STAR-BULLETIN / NOVEMBER 2001
Kevin Lempa will leave his defensive coordinator job at Hawaii for Boston College, where he coached from 1981 to 1990.
Lempa leaves for BC Hawaii defensive coordinator Kevin Lempa is leaving the Warriors after three seasons to be the defensive backs coach at Boston College.
Hawaii's defensive coordinator
will go back to the Eagles
to become secondary coachBy Dave Reardon
dreardon@starbulletin.com"This is the toughest part of the business, but it's part of the business for just about everyone," Lempa told the Star-Bulletin last night.
He replaces Bob Shoop, who became Columbia's head coach last month. Lempa said Boston College called Hawaii coach June Jones for permission to interview Lempa.
"It's time for me to go back to my part of the country," said Lempa, who is from Hartford, Conn.
Lempa previously coached linebackers and special teams at Boston College from 1981 to 1990.
The Warriors' defense produced several All-Western Athletic Conference players during Lempa's tenure, including linebackers Chris Brown and Pisa Tinoisamoa.
UH's defense has been overshadowed by the Warriors' run-and-shoot offense. But Lempa's high-risk blitzing schemes have helped UH compile an overall record of 22-16 in his three years at Manoa. Some of the Warriors' most memorable plays of the past two seasons have been turned in by UH's defense, including Nate Jackson's sack of David Carr in a victory over Fresno State two years ago, and Houston Ala's game-ending tackle in a win at Rice last year.
"The kids here are the toughest players I've ever been around. I've said that a hundred times," Lempa said. "The last three years on this island have been a wonderful experience for me and my family."
Lempa was a wide receiver at Southern Connecticut State, and he coached that position at his alma mater in 1974 and 1975. He also coached receivers at Wesleyan in 1976.
His first defensive job was coaching the secondary at Maine from 1977 to 1980.
After the previous Boston College stint, he became the defensive coordinator at Dartmouth. In 1996, the Big Green went 10-0 while Lempa's defense was second in the nation in points allowed per game.
Lempa jumped to the NFL in 1997, when he became a defensive assistant for the San Diego Chargers and first worked with Jones.
Lempa succeeded Greg McMackin as Hawaii defensive coordinator going into the 2000 season.
Possible successors to Lempa include former Saint Louis School head coach Cal Lee and UH defensive backs coach Rich Miano.
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