Ah Mow-Santos’ character sealed the head coach deal

Make no mistake about it, Robyn Ah Mow-Santos is a bold original. But her hiring Monday at the University of Hawaii also fits what is becoming an unmistakable pattern in Manoa.

The announcement of the former UH All-American and Olympic setter as the successor to Dave Shoji as Rainbow Wahine head volleyball coach dovetails with the other marquee hires made in athletic director David Matlin’s soon-to-be two years on the job.

As with the selection of Eran Ganot as men’s basketball coach and choice of Nick Rolovich as football coach, there are some strong, all-in similarities that are hardly coincidental.

Ah Mow-Santos is passionately devoted to her sport, has been an unyielding worker, has a history and investment at UH, has never been a head coach before, and her contract, when finalized, is not likely to break the athletic department piggy bank.

Ganot coached at UH and Rolovich played and coached here.

“They are people that know the culture here and love Hawaii and, I think, that they are similar hires if you look at it in that way,” Shoji acknowledged.

First female Wahine coach

At age 41, Ah Mow-Santos becomes just the third coach overall — and first woman — to head the Rainbow Wahine in the program’s proud 44-year history. That makes her slightly older then Matlin’s other hires, who are in their 30s, but, then, with three Olympiads, including a silver-medal run at Beijing in 2008, she had a longer, more decorated playing career, too.

“With her experience, there probably isn’t anything in volleyball she hasn’t seen,” Shoji said.

Matlin will tell you his blueprint is to put a premium on hiring people who are “tireless workers, people of character and with a ‘why’ for being in Hawaii. It starts with character.”

Indeed, in all three cases, UH had more experienced, often widely traveled options from which to choose. In the latest hire, the one where UH had the most to offer candidates, thanks to a string of 43 consecutive winning seasons, Matlin reportedly passed on a Pac-12 coach.

And, in all three cases, their degree of success will likely have less to do with a command of the X’s and O’s of their sports and more with their ability to recruit.

Matlin also had at least nodding acquaintanceships with all three, identifying them as folks to watch early on. Probably before advertisements of the position went up.

Lasting impression

With Ah Mow-Santos it was apparently time spent talking at the NCAA Tournament in Des Moines, Iowa, in 2015 and a follow-up exit interview when she left UH to follow her military husband to Las Vegas. “I remember a pep talk she gave the team (after UH was down two games to none against Minnesota) and the way players responded to her,” Matlin said. “They want to play for her.”

Matlin said, “When she left UH, I said, ‘Let’s keep in touch.’”

Perhaps the biggest question wasn’t whether UH would hire Ah Mow-Santos, but whether she would work around the challenges of seeking the job.

Shoji said, “I think she met the (application) deadline by a couple of hours.”

With a husband assigned to Nevada, three children, one of them with special needs, there was a lot to consider before taking the plunge. Shoji said, “Early on when she came to coach for us I thought she could end up (coaching) here, but with her husband’s profession I knew there would be some moving around. I just hoped she would hook on somewhere (in coaching).”

That it has turned out to be back here, all things considered, probably isn’t a surprise.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.