UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII FOOTBALL
Glanville takes hat to PSU
Hawaii's former defensive coach will miss his players but may take Mouse Davis with him
Jerry Glanville wants to make a trade with June Jones.
Glanville -- as of yesterday Jones' former defensive coordinator and the new Portland State head coach -- will mail his company car keys and cell phone to Hawaii in exchange for the Big Bag, the huge blob the Warrior defenders use for gang-tackling practice.
Oh, and Glanville would also like the UH head coach to come to Portland State and run his offense.
Glanville wondered if the Hawaii athletic director might be available to speak with him. "Can you ask Herman Frazier if I have permission to talk to June?"
There's probably a part of Jones that would love to take on another flip-this-program reclamation project, and a third go-round under Glanville -- this time at the school where Jones set records as a run-and-shoot quarterback in the 1970s.
GETTING BETTER
Hawaii's defense improved statistically both years with Jerry Glanville as coordinator
|
Yards |
Points
|
Year |
Allowed |
Allowed
|
2004 |
487.77 |
38.4
|
Rank |
116th |
112th
|
2005 |
438.42 |
35.7 |
|
Rank |
102nd |
110th
|
2006 |
377.79 |
24.1
|
Rank |
93rd |
69th
|
GLANVILLE'S COACHING STOPS
1967: Western Kentucky (Defensive Coordinator)
1968-73: Georgia Tech (Defensive Ends/Outside Linebackers)
1974-76: Detroit Lions (Special Teams/Linebackers)
1977-78: Atlanta Falcons (Secondary)
1979-82: Atlanta Falcons (Defensive Coordinator)
1983: Buffalo Bills (Secondary)
1984-85: Houston Oilers (Defensive Coordinator)
1986-89: Houston Oilers (Head Coach)
1990-93: Atlanta Falcons (Head Coach)
2005-06: Hawaii (Associate Coach/Defensive Coordinator)
2007-??: Portland State (Head Coach)
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But that job will likely go to Mouse Davis, another UH assistant. Davis was Jones' coach at Portland State, and is the man who recommended Glanville to the Vikings.
If there's a bigger legend in Portland than Jones, it is Davis, who is to the Run-and-Shoot what Bill Walsh is to the West Coast Offense.
"If this job was anywhere else, I don't think you would've heard from me," Glanville said at his introductory news conference yesterday after a two-day courtship in Portland. "It was because of two people that have a past history and their plaques hang on the wall in the Athletic Hall of Fame here, June Jones and Mouse Davis. June said, 'You and that school would be tremendous.' "
Davis, previously considered a shoo-in to become Glanville's right-hand man, backed off a little yesterday.
"Jerry and I will talk in the next few days. I want to make sure I'm running the offense before I make the commitment," Davis said. "I want to make sure we know who is doing what up front."
And Glanville said he will interview everyone on the current Vikings staff first, as a point of courtesy.
Jones said he would welcome Davis, 74, to remain on the UH staff, but he understands that his mentor would want to return to where he made his first major mark and run his own flying circus.
"Those two are two peas in a pod. One on offense, one on defense. I'm hoping Mouse does what's best for him. He's got a pretty good deal here," Jones said.
He always knew it was inevitable Glanville, now 65, would move on, probably sooner than later.
"He has made it fun the past couple of years for me. I feel about him the same way I feel about Mouse. That's why they both were here," Jones said. "But, you know, life is that way. You just go with it. ... The fact that the Good Lord let Jerry come back and us be together and mend things, it all happened for a reason. And now he's doing what he wants to do, and I'm happy for him."
Jones coached offense for Glanville at Houston and Atlanta in the NFL, and when Glanville was fired from the Falcons in 1993, Jones became the new head coach. They didn't talk for years, explaining the need to "mend things."
When Jones sent out an SOS to Glanville in 2005 to repair UH's wrecked defense, Glanville (who was about to take a head coaching job at Division II Northern State in South Dakota after 12 years out of the business) felt he had no choice.
"I didn't want to go to Hawaii, but it turned out to be the best thing I did. I have to thank June for making me return the favor (of going to work for him)," Glanville said.
He is taking his wife, Brenda, to their home in Georgia before returning to Portland to start work Monday. He said he regrets that he won't be able to address his former UH players in person.
"I can't get back, so the only way I can thank the players is through the papers. We love what the kids did for us," Glanville said. "I think I told them everything and now I was just getting in the way. They all did a great job of growing in the system."
Backup cornerback Guyton Galdeira said he will miss Glanville.
"Personally, I really like the guy, the energy. I like his coaching style and he brought another perspective to our defense and our team in general," Galdeira said. "I think he got us on a roll and the next coach is going to have to continue that."
Linebacker Adam Leonard said the Warriors have to "look forward."
"I believe the mentality of playing physical and aggressive that he brought us will continue," Leonard said.
Another defense player however, answered "no comment" when asked his thoughts on Glanville's departure, which his facial expression and body language easily translated into "no loss."
No coach is universally loved, but it is obvious Glanville had a positive effect on the Hawaii defense's bottom-line: points allowed. It improved, along with yardage yielded, each year.
It took him a while to learn the players' names, but he got most of them to play together and hit harder than they ever had before. Jones said he's not worried about a drop in intensity, and is prepared to go through spring practice without a coordinator (something UH did in 2004) if necessary.
"I've been through that before with him. What he brought to our team was what you all saw, and that will continue to live on because the players that we have know what we expect," Jones said. "I was part of two other places he left, and those players continued to play exactly like they did when he was coaching."
Jones said he has some ideas on possible replacements, but did not name names. Defensive line coach Jeff Reinebold is considered an early front-runner.
"That's June's call," Glanville said. "But (Reinebold's) a very good football coach."
Glanville, who signed a four-year deal at an undisclosed salary, said "I'm shooting for 2010" when asked when Portland State would play Hawaii. He added that getting Oregon and Oregon State on the PSU schedule is a priority.
"I'm going to talk to the governor about playing them every year," he said. "Right now they play Division I-AA teams from out of state. They should play us."
"Us" changed overnight for The Man in Black.
But this parting is more pleasant than the one in Atlanta back in 1993.
"There's no (hard) feelings at all. He wants me to come up there and run the offense for him," Jones said. "I'm sorry to see him go, but I'm glad it's Portland State. I think it was either hire Jerry or drop football and they made the decision to hire Jerry."
Glanville said, "It's hard to leave Hawaii.
"I never met one person on that island that wasn't super to me."