FOURTH IN A SERIES
Finding Demo is easy.
The Hawaii football team’s new special teams coordinator — Chris "Demo" Demarest — is somewhere on the Manoa campus overseeing the offseason conditioning program, monitoring the players’ academics, watching videos, making recruiting contacts or preparing for next week’s start of spring training.
"I’ve got all of these texts from people saying, ‘Oh, you’re in paradise,’ " said Demarest, a New Jersey native who was hired in January. "I haven’t seen paradise yet. I’m in the office every day. I think I’ve seen the beach one time. My paradise will come when we win football games."
In his youth, it was easy to find Demarest on Sundays. His father, Jay Demarest, was a high school football coach and athletic director. On Sunday, Demarest would accompany his father to the police station, where films of Friday night’s game were developed.
They would pick up the cartridges of 16mm film, then head to the weekly gathering of coaches in the family basement.
"My mother would have food for them," Demarest recalled. "I remember going down there. My father had the old projector, with the fast-forward and rewind (buttons) on the clicker. My father had a sheet in the basement. They projected it onto the sheet. They would watch film and break down film."
From when he was hip-pad high, Demarest would watch his father coach from the sidelines and in the locker room.
"I heard my father’s speeches," Demarest said. "He didn’t have the best players, but he had the best team. He always talked about playing as a team, playing together, getting it done one way. As a kid, I remembered all of that."
After a career at Northeastern and a brief stay with the Washington Redskins, Demarest sought to follow in his father’s steps and coach at the high school level. Jay Demarest felt otherwise, encouraging his son to pursue coaching jobs at the college level.
Demarest began as a graduate assistant at Rutgers and then a volunteer assistant at East Carolina.
"As you go from place to place, a group of guys go here, a group of guys go there," Demarest said. "They remember you. They up your network."
Along the way, Demarest coached the cornerbacks at Florida State under Hall of Fame coach Bobby Bowden. That led to a job at North Carolina State, in 2000, where Norm Chow was the offensive coordinator.
"That’s when we started to build our friendship," Demarest said.
"Even though Norm was there only one year, we stayed in touch. I told him, ‘If you ever become a head coach, I’d love the opportunity to work with you.’ Fortunately, it happened for him."
Chow was hired as UH’s head coach in December. Demarest was the last to join Chow’s staff.
"He’s a great coach," Demarest said of Chow.
Demarest will coordinate the six special-team units, although the other assistant coaches will contribute.
"We want to be aggressive," Demarest said. "We want to make sure we play really hard, sound football, but take risks at times, calculated risks. That’s where we are right now."
| TODAY’S POSITION >> SPECIAL TEAMS
Chris “Demo” Demarest is coordinator of all of the Warriors’ special-team units. Here’s a look:
>> Key losses: Kicker Kenton Chun, coverage specialist Kenny Estes.
>> By the numbers: Of UH’s 57 punts in 2011, only four were returned.
>> Top returners: Kickers Tyler Hadden and Kyle Niiro; punter Alex Dunnachie; long snapper Luke Ingram; returners Scott Harding and Mike Edwards; coverage specialists Jordan Monico, John Lister, Kamalani Alo and Bubba Poueu-Luna.
>> Keep an eye on: Scott Harding’s 7.4-yard average was the highest for a UH punt returner with at least 10 runbacks since Davone Bess in 2007. After completing a career in Aussie rules football, Harding had to adjust to the NCAA’s rules and equipment. The UH coaches praise Harding’s sure-handed skills and elusiveness.
>> The future: Kicker Edgar Castaneda, a sophomore at City College of San Francisco, joins the mix this summer. Castaneda was the second-most productive California junior college kicker in 2011, averaging 8.6 points per game.
>> Spring work: The key positions are in place. Hadden, who has recovered from a hip injury that hindered his kicks last year, is fully healthy. Dunnachie is probably the Warriors’ top pro prospect. He has not been blocked during his three-year UH career. Ingram is pain-free after playing the entire 2011 season with an injury to his left (throwing) shoulder. Edwards won’t participate in contact drills this spring while recovering from shoulder surgery. That should provide more kick-return reps for Allen Sampson, Will Gregory and Harding. Last year, the Warriors were victimized by several blocked place-kick attempts. The solution? “Repetition and technique,” Demarest said. “And make it demanding. We’ll make it part of an everyday practice. We’ll film it, practice it up, and make sure when we get into a PAT situation, or a field-goal situation, it’s about scoring points. You don’t want to take away those opportunities.”
>> Final words: “The reward of this profession is winning,” Demarest said. “Obviously, watching the players grow as young men on and off the field is very rewarding. But you’re judged by your wins and losses. Let’s call it what it is.”
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