Miano won’t return to coach Warriors

EL PASO, TEXAS » Long-time University of Hawaii football coach Rich Miano won’t be back with the UH coaching staff.

Miano, a former UH star and 11-year NFL veteran, said he spoke with new UH head coach Norm Chow on Monday and was notified.

Miano, who was the associate head coach under Greg McMackin, spent 13 years as an assistant with UH.

Chow, who was named head coach Dec. 22, said he will not begin assembling his football staff until the new year.

Chow said he has spoken with some candidates, including some from UH’s 2011 staff, but will not make any decisions on hiring until after interviewing more coaches and reviewing formal applications.

As for reports of potential coaches, Chow insisted, “We haven’t hired anybody yet.”

Chow, who is in El Paso to coach Utah’s offense in Saturday’s Sun Bowl, said he has started to compile a list of recruits.

“We want to call some local guys (to) see if they’ll listen to us before they commit,” Chow said.

Feb. 1 is the first day recruits can sign national letters of intent. There are four weekends in January during which recruits can visit.

The NCAA has deemed this week a dead period in recruiting, during which coaches may not have in-person contact with prospects and are limited to one outgoing call. There is a brief contact period next week.

Chow said he will implement a pro-style offense that might retain some elements of the run-and-shoot scheme the Warriors ran the past 13 seasons. The run-and-shoot offense does not employ a tight end or fullback. Chow said those two positions will be part of the Warriors’ new offense. Chow said plans are to recruit two tight ends, as well as “see who can play tight end from” the current roster.

Of his offense, he said, “You’ll see a tight end, but not all of the time.”

Of using a second back, Chow said, “You’ll see that, too.”

Chow promised an attacking defense that is not locked into a specific formation.

“Whoever we hire is going to have to be versatile to both (4-3 and 3-4 alignments),” Chow said. “The NFL does it all of the time. You have to have the right guys. If we have a lot of linebackers, we’ll probably play an odd front. If we have linemen, we’ll probably play an even front. We’ll have to do both, anyway. We’ll have a hybrid guy, and he’ll stand up or go down depending on the situation.”