’Bows still waiting for College Hall of Fame breakthrough

For all their deserving credentials, you still won’t find Tommy Kaulukukui, Jason Elam, Al Noga, Jeris White, or any other recognizable University of Hawaii greats in the College Football Hall of Fame.

We bring this up because the 2019 Hall of Fame ballo t was released Monday and, for what could well be the 50th consecutive year, nobody who wore the rainbow is even up for a vote.

The irony of the situation for the Rainbow Warriors is that the school’s lone official (partially, anyway) representative among more than 1,200 honorees to date, Clark Shaughnessy, is in there despite what he did at UH.

In his one season (1965) as head coach at Manoa, Shaughnessy went 1-8-1.

A 150-106-17 overall record compiled at his six previous stops — Tulane, Loyola (New Orleans), Chicago, Stanford, Maryland and Pittsburgh — is what won him inclusion in 1968.

This year plenty of people who played or coached against UH — including Carson Palmer (USC), Marcus Harris (Wyoming), Tony Gonzales (Cal), Jumbo Elliott (Michigan), Bernard Berrian (Fresno State), Dennis Erickson (Wyoming, Oregon State), Darryl Rogers (San Jose State, Fresno State) and Jim Carlen (South Carolina) — are on the 2019 ballot.

But nobody actually from UH.

Well, unless you count the late Paul Durham, who was a UH athletic director (1968-75) and an instructor in the College of Education for six years. Durham, however, is on the ballot for his 19 seasons as a head football coach at NAIA power Linfield (Ore.) College.

The only Hawaii native in the Hall of Fame is the late “Squirmin’ ” Herman Wedemeyer, a Saint Louis School graduate who starred for Saint Mary’s (1942 and ’45-47) and was elected in 1979.

You can expect to see Marcus Mariota and Manti Te’o eventually join him. Former Leilehua High star Al Harris (Arizona State) had been on the ballot in recent years but has been removed.

As for former UH greats, it is anybody’s guess when one might appear on the ballot, much less be inducted.

“I wish I knew,” said Derek Inouchi, UH Sports Information Director, who has dutifully sent in nominations. Inouchi said he re-nominated Elam again this year but was told Elam didn’t advance past the sectional screening committee. Elam will be eligible for consideration again next year.

Which is interesting because a kicker who is on the ballot, Washington State’s Jason Hanson, and whose era overlapped with Elam, had a lower career field-goal percentage (79 percent to 65.6) and lower extra-point percentage (98.1 to 96.5) than Elam.

At this rate, Elam, who appeared in three Pro Bowls, could get into the Pro Football Hall of Fame before the college version gets around to him.

Criteria for induction includes having received first team All-America honors by an NCAA-recognized entity. Players become eligible for consideration 10 years after their final year of college participation.

Coaches are eligible three years after retirement or immediately upon retirement if at least 70 years old. Active coaches become eligible at age 75. A coach must have been a college head coach for at least 10 years, coached in at least 100 games and have a .600 — or better — career winning percentage.

Meanwhile, UH waits. And waits…