Sunday, April 1, 2001

Hula Bowl’s
coaching lineup
grows in
prominence

Steve Spurrier will coach
the offense; Erickson and
Toledo are being considered

By Paul Arnett
Star-Bulletin

Hula Bowl chief executive officer Lenny Klompus was at a Dairy Queen on Maui when he got a call from University of Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops.

By virtue of winning the national championship last year, Stoops automatically qualifies as one of the head coaches for next year's Hula Bowl on Maui. He will square off with Michigan's Lloyd Carr, who had all but guaranteed Klompus that quarterback Drew Hansen would come with him, had the talented quarterback not opted to play Major League Baseball.

During last week's conversation, Stoops wanted to know who he could get to be his offensive coordinator. Did Klompus have any ideas?

"I told him he had a great offensive coach on his own staff named Steve Spurrier Jr. Why not bring him?" Klompus said yesterday. "His reply was, 'How about Steve Spurrier?' I told him he would get no argument from me."

After one telephone call, Spurrier said he would be glad to coach the offense in next January's college all-star game on Maui, just as long as Stoops didn't mind handling the defense.

"Coach Stoops said he had no problem with that," Klompus said, then smiled. "He told me he just loves to coach defense. To be honest with you, I think these head coaches enjoy coming out here and teaching again."

Former head coaches Dick Tomey and LaVell Edwards certainly did. Two years ago, Tomey handled the defense as a Hula Bowl assistant and told Klompus he hadn't had that much fun in years. Edwards served as the offensive coach for Florida State's Bobby Bowden in the game played two months ago.

"I thoroughly enjoyed myself," Edwards said. "When you're the head coach, you don't always get the day-to-day contact of coaching in the trenches. This kind of game gives you the opportunity to do just that."

The American Football Coaches Association is looking for one more Division I head coach to serve as an assistant in the game, which continues to grow in popularity. Although Klompus couldn't comment, it's believed the final candidates are Oregon State's Dennis Erickson or UCLA's Bob Toledo.

The remainder of the staff is comprised of the head coaches who win championships at the Division I-AA, II and III levels.

"We feel like we're off to a good start with quality coaches like these," Klompus said. "We're going to meet with the AFCA soon to see if we can extend our current contract with them. Everyone seems pleased with the direction the game has taken in recent years."

The success of the Hula Bowl prompted University of Hawaii officials to see if they could play their first regular-season game off-island. The result is that this year's opener for the Warriors against Montana will be played at Maui's War Memorial Stadium. General admission seats for that game go on sale today.

For more information about tickets for Hawaii's season opener or next year's Hula Bowl, contact the Hula Bowl office on Maui at 808-871-4141.