Yesterday was a bad news, good news day.

Which, I guess, is better than the other way around.

It's no surprise that Hawaii receivers coach and former offensive coordinator Ron Lee is retiring. This was in the works for some time; when we interviewed Lee and head coach Greg McMackin before spring practice, neither would confirm that the 11-year assistant would be on board in the fall.

Lee says it's “;the right time”; to step down after more than 40 years of coaching, most of it extremely successful. The sad part is he didn't really get a fair chance to show what he could do on the Division I college level with the run-and-shoot.

After nine years as receivers coach for June Jones, Lee became McMackin's offensive coordinator. But while nearly all of the offensive starters from the Sugar Bowl team were gone in 2008, Lee's first season as OC, expectations remained sky high. Lee was forced into some conservative play-calling by the strategic situation (a good defense and an inexperienced offense featuring a quarterback carousel), and he was criticized for it.

Then, last year. One game into the season Lee suggested to McMackin that Nick Rolovich, the second-year quarterbacks coach, be given the play-calling duties. And McMackin took him up on it, leaving Lee to focus on the receivers. Several people close to what happened say a difference of opinion during the heat of battle led to Lee's suggestion. And that's why the quarterbacks coach, not the offensive coordinator, called the plays last fall. It led to Rolovich being named offensive coordinator this offseason.

Lee says he'll take the fall off, focusing on his job as general manager of what most of us locals and thousands of tourists know as the Outrigger Showroom, home of the Society of Seven. He's worked in Waikiki for as long as he's coached, since the early '70s.

Lee and his brother Cal, now the defensive ends coach at UH after two years as defensive coordinator (another story for another day), dominated Hawaii high school football with the run-and-shoot. Interestingly, it's the same offense — at least by name — that UH runs, but no longer with Ron Lee at the controls.

Some of you will think Lee's departure is the good news to which I referred. Wrong — he's an outstanding receivers coach who turned a walk-on into a first-round draft pick (Ashley Lelie), and also helped make stars out of Davone Bess, Jason Rivers, Chad Owens, Ryan Grice-Mullen and Greg Salas. He deserves to be remembered for that, as well as his tremendous record at Kaiser and Saint Louis.

No Ron Lee at UH is bad news for the program, even if it's not a surprise.

Good news? How about The Return of Mouse Davis. Yes, the man most associated with the development of the run-and-shoot, the guru of the four-wide.

McMackin doesn't have much selling to do.

“;I think there's a strong possibility, there's some real positives,”; says Davis, when I ask him if he will return for another tour at UH as the new receivers coach. “;As you know, Hawaii is one of those places you like to get to.”;

Of course, there are those pesky state hiring laws, and someone with a better resume than that of Davis might show up. You know, Vince Lombardi could rise from the dead.

“;And, yes, there is the experience level question,”; Davis adds with a sigh and a laugh.

I ask his age. Davis says 183. It's really just 77, which makes him 11 years older than Lee. What to make of that, I'm not quite sure.

But it appears one legend is set to replace another at UH.

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Reach Star-Bulletin sports columnist Dave Reardon at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address), his “;Quick Reads”; blog at starbulletin.com, and twitter.com/davereardon.