The University of Hawaii football team’s next head coach is expected to fit into the 50th state’s culture and have a solid offensive plan, and will not be chosen by a selection committee.

“You have character first,” Athletics Director David Matlin said Wednesday, listing some of the criteria. “You have fit for Hawaii. And fit for Hawaii doesn’t mean you had to play here. It doesn’t mean you had to be here. But you have to be able to fit into Hawaii. I think fit is definitely important here. And I think your offensive scheme matters, too.”

Matlin did not pinpoint a date for naming a successor to Nick Rolovich, who is resigning from UH to become Washington State’s head coach.

Matlin said he will not assemble a selection committee. Instead, he will consult with people who have “information or have a certain expertise in a certain area that I want to tap in to.” But they will be in strictly advisory roles.

“I make the recommendation on who we should hire,” said Matlin, who will then forward his choice to UH president David Lassner for final approval.

A few hours after Rolovich gave notice Monday UH posted the job on its website, with wording indicating a new coach could be hired as early as next week. The posting noted “for best consideration, review of applications will begin on Tuesday.”

“We have a timeline that is an aggressive timeline to get things done as soon as possible,” Matlin told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser in a telephone interview. “A timeline is a guideline, and you’re sometimes relying on other people. How quickly can you meet with the people? Sometimes you’re dealing with different people’s schedules. We’re going aggressively to get it done as quick as possible.”

Matlin added: “We want to hire the coach as soon as possible, but more importantly than being soon, we want to get the right person. There are reasons you want to move things and get done quickly, so they can get their staff together and, obviously, out recruiting. But I always think it’s important to get the right person.”

Rolovich, 40, this past season earned about $600,000 on a contract extension he signed earlier in 2019.

He compiled a 28-27 record in four years and led the Rainbow Warriors to three Hawaii Bowl appearances. As a player at UH, he was a record-setting quarterback. He returned to his alma mater in 2016 after four years coaching at Nevada. The Rainbow Warriors represented the West Division in the 2019 Mountain West championship game in Boise, Idaho.

This weekend opens the recruiting period leading to the Feb. 5 signing day. The Rainbow Warriors already have 15 signed commitments for the 2020 recruiting class. The team’s offseason conditioning program also is set to begin next week.

Even though the current staff is still under one-year contract, the university has also posted for the 10 assistant coaching positions. “The reason you do that is so you can start the clock for them, too,” said Matlin, noting it will give a jump start to the hiring process if the next head coach wants to add new coaches.

Matlin said it will be his “strong recommendation” that the next head coach talk to the current assistant coaches while building a staff.

“I think the staff did a great job,” Matlin said. “But you also have to be realistic and know the new person is going to want to bring in some of his people. And, frankly, some people are going to want to leave.”

For now, it is business as usual.

The assistant coaches who attended the American Football Coaches Association’s annual convention in Nashville, Tenn., this past weekend have returned to Hawaii.

“We have to keep working,” Matlin said. “We still have to continue to move forward. But you might make decisions based on, ‘hey, this might not make sense to do right now.’ We might want to push that back two days or move up two days. You might want to make modifications based on what happens each day. One thing I know is in 24 hours, it’s going to look a lot different than it does now.”

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