Hawaii, and things will always be a little different here?
Or is it time for Rainbow football fans - leaders and the grass roots - who want a Notre Dame-type program to put up or shut up?
At any rate, the honeymoon is coming to an end real soon - the opener with Boston College is mere weeks away. But the areas of contention go way past one game that most already concede the Rainbows will lose.
Benjamin said that it all comes down to making a choice: If the state wants a powerhouse football program, it must unite and pay for it with total commitment - and not just financial.
"A tight economy is very sobering," Benjamin said. "But where's the governor and his leadership? Where's the legislature and its leadership?"
AT the Monday luncheon, Benjamin mentioned that a clinic organized by state Senate President Norman Mizuguchi was being held at Aloha Stadium that same day - a clinic by USC coach John Robinson for local high school coaches.
"Sure, it's a nice thing," Benjamin said. "But when we were at Stanford we never did clinics at other areas. And it certainly helps them develop relationships with local coaches."
Mizuguchi said he was just trying to do something to help the community.
"Benjamin should check the facts before talking about support. Then he would understand the situation," said Mizuguchi, who has a long record of involvement in backing various sports events in Hawaii.
"We were just trying to help the high school coaches. I'm a member of Na Koa and I support UH baseball. What more does he want?"
Benjamin said he'd like Mizuguchi and other community leaders to do something about improving the UH sports budget. "There's plenty of fan support," Benjamin said. "We need support from institutions."
Even without the $50,000 budget cut, the Rainbows weren't exactly big time. Benjamin suggests one step would be for UH to hire a fund-raiser.
"There's not a soul there raising money," he said. "Division II teams have them. And where is the development plan? I haven't seen one."
BACK to choices. Benjamin said the other is for the Rainbows to lower expectations, play a soft schedule and have a nice little program. He said the staff would put as much energy into that type of effort.
But, really, wouldn't this group of coaches tire quickly of such a program and soon move on? Benjamin is smart enough to know that choice is really no choice.
It's obvious Hawaii fans want a powerhouse Division I program. The real question is, can the state of Hawaii afford the investment necessary to build such a program? And is it even possible in a state where, traditionally, the top talent goes away, often for reasons beyond football?
Whatever the answers, Benjamin said to expect no miracles this fall.
"I want everyone to understand that this is a long-term process," he said. "To put it in a nutshell, we're not going to be very good (this season)."
And he was dead serious.