McMackin’s good timing might turn bad with loss

University of Hawaii football coach Greg McMackin, perhaps more than anyone on the Manoa campus these days, can appreciate the importance of timing.

And, we’re not just talking the number of seconds it takes to successfully get off a punt or extra-point kick.

McMackin was in the right place at the right time 33⁄4 years ago when the Warriors were in urgent need of a coach to succeed June Jones, and it paid off handsomely in a five-year contract at $1.1 million per annum.

The timing, however, wasn’t as providential at Nevada-Las Vegas last weekend, where the Warriors were somnolent victims of an 18-point underdog, 40-20. Having it unfold on an 0-2 road trip in front of the school president and representatives of the administration and board of regents in the days prior to talks about a contract extension was worse.

So while people around him say McMackin has told them he is disappointed the administration has taken a wait and see stance on his push for a renewal, the message is clear: timing — and winning — is paramount.

String together a bunch of victories, beginning with tonight’s game against non-major UC Davis, and McMackin, who is 24-20, has some ammunition for an extension, though the financial terms are likely to be somewhat less than the seven figures he currently enjoys.

Win while putting people in the seats and there is much to talk about.

What the 1-2 Warriors and their coach need is something along the lines of last season, when they reeled off six consecutive wins en route to a 10-4 season. And, really, that’s quite attainable if they get on track this week and they can carry it over to their road test at Louisiana Tech next week. Do that and they reach what could be the soft middle of their 13-game regular-season schedule.

Word is that McMackin’s representatives have said their client would take an extension in the neighborhood of $900,000 a year, while UH is believed to be thinking more along the lines of $650,000-$700,000 per year given current financial realities.

Meanwhile, we wait. How the Warriors perform at home — on the field and at the box office — will likely be key to which way the numbers fall. You don’t draw fans without victories and an exciting product, something that will undoubtedly be reflected at the Aloha Stadium turnstiles tonight.

It would take significant cash flow to make a case for the upper salary range in this economy, something not likely to happen if UH is putting only 25,000-30,000 in the seats at Aloha Stadium on a regular basis.

McMackin has reasons aplenty to skipper a turnaround in UH’s fortunes, pride in a job well done being among them. But there is also that contract issue. And, tonight, there is another sidebar: Both UH President M.R.C. Greenwood and Manoa Chancellor Virginia S. Hinshaw are former UC Davis administrators.

As such, you suspect neither would relish having past acquaintances gleefully rubbing in another upset.

Once again, it is all about timing.

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