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Tuesday, March 13, 2001
Former University of Hawaii head coach Fred vonAppen will be named special teams assistant for the New York Giants later this week. Ex-UH coach VonAppen
heads to N.Y. GiantsBy Paul Arnett
Star-BulletinReached at his home in Minnesota yesterday, vonAppen couldn't comment on it because he hadn't officially been offered the job, but hoped something would be completed soon.
VonAppen is about to end his one-year contract with the Minnesota Vikings, who fired him a week before he was due to return to Hawaii as part of the coaching staff for the Pro Bowl.
"That was really tough," vonAppen said. "But let's face it, we weren't very good defensively. I was looking forward to coming back to Hawaii for the first time. I felt a little vindication by being on a team that fell one game shy of the Super Bowl. But that's how this business goes. I'm not rich enough or young enough to retire."
VonAppen has spent some time volunteering at a small college located about 30 miles outside of Minneapolis. He helped develop the curriculum for the spring semester, a line of work vonAppen would prefer to coaching.
"I'm tired of living in so many different places," he said. "It looks like I'll be moving again soon. And frankly, it's getting harder and harder. Half of my friends don't know where I am half the time. Hell, I don't know sometimes myself. But you've got to stay employed."
The friendship of VonAppen and New York Giants head coach Jim Fassell dates back to their days at Stanford University. Fassell recently signed a new four-year contract reportedly worth $11 million with the Giants.
"They whipped our butts pretty good in the NFC title game," vonAppen said. "Our secondary was terrible. We played well the first half of the season. But we didn't really play very well toward the end. But hey, I'm too old to be bitter or to get excited."
VonAppen said several of his former UH assistants had landed good jobs. After leaving Vancouver in the Canadian Football League, Don Lindsey is now the defensive coordinator at Mississippi. Tom Williams remains an assistant at Washington, Ken Margerum is the receivers coach at California and Trent Miles is a defensive assistant for the Green Bay Packers.
"I still keep up with Hawaii," vonAppen said. "I saw where Riley (Wallace) really has them going in basketball. That's great. I watched them play Tulsa. They were good. I'm also glad to hear June (Jones) is doing better. His accident sent a ripple through the coaching fraternity."
