First off, for all you hoops junkies out there ready for some live action, the 2013 Kapaa Warrior Basketball Tournament is currently being held at the Bernice Hundley Gym in Kapaa. Waimea, Kauai, Kapaa (both varsity and JV) and Hawaii Baptist Academy are playing a round-robin series of games that began Thursday and will continue to run through Saturday.
Three games are set for today starting at 4 p.m. Two more games will be played Saturday at 10 a.m. It’s a great opportunity to see the teams before they get into league play, which is still about a month away.
Alright, now to the gridiron. The University of Hawaii managed to pick up its lone victory of the season in its final opportunity with a 49-42 win over Army on Saturday at Aloha Stadium. The second year of the Norm Chow era did not yield the desired improvement as Hawaii dropped from 3-9 in 2012 to 1-11 in 2013. The promise shown by the defense early in the year faded somewhat down the stretch and quarterback Taylor Graham, who began the season as the new strong-armed starter, had a forgettable year littered with injuries and benchings.
Senior quarterback Sean Schroeder was a pleasant surprise as he came on when Graham went down and held on to the job while putting up some big numbers. Schroeder had a four-game stretch of 300-yard games in which UH lost the four contests by a total of just 24 points. He also finished the year with a pair of monster games, throwing for 499 yards and six touchdowns in a 59-56 overtime loss to Wyoming, before a 322-yard, three-touchdown performance gave the ‘Bows their first win.
In all, Schroeder threw for 2,960 yards, 28 TD’s and 14 interceptions while completing 62 percent of his pass attempts.
Senior wide receiver Chris Gant had a breakout season, hauling in 59 catches for 973 yards and nine touchdowns.
While the offense had some gaudy numbers and the team was competitive in all but four of its games, the results are still irrefutable. As Bill Parcells used to say, “You are what your record says you are.” Yes, there were a pair of overtime losses and some amazing comebacks that came up short, but Coach Chow is now 4-20 in his two seasons – two of those wins coming against small programs like Lamar and South Alabama.
The lack of success has caused some rumblings, as is the norm in college football. While Chow’s hiring was supposed to be a return to the past, some college football insiders think another reunion may be in the works. There are rumors that Southern Methodist University and head coach June Jones aren’t on the same page. The school, though, is unlikely to fire Jones who has taken them to four bowl games and could reach five with a win Saturday over Central Florida. USA Today reported “a lot of unease about the direction of the program, especially in the wake of a 34-0 loss to Houston on Friday.”
Couple that with a Football Rumor Mill report that “head coach Norm Chow is weary of the job already and that the school might be happy for him to move along,” and it doesn’t take much to connect the dots.
Personally, I don’t think Chow will be quitting his position. He’s a proud and successful football coach with decades of experience. I can’t see him walking away after such a disappointing tenure on his home island.
Now, if the UH administration feels a new voice is needed, that would be completely understandable. And the familiarity that Jones would bring should add some fervor and reenergize the dwindling fan base.
My gut tells me that Chow will be back for 2014 with one last chance to turn things around. For now, he’s the head coach at UH and Jones is the head coach at SMU. The rest is pure speculation. Speculation can be fun, though, right?
Well, probably not for Coach Chow.
