Singletary gets
chance with Texans

The UH D-line coach
will participate in his
fifth NFL internship

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By Dave Reardon
dreardon@starbulletin.com

A chance meeting on an airplane has led to another NFL internship for Hawaii defensive line coach Vantz Singletary.

This time it's a homecoming, as Singletary returns to his old stomping grounds of Houston to work with the expansion Texans for three weeks in July.

Singletary met Texans' coach Dom Capers last January while Singletary was on the recruiting trail and the two were on the same flight.

"We talked about his time in Hawaii, kind of compared notes," Singletary said of his first conversation with Capers, who was a UH assistant in 1976.

This will be Singletary's fifth NFL internship. His previous stints were with Tampa Bay (1996), New Orleans (1998), San Diego (2000) and Arizona (2001). He joined UH coach June Jones' staff in 1999 partly based on a recommendation by then-Saints coach Mike Ditka.

Singletary said he will use his vacation time from UH to participate in the internship, which pays $2,500 plus expenses.

"The internships have helped me a lot," Singletary said. "It's especially great any time you can go home and crank it up at that level."

He said he looks forward to seeing No. 1 draft pick David Carr, formerly of Fresno State.

"I'll take the high road, but I'll get in his face a little bit for beating them, especially since one of my linemen (La'anui Correa) picked him off," Singletary said.

Meanwhile, as far as Hawaii athletic director Hugh Yoshida is concerned, the Warriors' game against Washington State scheduled for Nov. 30 at Aloha Stadium will be played.

"You never know how these things are going to work out," Yoshida said. "But right now our understanding is it's a go."

WSU coach Mike Price told the Seattle Times last week that he'd rather not play at Hawaii on that date, since the Cougars have changed their schedule for TV reasons and will play UCLA the following Saturday.

Yoshida said he spoke with WSU athletic director Jim Sterk last week and indicated UH wants the game to be played.

A call by the Star-Bulletin to Sterk's office yesterday was not returned.

"If it was earlier, we would try to accommodate them," Yoshida said. "But at this late date it's very doubtful we could find a suitable replacement."

Notre Dame, Texas, Virginia, Iowa State and Purdue have all pulled out of scheduled games at Hawaii since 1999.

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