But in the ensuing months we learned much about vonAppen. His football credentials - at the college and professional level - were impressive.
And we discovered that vonAppen was an intelligent, well-rounded individual with an interest in the arts.
He hired a diverse and experienced staff - and he did an outstanding job at the public relations end of the job.
His many speaking engagements were certainly entertaining, especially after hearing former head coach Bob Wagner talk in so many circles that it made us dizzy.
VonAppen's spring practices were spirited and his August boot camp at Barbers Point would surely bring discipline to the reawakened team.
Then the season started and the Rainbows played a great first game, nearly upsetting a bigger and better Boston College team.
A last-second field goal barely held down the sudden enthusiasm that swept the state for the born-again football program.
WHAT a difference a few weeks can make, though.
The UH players' heads got a bit too big for their helmets and the Rainbows were knocked off by lowly Ohio University.
Now Hawaii is 0-2 and vonAppen is suddenly starting to unravel like a cheap suit.
Geez, he could have waited until the end of the season, or at least halfway through his initial campaign before threatening to feed himself to the sharks.
Actually, vonAppen has been complaining about a lot of things since he got here. That's OK, because there are plenty of subjects to hammer on over at the UH athletic department circus.
On the other hand, vonAppen's violin music is also starting to sound like the Jack Benny version, squeaky and out of tune.
The season has started, so why isn't vonAppen concentrating on the tough job at hand - to rebuild the football team? No one said he had to do it this season. And the poor lad had his feelings ruffled because some of the fair-weather UH fans booed last week.
Well, Fred, get used to it. Especially if you lose to a 19-point underdog that uses the offense we are sick and tired of.
BUT now vonAppen is picking a fight with the guy who hired him, UH athletic director Hugh Yoshida.
In fact, they are former pals and college teammates, for which Yoshida took a lot of heat after passing up locally connected favorites Cal Lee, Duane Akina and Norm Chow.
Obviously, there is a ton of shortcomings over at the Manoa headquarters when it comes to putting on a legitimate Division I football show. But what did vonAppen expect, everything to be changed for the better overnight?
Just snap your fingers and charter flights show up? Didn't anyone tell him how painfully slow things can move here in Hawaii? Good heavens, didn't he even realize that the H-3 project was started when Abraham Lincoln was president?
In vonAppen's defense, he is looking out for his staff and underdog team, a small and scrappy bunch that will always have a special place in his heart since it is his first head coaching job.
As the leader, though, he should realize that constant complaining, especially during the season, is a distraction. And it sounds as though excuses are being made for losing games, whether it's true or not.
How can he ask the fans and his bosses at UH to be patient when he goes off over a $60 tab - and, worse yet, threatens to boycott coaching the third game of the season?
So my suggestion is for vonAppen to put away the violin and get the whistle back in his mouth.
Before his foot ends up there.