There were T-shirts and towels and postcard-sized banners attached to chop sticks. With a new coaching staff and schemes, this would be "Chow Time." With music blaring during practices held at a double-espresso pace, this would be "Chow Fun."
But unpunny things happened during Norm Chow’s first season as University of Hawaii head coach. The Warriors struggled to adjust to the pro-set offense and pressing defense. Injuries affected every position, particularly at defensive tackle and nose tackle.
Names were removed from the back of jerseys, unintentionally symbolic of a team in search of an identity, and then replaced collectively with "Imua."
And there were the losses. Nine in the first 10 games. Some were close, many were not.
The Warriors finished strong, with consecutive victories. Several players who were held out last year — quarterback Taylor Graham, defensive end Iuta Tepa, offensive tackle Leo Koloamatangi — discarded their red shirts. The Warriors also filled several needs in recruiting.
Chow also is making several changes — in schemes, in practice times and, even, in the way the newly re-named Rainbow Warriors will enter the field.
Chow, Graham and defensive tackle Siasau "Saui" Matagiese will represent the ‘Bows at the Mountain West Conference Media Preview, which begins today in Las Vegas. Chow addressed several areas of his football program.
On the 3-9 season:
"It was hard. It was difficult. I felt badly for our players. I felt badly that for all the hard work they did, we couldn’t have more success. It hurt. It hurt a lot. We’re all very competitive people."
On what went wrong:
"I think the injuries took their toll. I think the strength of schedule, by moving to the Mountain West, was a difficult task because the teams are so good. But there are no excuses. We don’t make excuses. We keep working."
On adjusting to the new schemes:
"I think that had a lot to do with it. These players weren’t recruited for what we were doing. We went from a cover-4 zone to a tight man-to-man (on defense). We went from the run-and-shoot, obviously, to more of a running game. I think all of those were factors. But it still doesn’t make up for the fact we should have played better."
On the agenda for 2012:
"We wanted to establish what we were about — the discipline, the hard work off the field and in the classroom. Not that it hadn’t been there. It’s always been there. The teams in the past — (Greg McMackin’s) teams and (June Jones’) teams — always played hard. We wanted to put our mark on it."
On what he learned as a first-year head coach:
"I learned more than anybody, I tried to do too much. I tried to manage too much. The uniqueness of football is the different chores everybody has. Everybody has to hit in baseball. Everybody has to shoot in basketball. In football, what one guy does is completely different from what the other guy does. I think I tried to over-manage that. I think our (assistant) coaches did a terrific job of working through all of that. It was a good learning experience for us. You never study to be a head coach.
"When it happened, there was a lot to learn. I didn’t realize the tremendous amount of administrative work that needed to be done that took away from football. I think I need to do a better job of concentrating on our players to make sure they’re doing the right things off the field."
On suspending three players last year following DUI arrests:
"I was disappointed in some of the actions of some players off the field, and how it would be handled. That was all new. You never had to do that before (as an offensive coordinator)."
On changes for this year:
"The very basic premise of coaching football is to make sure you put every player in a position to have success. I think that’s constantly evolving. If we’re not doing that, we’re not coaching. Because of that, you have to evolve. You have to change. Maybe I wasn’t flexible enough, but I wanted to install what I felt was important in the system we wanted to play. The man-to-man coverage. The power football I thought this place could use. It was all done because of the type of players I thought we could recruit."
On tweaking the offense:
"We’re going to take advantage of the skill sets of the players we have. In my mind, we have a tremendously gifted quarterback (Graham). He’s not a running quarterback. He’s more of a drop-back thrower. We would be wrong not to exploit those talents. All that goes back to the basic philosophies I have about coaching. You have to give guys a chance to be successful with what they do best."
On opening the passing game:
"You can’t throw the ball around if you’re not playing good defense. It all starts on defense. We have what we call a game plan for success. The No. 1 goal is to play good defense. If you’re playing good defense, you can take some chances on offense. If you’re not playing good defense, you’d better hold on to the ball as long as you can."
On sharing ideas:
"Every idea is stolen. I benefitted from all the experiences along the way. I worked with some awfully good head coaches. You try to take the best of what everyone had to offer."
On switching to practices from the afternoon to the morning:
"I’ve never practiced in the mornings in 40 years. When I came here, I thought it was best to practice in the afternoon. After the year was over, I sat and visited with the players, the leadership council, especially. I went to those who had done both (practiced in the morning and afternoon). I realized they preferred (the morning). I felt the nutrition part would be better because we could practice, then feed them a good breakfast to start the day. It all kind of fit."
On other changes:
"We weren’t quite happy with the way we entered the field (walking to the sideline before home games). We’re thinking of doing something different from that. I liked the music we played, but we might do something different. But we can’t afford to change uniforms. Changing uniforms costs a lot of money."
