Ranking the 10 college football head coaching vacancies
Sep 12, 2015; Columbus, OH, USA; Hawaii Warriors running back Paul Harris (29) runs the ball in the second quarter of the game against the Ohio State Buckeyes at Ohio Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports
It’s a shame Norm Chow didn’t become a head coach earlier in his coaching career. Often considered among the brightest offensive minds in college football as a coordinator and play-caller at BYU, N.C. State and USC, Chow probably should have taken an opportunity to lead his own program after helping the Trojans win two national championships (though he did turn down an offer from Kentucky).
Instead he left for the Tennessee Titans, then bounced around as the OC at UCLA and Utah before landing in his home state as the head coach of the Hawai’i Rainbow Warriors prior to the 2012 season at the age of 66. Three-plus years later, with a 10-36 record including a 2-7 mark this year, Chow was fired.
Overall, Hawai’i is a good job. The state has long produced quality offensive and defensive linemen, and the talent among high school skill position players is on the rise (with Marcus Mariota as the most obvious example). The fan base is supportive and passionate when the team is winning, and if you’re into island paradises the local lifestyle can’t be beat.
However, Hawai’i is also the most unique head coaching job in America, in part because of its location so far away from the continental United States that makes it difficult (and expensive) to recruit players from California and the rest of the mainland, but also because the culture is very different overall.
Travel expenses and logistics are also a major challenge for playing games (and scheduling them), which is why cost is a major factor in the search for the next head coach of the Rainbow Warriors. Chow made $637,750 last season, according to USA Today, and his successor isn’t likely to make much more.
Former UH head coach June Jones, who made Hawai’i relevant on a national stage in the early 2000s and led the Warriors to the Sugar Bowl following a 12-0 regular season in 2007, is widely considered to be one of the front-runners for the job.
Now 62 and coming off an embarrassing end to an otherwise tenure with the Mustangs (Jones resigned early during a 1-11 season, but led SMU to four bowl games in six-plus seasons), it’s difficult to imagine Jones building the program back to the heights he enjoyed almost a decade ago. But if there’s anyone that understands Hawai’i football and its challenges, it’s him.
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