Thursday, November 19, 1998
Wildcat program
an ‘inspiration’
Northwestern football team
By Paul Arnett
is allowed to have
a bad season
Star-BulletinIf Gary Barnett were the head coach at Hawaii, his job would be in jeopardy.
In 1992, head coach Bob Wagner led Hawaii to an 11-2 season and an improbable Holiday Bowl victory over Illinois. Three years later, the Rainbows finished 4-8 and Wagner was sent packing.
In 1995, Barnett led the Wildcats to a 10-2 campaign and an unlikely Rose Bowl berth against Southern California. Three years later, the Wildcats are in the midst of an eight-game losing streak and can finish no better than 3-9.
But don't expect Barnett to be pulling down his suitcases and getting in the back of the unemployment line. Northwestern administrators saw the potential in Barnett and signed him to a long-term contract.
They understood that a program priding itself for its high academic standards is going to have cyclical seasons. They were willing to take the good with the bad and do what they could to keep things from bottoming out once more.
"Their program is an inspiration to us all," UH head coach Fred vonAppen said. "They are facing some of the same obstacles we are. It took Gary four years to realize a big payoff, just like a lot of other football programs facing similar struggles and circumstances."
Barnett won only eight games his first three years as head coach. In 1993, the Wildcats finished 0-8 in the Big Ten as part of a three-season conference mark of 5-19. Not exactly Rose Bowl material.
But that 1995 championship season proved to be a memorable one for Barnett. He led the Wildcats to a perfect 8-0 run in the Big Ten and won a record 18 coach of the year awards.
"It takes awhile to build things and we've had a little setback this year," Barnett said yesterday after arriving at Honolulu International Airport.
"We've had to play some of the young guys. I've got to be able to see down the road and understand what's going on. What we have done is dealt with good kids and graduated all our players.
"And in the last two or three years we've been able to recruit pretty well, so I think down the road things look real good for us."
The road at Northwestern might not have been a long one for Barnett had he not landed some top-caliber players in his first two recruiting classes.
William Bennett, Rob Johnson, Sam Valenzisi and Steve Schnur set a standard that running back Darnell Autry and receiver Brian Musso kept alive for the young guys on this 2-9 team.
"The biggest thing for us early on is we had a bunch of kids that really weren't recruited by a lot of people," Barnett said. "They just made a commitment to change things. And it really was one core group of about 30 kids from our first two recruiting classes who started holding everybody else accountable. They were real close.
"They set a standard for themselves and everybody around them. It took them a couple of years to get to where they couldn't stand losing. And they made a decision to change it."
Barnett believes he has some developing freshmen, redshirt freshmen and sophomores who aren't going to stay down for long.
Last summer, while he wasn't sure that playing at Penn State and then Hawaii would be best for his players, he's glad to have one last shot to build toward the future.
Starting quarterback Gavin Hoffman is a redshirt freshman and top running back Brian Marshall is a sophomore. The offensive line also has its share of young starters, including former Punahou School standout Mike Souza.
"This is very similar to 1993 when we had to play a bunch of young kids," Barnett said. "I don't panic, but it's hard to live through it. It's easier to intellectualize in July than it is to live through in November."
And despite winning only seven games the past two seasons, Barnett has no second thoughts about turning down offers at such football factories as Notre Dame, Texas and UCLA.
He knows he went against conventional wisdom to remain at Northwestern, but for his troubles, Northwestern administrators provided a nice contract for the 52-year-old from Missouri.
"I have no regrets," Barnett said. "The reasons I stayed at Northwestern are still there. And as long as that's true, then that's where I will be.
"You only get a couple of chances in your life to make a difference. I think to be able to go in and sort of make a foot print, build it the way you want it built and knowing there really wasn't much of a foundation before, and that you can really put it together. Well, it has been a dream."
http://uhathletics.hawaii.edu
