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Wednesday, February 28, 2001
Lumpkin Quick. Name the only assistant for the University of Hawaii football team to walk the sidelines in all three postseason games for the Rainbows.
comfortable filling
big shoes at UH
With head coach June Jones
in the hospital, he is making sure
the Warriors don't miss a beatJones' family grateful for support
By Paul Arnett
Star-BulletinNeed a little more help? How about this for a clue? Who was the first assistant June Jones hired after he accepted the head coaching position here in December of 1998? Tough one, huh?
And therein lies the beauty of George Lumpkin's ability to blend in with the different coaching staffs and philosophies that have blown through here on the tradewinds since he first set foot on the UH campus in 1970.
He's not flashy or outspoken. But Lumpkin is the associate head coach and he will be filling in for Jones in some capacity until he has recovered from the auto accident he suffered last week.
"It's not like I'm the head coach," Lumpkin said. "I'm excited about coaching the linebackers in spring practice. That's where my focus will be.
"But I'm not going to be running spring practice. The way June has this all set up, it pretty much runs itself. What I did as the associate head coach, I'll keep doing. But June is the head coach of this team. And we're definitely going to miss him."
THE LUMPKIN FILE
Hometown: Los Angeles
Jones will not be back in time for the spring game that will be played next month. Lumpkin said the main goal of the assistants is to take care of the spring and let Jones take care of himself.
"We don't want to interfere with June getting better," Lumpkin said. "That's the only thing that matters right now -- his health."
Lumpkin first met Jones in the early 1970s. A transfer from Los Angeles Harbor College, Lumpkin played two seasons for former UH head coach Dave Holmes, before becoming a graduate assistant in 1972.
From 1973-95, Lumpkin was an assistant for former head coaches Holmes, Larry Price, Dick Tomey and Bob Wagner. He was not kept on by Fred vonAppen, but remained in the coaching field as an assistant for Kanani Souza at Kamehameha Schools.
After confirming he was taking the UH coaching job, Jones announced in San Diego that Lumpkin was his first choice to be his right-hand man.
The Los Angeles native found out from a local reporter that his name had been mentioned. Would he be interested when Jones called? Lumpkin's response was, of course, predictable.
Back where he belonged, Lumpkin helped the Rainbows turn the most unimaginable of corners in 1999 with an Oahu Bowl win over Oregon State.
It was the third postseason game for Lumpkin and the UH team. He was a defensive assistant in the 1989 Aloha Bowl, a game Hawaii lost to Michigan State.
Three years later, Lumpkin was a key part of the championship season of 1992. That year, Hawaii finished 11-2, with a Holiday Bowl victory over Illinois.
There was a lot of joy for Lumpkin in both of those victories. But he was especially pleased for the 1999 Oahu Bowl winners because of the difficult path they took.
"We knew we were a good team in 1992 because we won a lot of close games with offense and defense," Lumpkin said. "That 1999 team was special because they proved to themselves and members of the community that they were winners after all."
Lumpkin wants to pass on a similar sentiment to this year's team. After the euphoria of 1999, the 3-9 finish of last season is something the assistants want to address right away.
The first practice is set for tomorrow at 7 a.m. There will be another workout on Friday at the same time.
The team will take off Friday and Saturday, before returning to practice on Sunday.
UH Athletics
Ka Leo O Hawaii
