Things rarely end well for University of Hawaii football coaches.

The only one I remember who went out with just about everyone happy and smiling was Dick Tomey, back in 1988. The parting was tinged with a bit of sadness, because UH was losing a well-liked coach who elevated the program. But people generally understood it was time for Tomey to move on to a bigger stage like Arizona.

He’s the exception. The end is usually not good, including for coaches who do great things for the Hawaii program. That’s true even for Bob Wagner and June Jones, who each in his own way took UH football to unprecedented heights.

Wagner — just three years after leading UH to its only mainland bowl win as Tomey’s replacement — was fired in 1995, and Jones left for a lateral move at SMU after the Sugar Bowl blowout in 2008.

Both seemed to understand they were on borrowed time at Hawaii. But, generally, they made the most of that time.

It doesn’t take a genius to see that current UH coach Norm Chow has more in common with Fred von Appen than with Wagner and Jones. Von Appen’s teams went 5-31 in three years, including 0-12 in 1998. Nearing the end of his third season, Chow’s record is 6-28 after Saturday’s 49-22 train wreck at Colorado State dropped UH to 2-8 this year with three games left.

Hawaii has now lost 17 road games in a row, bringing back bad memories of the late 1990s when von Appen’s teams suffered similar woes.

Winning on the road isn’t easy for anyone, especially a team that calls the middle of the Pacific Ocean home. Von Appen’s teams never won a game on the road and Chow’s have yet to do so.

But it hasn’t always been this way for Hawaii. Jones’ teams won on the road — a lot. So did Wagner’s.

In 1992, when Wagner’s team won the Holiday Bowl in San Diego, it began the season with victories at Oregon and Air Force on the way to 11-2. In 1988 they went 9-3 and won all three road games — at Colorado State, Utah and San Diego State.

So, you can’t blame Wagner for a strong opinion when the current regime complains about the road. He responded on social media to some things he heard during Saturday’s telecast of the UH-CSU game.

"They mentioned Norm complaining of not flying charter to Denver. Nothing against Norm but UH doesn’t need to be hiring Big Time or NFL coaches with no UH loyalty," Wagner wrote on his Facebook page (and approved re-telling here). "UH has always been behind in facilities/support and will be for the foreseeable future. Over the years UH has won a lot of games without a lot of things others have. Doesn’t mean you don’t work behind the scenes to improve things. Charter flights, biggest weight room never won a game, thank goodness!"

In fairness, UH plays more road games now than during Wagner’s tenure. There is a cumulative wearing-down effect toward the end of the season.

But, Wagner illustrates one of the big reasons why Hawaii fans want a change … they’ve seen UH lose like this before, under von Appen, and they’ve seen UH win before, despite the challenges.

Reach Star-Advertiser sports columnist Dave Reardon at dreardon@staradvertiser.com, his “Quick Reads” blog at staradvertiser.com and twitter.com/davereardon.