SO, three years after Bob Wagner was shown the door by the brains at the University of Hawaii, here we go again. Let’s decide
which way
UH is goingFred vonAppen wasn't able to win more football games or put more fannies in the seats at Aloha Stadium than his predecessor, who was fired for losing too many games and not putting fannies in the seats.
Somewhere in Tucson today, Wagner is probably sitting behind a nice cold glass of iced tea and having a good laugh.
The Rainbow football program and the athletic department have reached a critical juncture. Decisions made in the next few weeks likely will determine which way both are headed.
Division I athletics in general -- and I-A football in particular -- is going to change dramatically over the next few years. The top 50 or 60 schools are going to go their own way. They are the ones who generate the greatest share of money from television rights and payouts from bowl games in football and from the NCAA men's basketball tournament.
As the teams that are leaving the Western Athletic Conference to form the Mountain West are demonstrating, the haves are going to leave the have-nots behind. That conference has a TV deal with ESPN in the works that is said to be worth nearly $50 million over the next seven years.
YOU think BYU and Utah are going to care that their TV deal is likely to leave the WAC iced out of Big Monday? Get real.
That might be cruel, but that is reality.
One would hope university president Kenneth Mortimer and athletic director Hugh Yoshida have already made the most important decision facing them: Does Hawaii want to be a player at the highest level, or is it content to be part of what will surely be a glorified Division I-AA in the not-too-distant future. They need to make that decision clear, soon.
If they decide to carry on as they have in the recent past, fine. Let's just hope they don't pretend to be surprised when they get dumped by the WAC because the Texas schools, who now hold power in the conference, want to be national players.
If Mortimer and Yoshida decide to have the Rainbows join the big time, there are a few things that have changed since they dumped Wagner in favor of vonAppen. Most apparent is that proven, top-quality Division I-A football coaches get paid a heck of a lot more now. Auburn just gave Tommy Tuberville a five-year contract for about $4.5 million. Arizona recently signed Dick Tomey to a $500,000-a-year extension.
SCHOOLS that see the future and want to be part of it are paying the price for the success they expect.
Mortimer acknowledged yesterday that the price of vonAppen's successor might be higher than what UH was paying Fred. But he also made it clear that he doesn't believe the university can afford to pay any coach half a million bucks a year.
"We don't have the money," he said.
I say if there really is a $2-million "rainy day fund" at the university, why not give it to a football coach who can deliver the goods? That money will get you four or five years worth of a quality coach who can not only stop the flow of red ink, but also generate a positive cash flow.
I've heard too many people in Hawaii say UH can never be a real big-time player nationally. It's time for Hawaii fans, boosters, coaches and administrators to adjust their thinking.
You say you can't afford to be big time? I say you can't afford not to be. It costs more in the long run to field a second-rate team.
Mortimer talks about wanting to create a world-class academic institution. Why not have a first-class football program to go along with it?
That's not unrealistic. That's called setting your goals high and then putting pressure on yourself to accomplish them.
To the risk-takers go rewards.