You sure won’t think it while looking at Nick Rolovich on the opposing sideline in blue and silver this fall at Aloha Stadium.
And it might not cross your mind when you see what he does with Wolf Pack quarterback Cody Fajardo over the course of the next few seasons.
But Rolovich — our “Rolo” — signing on to the University of Nevada as the Wolf Pack’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Wednesday just might pay dividends for the University of Hawaii down the road.
Clearly, Rolovich, a former Warriors quarterback (2000-01), assistant coach (2008-09) and, most recently, offensive coordinator (2010-11), is a guy with the potential to go places. And we don’t mean just the Manoa-Amherst-Reno shuffle he’s done the past month since the shakeup at UH.
For here is a bright, young (33 this year) guy who will make a good head coach for somebody one of these years. And the hope is that one day it will be back here at his alma mater.
It wouldn’t be a first. It is, in fact, a situation not unlike 1983 when another sharp, former UH quarterback and offensive coordinator of about the same age left Manoa. Maybe you remember him, June Jones?
With Jones calling the plays and doing the coaching, quarterback Raphel Cherry rewrote the UH passing records in one season on head coach Dick Tomey’s staff. Ultimately, Tomey’s philosophy and Jones’ meant moving on, though the two have remained friends.
But people who knew Jones, his acumen and his feeling for Hawaii, had little doubt he’d someday, somehow make his way back here or that UH would be the better for it.
It took 15 years and a circuitous route through the USFL, Canada and the NFL, but Jones found his way back. And, a season after he landed, he brought in a junior college transfer with a five o’clock shadow and Kevlar toughness. Jones taught him the principles of the run-and-shoot. Then, he gave him a start in coaching as a student assistant.
Now, nobody is saying Rolovich will be the head coach of a couple of NFL teams before we see him in green and white again. But the guy is on a head coaching trajectory and has already worked his way back here once.
And anybody who saw Rolovich out-duel Ben Roethlisberger and David Carr in college should not be surprised at what he might be capable of when he sets his mind to a task.
If 66-year-old Greg McMackin had made a success of the UH job and hung on for a few more years, Rolovich might well have been the head coach in waiting. But when McMackin didn’t and the successor, Norm Chow, brought in his own philosophy, it was time for Rolovich to move on.
Perhaps the 65-year-old Chow might have kept Rolovich on board and done some grooming for six or seven years down the road. Though after the fractious way things turned out with Steve Sarkisian and Lane Kiffin at USC, that was probably not to be. Clearly Chow has a history and resulting comfort level with Tommy Lee, his right hand offensive assistant, that he would not have had with Rolovich.
In the long run, it is probably better that Rolovich expands his resume and varies his experiences. To be sure, there is much to be learned from Nevada’s Chris Ault, the Hall of Fame architect of the pistol offense.
Even Chow went to Ault for a tutorial when then-UCLA head coach Rick Neuheisel embarked on his curious affair with the pistol two seasons ago.
The over-under in Reno on how long Rolovich might be able to endure the creative and crusty one they call the “Little General” would make for interesting odds in that gambling city. Especially with Rolovich assuming the twin duties of coordinator and quarterback coach that Ault has held tightly for decades.
But whether it has meant sitting behind Timmy Chang for a while before earning playing time, or working up through the high school and junior college ranks, Rolovich has always been about rolling up his sleeves and paying his dues.
Nobody should be surprised if a stint at Nevada turns out to be a step on his eventual way back to UH.
Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.
