Tuesday, January 4, 2000

VonAppen passes
on job as Idaho
assistant

By Paul Arnett
Star-Bulletin

Former University of Hawaii head coach Fred vonAppen turned down a recent offer from the University of Idaho to be a defensive assistant.

VonAppen's wife, Thea, said she didn't believe her husband was interested in coaching at the collegiate level again.

"But you never know," she said last night. "He's still with the University of Washington as a volunteer assistant, but he is exploring other avenues right now."

VonAppen has expressed an interest in working in an NFL front office. He is hoping something will come open either with the Seattle Seahawks or the Oakland Raiders. The Raiders offered him an assistant's position the spring before his last year with the Rainbows, but he turned it down.

He and Seattle Seahawks head coach Mike Holmgren are close friends. They both worked together as assistants for the San Francisco 49ers under the direction of Bill Walsh.

"Fred has to wait until the Seahawks are through in the playoffs to see where things stand," Thea vonAppen said. "It doesn't appear anything is going to come open at Washington, so, all we can do is wait and see what develops."

VonAppen didn't take part in the Holiday Bowl. The Huskies lost a close game to Kansas State. The linebackers coach for the Huskies is former defensive coordinator Tom Williams.

"I know he and Tom were very happy for the (Hawaii) players' accomplishments this season," Thea vonAppen said. "They kept up with it. They were particularly happy for the seniors because those guys had been through so much."

VonAppen was fired in November of 1998 after the Rainbows went 0-12. Hawaii was 5-31 during his three years as head coach. He received a two-year buyout on his contract. UH's attempts to make him work for it as an administrator in the university's system failed in court last spring.