ANNAPOLIS, Md. » About once a week this fall, a tall, fit-looking recent retiree shows up at Rip Miller Field and unceremoniously opens his lawn chair.
He sits, and watches Navy football practice. He takes particular interest in head coach Ken Niumatalolo, offensive coordinator Ivin Jasper and former Hawaii high school players Wave and Blaze Ryder, Kikau Pescaia and especially D.J. Grant-Johnson, who played at Kamehameha on the Big Island.
"I’ve been to about 50 different practice fields. If there’s one better than that, I don’t know where it is," the man says of Miller Field, with its beautiful view of the Chesapeake Bay. "The water, the boats."
But mostly, Bob Wagner watches practice.
"If it’s raining, I don’t go," the former University of Hawaii football coach and retired Kamehameha-Hawaii athletic director said. "Kenny gave me a chance to talk to the team and I told them what a special opportunity they have."
Wagner and his wife, Gloria, have lived in Annapolis since June because their daughter, Christy, works in Washington, D.C. They still own a home on the Big Island. "I’m not staying all winter here," Wagner said.
While he is in Annapolis he loves watching his former players — Niumatalolo and Jasper — coach the Midshipmen.
"I had a full career, so now this is special. I’m extremely proud of Kenny and Ivin," Wagner said. "They’re doing a great job at one of the top educational institutions in the country. They’re two of the highest character people. Smart men."
Niumatalolo said Wagner provides him with "really good insight, but more than anything he’s here as a fan."
"It’s always nice to see him. Brings me back to my roots."
Jasper said it’s surreal to see his college coach more than 20 years later and 5,000 miles away.
"It’s like, wow. It’s just weird. He was a great head coach, my coach, and now he’s in a lawn chair watching us practice," Jasper said. "And now Hawaii’s coming here to play. It’s weird, but it’s a great feeling. It’s something you enjoy and jot down in your memory bank."
Wagner said he is a UH fan unless it is playing Army, Georgia Tech or Navy. His close friends and former UH assistant coaches Rich Ellerson and Paul Johnson coach the Black Knights and Yellow Jackets.
"I’d root for Hawaii all the time if the coach was a former Hawaii player. I’ll be at the game Saturday (when UH plays Navy here)," Wagner said. "I don’t go to the Army-Navy game anymore. It’s too hard. Who do I root for?"
