Several University of Hawaii coaches have been told their contract extensions are "on the desk" of embattled Manoa Chancellor Tom Apple and said they were assured the agreements will be fully executed.
Athletic director Ben Jay confirmed on Tuesday that 12 contracts with recommendations for extensions "are in Tom’s office" but declined further comment.
Apple’s survival as chancellor two years into a five-year agreement has been the topic of intense speculation amid reports of his impending departure.
Meanwhile, some coaches, such as baseball coach Mike Trapasso and men’s volleyball coach Charlie Wade, have been operating without a contract since July 1, and others, including men’s and women’s basketball coaches Gib Arnold and Laura Beeman, have entered the final year of their agreements.
"If it hasn’t been signed yet, it will be signed, that’s what I’ve been advised," said a coach who asked not to be identified pending the athletic department’s announcement of the execution of the contracts.
All 12 coaches signed term sheets agreeing to extensions earlier this year, some of them with salary increases.
Under UH Board of Regents policy, contract extensions of more than three years and salary adjustments of 25 percent or less, and not exceeding a total annual base salary of $500,000, go to the chancellor for review. Longer extensions and higher pay must be approved by the regents.
Arnold, who has a three-year extension and a $21,000 raise to a $365,000 base pending, has the highest salary among the 12 even as the men’s basketball team is under investigation by the NCAA. Arnold had already earned an additional year under terms of his recently expired deal by virtue of a 20-win season.
Beeman, Trapasso and Wade are also among those recommended for multi-year extensions.
Last week Apple announced a hiring freeze and budget cutbacks on the Manoa campus as of July 15. Agreements agreed to before the deadline are not affected.
