X marks the spot for former University of Hawaii head football coaches.
Norm Chow has been named offensive coordinator of the XFL’s Los Angeles franchise, according to an announcement on the team’s official Twitter account. Chow was the Rainbow Warriors’ head coach for 46 games until reaching a severance agreement on Nov. 1, 2015.
Chow’s hiring comes three weeks after June Jones, who coached UH for nine seasons, was named general manager and head coach of the XFL’s Houston franchise.
The eight-team XFL’s inaugural season will begin in February. Wrestling promoter Vince McMahon’s company, Alpha Entertainment, owns the league. The XFL has reached television agreements with ABC, Fox, ESPN and Fox Sports.
This will be a return to the coaches’ booth for 73-year-old Chow, whose coaching career has spanned five decades.
Chow had several coaching roles in 27 seasons at Brigham Young, the last four as offensive coordinator. He also was the offensive coordinator at North Carolina State, USC, UCLA and Utah, as well as with the Tennessee Titans. Chow has coached some of football’s most prolific quarterbacks, including Steve Young, Jim McMahon, Ty Detmer, Philip Rivers, Matt Leinart, Carson Palmer and Vince Young.
At the height of his success at BYU, Chow was not selected as UH’s head coach in 1996. That position went to Fred vonAppen, who lasted three seasons at UH.
In December 2011, Chow was named the successor to Greg McMackin as UH head coach. It was Chow’s first head-coaching job on the collegiate level.
Chow switched the offense from the run-and-shoot to a pro set that employed a tight end. With five offensive play-callers in four seasons, including Chow’s turn after Aaron Price was released before coaching a UH game, the Warriors struggled to find consistency. They went 10-36 during Chow’s tenure.
But Chow proved to be an astute evaluator of talent. Three of his recruits were drafted and seven were on NFL rosters after signing free-agent deals.