Wagner
interested in
UH AD job

The former football coach
adds his name to the list of
possible Yoshida replacements

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By Dave Reardon
dreardon@starbulletin.com

Add Bob Wagner to the list of candidates for Hawaii athletic director.

Wagner, the former UH football coach who is now associate head coach at Texas-El Paso, said he expressed his interest in a letter to UH president Evan Dobelle several weeks ago.

"I have a good name in the islands, having spent 19 years there," Wagner, 54, said. "I know most of the coaches at UH very well and majored in business as an undergraduate."

Hugh Yoshida said in February he will retire by the end of the calendar year. The university hopes to have his replacement chosen by July.

Wagner said he is also looking at "a couple other opportunities" in Hawaii, but declined to specify.

He joins UH associate athletic director Jim Donovan as candidates who have made their intention public. Dick Tomey (also a former UH football coach) and Western Athletic Conference commissioner Karl Benson are also among those believed to be interested.

Wagner was the Rainbows' head coach from 1987 through 1995. UH won the Western Athletic Conference championship and the Holiday Bowl in 1992, and Wagner coached the Rainbows to two other huge victories, over Brigham Young in 1989 and 1990. But after a 4-8 season in 1995, Yoshida fired Wagner.

He joined Tomey's staff in Arizona, and then went to UTEP after Tomey left the Wildcats two years ago.

Wagner was a longtime assistant coach at UH before replacing Tomey as head coach when the latter left for Arizona.

Wagner said his familiarity with Hawaii and extensive contacts he has developed in more than 20 years of coaching make him a good candidate for UH athletic director.

"Being a football coach is like running a mini athletic department," he said. "Anytime you're running a football program you're running a business."

Wagner has a bachelor's degree in business from Wittenberg (Ohio) and a master's in physical education from Ohio. He is working toward a doctorate at Ohio State.

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UH Athletics