Friday, October 12, 2001
[ UH FOOTBALL ]
BOB Wagner loves Hawaii. But he doesn't always love coming back to Hawaii. Home for a visit
By Dave Reardon
dreardon@starbulletin.com"When I'm on vacation it's enjoyable," he said. "But returning to coach is less than pleasurable. It's very awkward."
Wagner, 54, was a football coach at UH for 19 years before being fired from the head coaching job in 1995. He first experienced the melancholy feeling of returning as a coach for the visiting team three years ago as an Arizona assistant. The Wildcats' 27-6 victory over the Rainbows didn't give him a sense of vindication, just more emptiness.
Tomorrow he must endure that emotion again. He is now the Texas-El Paso defensive coordinator and the Miners (2-3, 1-1 WAC) play the Warriors (2-2, 1-2) at Aloha Stadium.
For three hours tomorrow, after a week of preparation, Wagner must try to beat the school for which he coached nearly two decades.
Although UTEP was pounded 56-7 by Alabama last week, Hawaii coach June Jones said Wagner will have the Miners' defense ready for his run-and-shoot passing attack.
"Wherever he's been, they play great defense. They played very well when he was head coach here and he did a great job at Arizona for two years," Jones said. "I'm sure he'll have something for us."
Wagner says his heart is still with Hawaii -- more with the state, his former home, than with the team; there is only one player left at UH whom he recruited.
Wagner was a true kamaaina who loved the ocean and the people and the way of life. He met his wife in Hawaii. He volunteered as a Big Brother before his daughter was born here.
The bitterness and the longing to return have subsided somewhat, but not totally.
"That's really home," the Ohio native said. "My wife and I spent most of our adult life there. She went to UH. Not a week goes by that we don't talk about Hawaii and our desire to go back (to live)."
After the 1999 season, Wagner expressed interest in UH's defensive coordinator opening. But Jones filled the spot with its current occupant, Kevin Lempa.
Wagner was then the inside linebackers coach at Arizona, working for Dick Tomey, another former UH head coach. Wagner also worked under Tomey at UH from 1977 to 1986.
"Wags has a tremendous love for the game and a tremendous understanding of all its aspects and I think it comes through to the players that he is really someone who is knowledgeable, and if the player does what he says, he can be successful," said Tomey, who is now a color analyst for UH football telecasts.
"He has a tremendous background in the game and a total understanding. That goes for offense, defense and the kicking game. He added a lot to our program in Hawaii and at Arizona."
Wagner's legacy at Hawaii includes a nine-season record as head coach of 58-49-3 after he replaced Tomey in 1987. He was WAC Coach of the Year twice, and led UH to the conference championship in 1992 and a No. 20 national ranking after winning the Holiday Bowl. He also coached Hawaii to two huge victories over rival Brigham Young: 56-14 in 1989 and 59-28 in 1990. Attendance for most home games was above 40,000.
But after 1992, Wagner's record was 13-25-1 (and 5-19 in the WAC). Attendance fell off significantly. Also, toward the end of the 4-8 season of 1995, internal dissension wracked the Rainbows.
Defensive coordinator, UTEP BOB WAGNER
Education: B.S., business administration, Wittenberg, 1969 (played football and lacrosse); master's, physical education, Ohio, 1971.
Major college resume: Washington graduate assistant, 1976; Hawaii assistant, 1977-1986; Hawaii head coach, 1987-1995; Arizona assistant, 1998-2000.
Bowl games: Aloha Bowl (Hawaii, 1989), Holiday Bowl (Hawaii, 1992), Holiday Bowl (Arizona, 1998), also numerous all-star bowls.
"It was pretty much going downhill already," said Sione Tafuna, who was a freshman scout team player that year and is now a senior defensive lineman for UH.
"Everyone knew some change was coming about. Guys were not going to practice, they knew. There would be guys, players, in the dorm over there shouting at us to leave practice," said Tafuna, a Kalani graduate. "The team was divided and everything was chaos. The black guys were divided against the local guys, the offense was divided against the defense. He was a great coach, but I got there at the end and it wasn't going too good."
As the saying goes, you can't fire the team, so Wagner was forced to resign a week before the season's end, with a $200,000 buyout. Four seniors sat out the final game (a 24-20 loss to Oklahoma State) in protest, but nothing could save Wagner's job.
His replacement, Fred vonAppen, went 5-31 in three seasons, and UH is 19-46 since Wagner's departure.
Athletic director Hugh Yoshida said he does not regret his decision.
"It was tough. Any time you change leadership it's tough. He did a lot of good things, took the team to championships and bowls. At the same time the program was not where we wanted it to be," Yoshida said.
"We felt a change in leadership at that time was necessary. If I had to do it over I probably would have handled it differently, after the season was over. We probably could have done it better. But the timing of recruiting and getting a new coach factored in. In reflection we should have waited until the end of the season. I think we learned from it."
Wagner and his supporters learned that no job is safe if the wins and attendance decline. It's a fact of life in college coaching, but it clashes with many cultural values, especially in Hawaii.
Tomey left Arizona after last season to stop what he termed "public debate" stemming from losses. ("On Oct. 25 we were in the Top 25. We lost three straight games and some people in our community made it less than enjoyable," Tomey said.)
The experience added to his perspective of what his longtime friend and colleague went through.
"I wasn't here, so I can't really say I have a full understanding of what happened. I just know that it appeared that things could've been handled better," Tomey said. "I think athletic administrations all have the right to make any changes they want. But all too often they're done very sloppily, without a sense of humanity. In every situation people need to make sure they do it with humanity and dignity. If that's done they can make any decision they want. That's part of the deal."
When a head coach is forced to leave, usually all or most of his staff is shown the door, too. When Wagner was fired, all of his assistants were sent packing with him.
Among them was George Lumpkin, the current associate head coach who returned when Jones took over in 1999. Lumpkin had worked with Wagner at Hawaii since the 1970s.
"Wags is a good guy," Lumpkin said. "What happened to him, actually all of us on that staff, happens a lot because sometimes the administration has to make a tough call. It will be good to see him again. It's always good to see a friend."
Lumpkin spent the seasons away from UH coaching at Kamehameha with another former Rainbow assistant, Kanani Souza.
"That was a great experience, I loved working with the kids," Lumpkin said. "It was something I always wanted to do. I kind of figured I'd end up back here, and it did happen that way."
Tomey said losing his job at Arizona "was the best thing for me."
"If I had total support from everyone, I would have stayed. But sometimes familiarity breeds contempt," he said. "I love what I'm doing now and I'm learning every week."
As for Bob Wagner, he still loves coaching. But he's not really sure where he wants to be and hasn't been for six years. The realization is slow in coming that he may never truly return home again.
"There are a lot of positives to reflect on. In 19 years I felt there were a lot of great things, with Dick and after, the program came a long way. We have some great memories. I still have a passion for Hawaii. That's why it's very awkward. We have a lot of friends there and people have been very supportive.
"Our lives certainly changed a lot."