In a spring practice that became a mini reunion, five former Hawaii coaches acknowledged these are the football program’s glory days.
“Rolo is doing a great job,” former UH coach and quarterback June Jones said of head coach Nick Rolovich. “It’ll be fun to watch them this year.”
Jones, George Lumpkin, Dan Morrison, Rich Miano and Kanani Souza attended Thursday’s practice, the fourth of the Rainbow Warriors’ spring training. Lumpkin spent 39 seasons as defensive back and assistant coach. Miano logged 18 years as a safety and coach bracketing an 11-season career in the NFL. The five have a collective 90 years of experience as UH players and coaches.
“I went to most of the games last year,” said Lumpkin, who was not retained after Greg McMackin was forced out as head coach following the 2011 season. “I wish success for Rolo.”
Lumpkin marveled at the upgrades.
“The training room is remodeled,” Lumpkin said. “The locker rooms look like real locker rooms. I remember when I used to recruit. I wouldn’t show a guy the locker rooms. I’d walk right by them. Now they’re able to give them fruit and juice in the weight room. We weren’t able to give them that stuff.”
Lumpkin remembered how before each practice the coaches had to walk the grass field to pick up golf balls left behind by a physical-education class. Souza, who coached 12 years at UH, recalled how water used to accumulate in a corner of that field. If rain had transformed that area into what Souza termed a “swamp,” he would be in charge of alerting groundskeepers. “That would be one of my jobs,” said Souza, whose main role was to coach the offensive linemen.
Lumpkin said the “facilities are so much better now. They’re like Cadillacs compared to what we had.”
Jones praised Rolovich for last season’s revival of the run-and-shoot offense, teaching concepts that will add to production, and creating a supportive but competitive environment. “The technique on the routes is good,” Jones said. “The kids are learning the speed cuts. They’ll be better next year.”
Rolovich, similar to when Jones was UH’s head coach, is the primary play-caller. It is that innovation and feistiness that led Jones, when he was head coach, to recruit Rolovich to a crowded quarterback competition nearly 20 years ago.
”If you’re afraid to compete, you’ve got the wrong guy,” Jones said. “Rolo was the best. He was a gamer. I knew he had the athleticism with his arm. He was a very accurate passer, and he could throw the deep ball. He was a competitor.”
“That’s life,” Rolovich said of competitive situations. “There are very few people who got just a smooth sail through life. That doesn’t sound fun to me. You’ve got to test yourself. You’ve got to see what you’ve got inside yourself. How much do you believe in yourself?”
During Thursday’s practice, Rolovich thanked the former coaches for being “bricklayers of the foundation of some positive movement in the program.” Rolovich also said it was helpful for the alumni to share their stories with the current Warriors.
“It’s good for the guys to hear it from the guys who come back,” Rolovich said. “It’s usually the same message. That’ll be them some day.”
