Hula Bowl chief executive officer Lenny Klompus met with AFCA executive director Grant Teaff for five hours yesterday and will hold more discussions today.

Teaff said yesterday the AFCA enjoyed its role with the Hula Bowl in January and will be involved again in 1998. Not only did this organization establish a committee to help select the players for the 1997 game, but the two coaching staffs as well.

"We already know that (Arizona State head coach) Bruce Snyder will be one of the coaches because he was the Division I coach of the year," Teaff said yesterday. "We had a North-South format last year, but we could go to East-West, depending who the other head coach will be."

Teaff would like to land a big-name head coach in the Eastern half of the United States. Penn State's Joe Paterno would be the perfect pick, but he has never coached in a college all-star game. Another person being considered is Nebraska's Tom Osborne.

"We will probably have the coaching staffs in place by the end of April," Teaff said. "Having the top coaches at the Division I-AA, Division II and Division III levels last year was a great experience for them.

"Those men had outstanding seasons. Sometimes it's difficult to award them for their efforts. This is a great avenue to do just that. They all had an extraordinary time here last year."

Teaff said the divisional coaches of the year will once again take part in the next Hula Bowl. He also said the AFCA would lend its expertise in other phases of the event, including the weeklong entertainment for the players and how the Hula Bowl can be user-friendly for the National Football League scouts.

"Let's be honest, the players come to these games to display their athletic talents, so we want to provide everything we can to facilitate that process," Teaff said. "All the NFL teams were well represented here last year.

"One thing we did for them was film all the practices, so the scouts would have access to footage of players they were specifically interested in. We've also tried to build trust with all the coaches around the country.

"We won't invite anybody or go on anyone's campus without the head coaches knowing first. This is the proper protocol and will go a long way in establishing the relationships we need with the coaches to make this the best game we can."

Klompus is hoping to establish a five-year deal with the AFCA. He already has a television deal in place with ESPN. He also has a title sponsor for another two years.

"We're trying to do everything we can to make this the best college all-star game out there," Klompus said. "The Heisman Trophy people also are excited about being involved with the game, but we still need support from the community to make it work."

Teaff said yesterday he was disappointed with last January's crowd, but conceded the competition from the Pro Bowl and the Aloha Bowl contributed to the lower attendance.

"Having three major bowl games in six weeks makes it tough," Teaff said. "But I really thought there would be 40,000 people at the game because of the top-caliber players and coaches.

"The Aloha Bowl and Pro Bowl are drawing well. We have to establish trust in the community that we're committed to giving them the best game we can. We believe we can do that, but you have to build a strong foundation to take something like this to the next level."

So has he contacted Tennessee's Peyton Manning yet to see if he is interested in playing here?

"No," Teaff said, then smiled. "We will, but only after talking with his head coach first. We believe this can work and are looking forward to a long relationship with the Hula Bowl."