RENO, Nev. » Nick Rolovich and Ashley Lelie performed together at Mackay Stadium once as players. They’ll do so again Saturday against their alma mater as coaches.
It was 11 days after Sept. 11, 2001. Rolovich threw one incomplete pass and Lelie caught eight from Timmy Chang. But Lelie’s best play in Hawaii’s 28-20 loss to Nevada was chasing down a Wolf Pack defender who’d intercepted a pass.
"A lot of scouts asked me about that," said Lelie, who was picked in the first round of the NFL draft by the Broncos the next spring.
In the wake of the terrorist attacks and losing his starting job, Rolovich was set to take the firefighters exam in his native San Francisco. But a season-ending injury to Chang changed that, and Rolovich and Lelie became the most spectacular single-season passing combination in UH history, leading the Warriors to a 9-3 record that climaxed with a 72-45 win over BYU.
So it was disconcerting and disappointing for UH fans when an all-time great like Rolovich ended up with rival Nevada last year. It spawned a gut-wrenching and redemption-filled homecoming for him. He co-directed with longtime Warrior nemesis Chris Ault a plastering of UH’s nonexistent defense, 69-24 at Aloha Stadium.
And now, Lelie has joined the Pack.
Well, at least the veteran of seven NFL seasons isn’t playing for Nevada. The 33-year-old who twice led the league in yards-per-catch looks like he could still pull in a few bombs.
As they entered the Little Waldorf Saloon on Thursday — think the good parts of Murphy’s and Anna Banana’s combined, and right next to campus — I told them I’ll never get used to them in that blue Nevada garb.
Both smiled and Rolo barked, "Hey, ya gotta eat!"
Rolovich, who was UH’s offensive coordinator, was cut loose with all but one other assistant coach when Norm Chow replaced Greg McMackin at UH before last season. Lelie was a student manager at Manoa, and Rolovich recommended him for the Nevada GA opening last summer.
You have to go where the work is.
"I’ve always heard, ‘You haven’t made it in this business until you’ve been fired,’" Rolovich said.
It happens — but not always at a place where you made an indelible mark as a player. Rolovich is an emotional guy to begin with, so the situation created a maelstrom.
"At first there was some confusion, some anger, some (thoughts of) revenge," he said. "I spent a third of my life there. Met my wife, had a baby there, had left (as a player) in 2001 on such a good note."
So you do the only thing you can do. Your best.
"Not out of anger, out of respect," said Rolovich, who greatly admires the football culture in Hawaii. "They still want to see a warrior on the field. They know toughness, they know respect and they know how to fight."
Lelie wasn’t fired. But he’s still going up against the school where he starred.
"Right now it just hasn’t hit me yet," he said Thursday. "I probably won’t really feel it until after the game. I went to the high school (Radford) right by the stadium. I still have a home (in Hawaii Kai) and the security guards at my building were already talking smack in the summer."
Lelie began as a raw walk-on at UH. He was looking forward to helping the Rainbows’ flock of young receivers develop.
"That was probably the toughest thing about leaving, not getting to work with those guys," he said. "They’re going to grow and progress."
Of course he wants that to be on hold for a couple of days.
