ARE you ready for some football? VonAppen has an
optimistic outlook for ’97Apparently a lot of fans are, judging by the large turnout at yesterday's Honolulu Quarterback Club luncheon. Cars were double-parked in the lot.
That could only have meant one thing -- the guest speaker was Fred vonAppen, University of Hawaii's football head coach.
Here it was, only May 5, and the crowd was eating up what vonAppen was saying. No margaritas for them, even if it was Cinco de Mayo. Which vonAppen acknowledged, in addition to mentioning for those with a socialist bent that it was Karl Marx's birthday.
But the subject du jour was Rainbow football -- even if the season opener against Minnesota is more than four months off. Aug. 30 to be exact.
I don't know what the odds will be on the game with the Big Ten Gophers, but it won't be even money. The season ends with Notre Dame on Nov. 29. Talk about whopping book ends.
"In the middle there, it's not bad," added Wally English, the Rainbows' new offensive coordinator. Yeah, not bad, if you don't count an Oct. 18 date at BYU.
"We have a reasonably ambitious schedule and an even more ambitious one the next year," said vonAppen, noting that Hawaii opens in 1998 with Arizona and closes with back-to-back games against Northwestern and Michigan.
MINNESOTA, Northwestern, Michigan? Since when did Hawaii join the Big Ten?
Not exactly much room for unbridled optimism about the Rainbows' gridiron future, especially coming off the worst season in history.
As far as his staff is concerned, vonAppen is happy about his two coordinators on both sides of the ball. English and defensive coordinator Don Lindsey have 65 years of experience combined. "Two guys who have been there," he said.
And, although it might not be saying much coming off a 2-10 season, the team should be vastly improved.
"Last year we were just learning how to practice," vonAppen said. "We're definitely ahead at this point."
One thing was evident at spring practice. The quarterbacks -- Stanford transfer Tim Carey and J.C. import Dan Robinson -- can throw the football downfield, something which was lacking last year. The 'Bows can go deep for a change.
ENGLISH likes running backs Quincy Jacobs, another Stanford transfer, and Franklin Saunders. And vonAppen thinks two highly touted freshman recruits who will show up in the fall -- Avion Weaver and Chuck Tharp -- could help right away. Both are all-area players, Weaver from Sacramento and Tharp from the Bay Area.
Weaver was passed up by recruiters because he was a late qualifier. Tharp went unrecruited by the big schools because of his size (he's 5-foot-8, 183 pounds) but vonAppen is already projecting him as one of the kick return men because of his speed.
Forget size. The 'Bows once got a great running back out of high school for the same reason -- Gary Allen. And you know how he turned out. Here's hoping Tharp's the second coming of Allen. And as for return men, there's nobody better than senior Eddie Klaneski, according to vonAppen: "Eddie, we think is as good as anybody's got."
VonAppen also got a boost when 270-pound offensive lineman Sione Tafuna, who lettered as a freshman, postponed plans to go on a Mormon mission and will return to play this fall for the 'Bows. He also said that sophomore QB Josh Skinner has decided to stay with the program instead of transferring.
"Our thing this spring," says vonAppen, "is to expect more from the coaches, the players and the fans."