‘Coach Cav’
hooks raise

The offensive line mentor
is expected to receive
a bump in pay after
turning down SJSU

The University of Hawaii Board of Regents was expected to approve an above-scale pay raise for Warriors assistant football coach Mike Cavanaugh at its meeting this morning.

Top scale for football assistants is $100,000 per year. The BOR must approve exceptions.

The amount of the raise was not immediately available and Cavanaugh declined comment on the subject.

Cavanaugh has been UH's offensive line coach since June Jones became UH head coach in 1999. In the six seasons since, Cavanaugh has coached five players (Adrian Klemm, Kaulana Noa, Kynan Forney, Vince Manuwai and Wayne Hunter) who were drafted by NFL teams.

UH allowed 17 sacks last season while throwing 636 passes, and the offensive line helped generate 434.5 yards per game

After last season, Cavanaugh was offered the job of assistant head coach and offensive line coach at San Jose State, under former UH head coach Dick Tomey. Cavanaugh turned down the offer.

Jones was on the mainland yesterday and did not immediately return a phone call.

The BOR was also scheduled to address the preferred seating plan for UH football games at Aloha Stadium proposed by 'Ahahui Koa Anuenue, the UH booster club.

The proposal includes increases ranging from $3,500 to $15,000 this season, rising to $5,000 to $20,000 in 2007 for 1,000 seats in the loge level at Aloha Stadium. Around 670 of the seats are currently held by season-ticket holders. The remaining seats are used by UH, state government and the stadium authority.

» Who has more juice, ESPN or USC?

ESPN has contractual rights to dictate date changes for Western Athletic Conference football games it wants to televise, including UH's season-opening game against USC, Sept. 3 at Aloha Stadium.

"Is it going to stay on Sept. 3? It could, or it could move one way or another," WAC commissioner Karl Benson said.

But if USC has its way, the game will remain on Saturday.

"Our contract says the game is to be played on Sept. 3," USC athletic department spokesman Tim Tessalone said. "I think both USC and Hawaii expect it to be played on that day."

UH athletic director Herman Frazier is also against moving games from Saturday because of the inconvenience for fans and reiterated last night that he would prefer the USC game remain on a Saturday.

If ESPN declines to televise the game because USC demands to play on Saturday, it is likely another network would pick up the Trojans' first game since winning the 2004 national championship.

ESPN also wants to show UH's Nov. 26 home game against Wisconsin, and may request it be changed to Friday, the day after Thanksgiving.

ESPN informed the WAC of several games it wanted to move from Saturday, including the UH games against USC and Wisconsin, on Feb. 1, Benson said.

"By June 1, they will tell us other WAC games they want, which will not move," he said. "The two midweek games are finalized. They are definitely not Hawaii."

Also, ESPNU, which launches March 4 and will be totally devoted to college sports, will likely pick up some Hawaii games, Benson said. Possibilities include UH's home games against Boise State (Oct. 1) and Fresno State (Oct. 29), and the game at Nevada (Nov. 5). The dates of those games would not be changed, Benson said.

"We expect that some WAC games will be shown on ESPNU on Saturdays. It could be three or four," Benson said.

» The beginning and end of UH's spring practice are tentatively set.

The Warriors will begin workouts March 29 and complete them April 22.