It took a while, but Chow finally cast in leading role

“When this caper’s over — and I’m sure it’ll be a successful one — we’ll get down to the Hawaiian Islands, hell, I’ll roll and laugh with all of ya. You’ll find me a different character down there. Right now, it’s a matter of business.”

— Joe Cabot, “Reservoir Dogs”

Has it really been nearly 20 years since Quentin Tarantino’s breakthrough (and still best) movie hit the screen? It seems Norm Chow’s been a candidate for the University of Hawaii head football coach that long, too. And, like the legendary Lawrence Tierney who portrayed the boss of Mr. Pink, Mr. Blue, Mr. Blonde and the rest, Chow’s reputation for crustiness sometimes overshadows an incredible body of work. One produced mostly in the shadows.

Certainly there are different levels of high-maintenance. When Tierney stole a knife (a real one) from Jerry’s cupboard and scared the heck out of the cast and crew, he was never asked back to “Seinfeld.”

Chow, though 65, is far from being a dangerous, crazy old man. But he will have plenty of grudge matches, games on the Warriors schedule against programs where he was the best supporting actor in all the land but never deemed suitable for the starring role as head coach.

If you believe everything you read emanating from the continent, Chow seemed to spend the last couple of decades collecting grudges like kids used to collect POGs.

And I like that.

I like a coach with something to prove. Of course, it’s going to be tough in 2012, opening at USC and then playing at BYU a couple of weeks later — the two stops most noteworthy in the Chow line of producing Heisman Trophy winners and coaching national championship-caliber offenses.

The payback will likely have to come in future years, after Chow has had a chance to recruit to his style of offense. It’s an attack that includes more running backs and tight ends than the run-and-shoot that was modus operandi for UH since 1999 — when June Jones coached his first game, a 62-7 loss to USC (Chow was still at BYU, but he was USC offensive coordinator when the Trojans whacked the Warriors at the Coliseum in 2003).

And, like Joe Cabot, Norm Chow’s a different guy when he’s in Hawaii.

A couple of days before hosting the Warriors, Chow clearly wanted to be doing something other than answering questions from a bunch of reporters — even though we were mostly tossing up softballs for a feature story.

We had a few phone interviews over the years, and all were cordial. The supposedly nasty, gruff Norm Chow was nowhere to be heard. And when he was here to be with his old Punahou teammate, Charley Wedemeyer, at an event in 2005, Chow was relaxed and friendly. A typical hang-loose Hawaii guy, enjoying a too-rare trip home.

WE’LL KNOW soon enough, but my guess is Norm Chow, the UH head coach, will project intensity with the relaxed confidence of someone who knows he’s finally in the job he was born to fill. Will that last through a potentially rough transition season or two? We’ll see.

“He understands the culture, so that is a big plus,” says Cal Lee, who has been friends with Chow since they played CYO basketball against each other when Lee was at St. Patrick’s and Chow at Maryknoll. “This is a great day for UH football. I’m happy for him, even if I’m not (retained on his staff).”

The popular assumption used to be that if Chow ever became the UH head coach some or all of the Lee brothers — Tommy, Ron and Cal — would have prominent roles on his staff. That was back when they were all younger … so again, we’ll see.

Is Norm Chow too old?

Nah, especially if he surrounds himself with some young coaching and recruiting talent. Tony Tuioti is one guy from the current staff who fits the bill. Mark Atuaia — recruited by and coached by Chow at BYU — maybe? He’s still got that energy and enthusiasm from when he was rushing for two bills a game at Kahuku.

THERE WAS no way Dirk Koetter was going to get this job, with the crimes by players he recruited to Arizona State hanging over him. Not in the current environment, where the school administration has a larger say.

Brian Norwood would have been an excellent hire in the character department, and I hope the former Radford and UH standout gets the Penn State gig. In the end, Norm Chow’s fantastic resume made him a no-brainer.

The crusty old character actor gets his turn as leading man.