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Full-Court Press
YOU can bet the University of Hawaii coaching staff is watching with great interest the potential hire of Norm Chow as offensive coordinator for the USC Trojans. UH recruiters beware:
USC may hire ChowFor nearly two weeks, new Southern California head football coach Pete Carroll has been looking at the current offensive coordinator of North Carolina State as a possible candidate for what he describes as a "critical hire."
Chow is no stranger to Hawaii football fans, who remember him as not only a successful high school coach locally, but the architect of Brigham Young's progressive offensive attack that helped bring the aerial game to the forefront of college football.
For two decades, Chow developed quality National Football League quarterbacks Jim McMahon and Steve Young, as well as Ty Detmer, the only Heisman Trophy winner in WAC history.
This is a man who made the lives of former UH head coaches Dick Tomey and Bob Wagner a living hell by recruiting many of the top-flight local players, particularly those in the Kahuku area.
Before joining North Carolina State's staff last year, Chow went head-to-head in local recruiting wars with Arizona defensive coordinator Duane Akina and former Utah offensive coordinator Tommy Lee, as well as quality mainland programs Colorado, Washington and Oregon.
He won his fair share of recruiting battles here and figures to be a key coach in local recruiting should USC convince him to sign on the dotted line. The Warriors' staff seemingly caught a break after Utah head coach Ron McBride last month demoted Lee, who later resigned.
With his connections to brothers Cal and Ron Lee, the St. Louis School program became a farm team for the Utes the last half of the 1990s. That slowed somewhat after Hawaii head coach June Jones brought Ron Lee on board two years ago. It figures to dry up completely, now that Tommy Lee is gone and Utah is off UH's schedule.
But Chow, with the potential power of USC behind him, could fill that vacuum quite nicely. He understands the special needs of local high school athletes leaving the islands for the first time and he runs an offense that is equally attractive to Jones' run-and-shoot.
Had Chow been at USC one year sooner, it's not hard to imagine athletes of UH quarterback Tim Chang's caliber deciding Los Angeles is a better place to be for an NFL career.
Chow's West Coast style is still the popular rage with many NFL teams. It helped lure one of the nation's prized recruits -- true freshman quarterback Philip Rivers -- to North Carolina State. Rivers is one of the more promising young guns around.
WITH Chow potentially in the recruiting pool, it becomes increasingly difficult for the Warriors to keep all the top athletes home in the class of 2001. Last year, UH was an attractive proposition, coming off a big Oahu Bowl win over Oregon State.
That's not the case this time around, however, as Hawaii struggled to a 3-9 season and has already lost one potential recruit, Kamehameha offensive lineman Donovan Raiola, who verbally committed to Wisconsin last week.
What Hawaii has to offer now is more attractive than what Fred vonAppen could put together the latter half of the decade. But it can't compare to the avenues provided by the Pac-10, Big Ten and Big 12.
Add Chow, who knows the terrain as well as anyone, to the mix and things could get mighty interesting come national signing day on Feb. 7.
Paul Arnett has been covering sports
for the Star-Bulletin since 1990.
Email Paul: parnett@starbulletin.com.