Price fulfills a dream by joining UH football staff

It was in 2002 when Washington State assistant coach Aaron Price and Honolulu-raised quarterback Jason Gesser discussed their future plans.

Price recalled saying: "Some day, I’m going to coach at the University of Hawaii. I don’t know how I’m going to get hired, but some day I’m going to coach there. That’s one of my dreams."

It is a good thing goals don’t come with expiration dates.

Eleven years later, in an office that does not have a name plate on the door, Price is at home. This week, he was hired to the UH coaching staff.

UH coach Norm Chow is waiting to finalize some procedural steps before announcing the coaching assignments. But it appears Price will be heavily involved in the offense.

Price spent the previous five years as Texas-El Paso’s offensive coordinator, using a pro-set system that used techniques and language found in Chow’s offenses.

"It is uncanny the similarities we have as far as belief in the program and style of the program and how we do things," Price said.

After his father, Mike Price, retired as UTEP’s head coach after this past season, Aaron Price sought a Chow-like program. He then learned there would be so-called "adjustments" to UH’s coaching staff this offseason.

With Chow’s busy recruiting schedule — the coach was in three states in a five-day period — Price requested a two-hour meeting on a Monday in Manoa. Chow agreed to meet, and Price paid his own travel expenses.

"I really wanted to get in front of him," Price said. "I thought it was important. Things that you really want, you have to go after."

Price then spent time with several of Chow’s confidantes. After that, Price received the job offer. He addressed the players during a team meeting on Thursday. He spoke of his love of Hawaii’s people and culture, of his desire to work with the players and of the opportunity to work under Chow.

"He’s one of the most respected coaches in the history of college football," Price said. "I worked under my father, who has been such an offensive-minded guy. Now I get to work with another guy like that."

Price was hip-pad high when he contracted football fever.

"When you get the itch," he said, "there’s no stopping it. I knew from the time I was little, I was doing this. I don’t think my mother preferred I go into the ‘family business.’ I knew that’s what I wanted to do."

Genetics were not always helpful. He was a quarterback in high school, but conceded, "I just didn’t grow."

After a year at Weber State, he transferred to Washington State, where his father was head coach. He was the kicker, "by force," but attended the quarterback meetings to learn the offense.

After that, he coached at several schools before returning to Washington State.

"It was great working with him," Price said of his father. "He has a good understanding of what it takes to be a college coach. It’s more than the X’s and O’s. It’s being a mentor."