Some University of Hawaii football fans say the answer is easy regarding hiring a new coach: Reach back to what worked in the past.

That means June Jones and the run-and-shoot offense.

But athletic director David Matlin hasn’t ruled out any possibilities for Norm Chow’s replacement, and with a flexible timeline could eventually hire someone currently working. Could his options include THE option — reaching further back to the triple-option UH ran in the late 1980s and early ’90s under Bob Wagner and offensive coordinator Paul Johnson?

Navy offensive coordinator Ivin Jasper knows it inside and out. Maybe he could become head coach at UH, his alma mater.

Anyone who didn’t immediately rip this page into confetti to throw at the high school tournament games, or skip to the comments section to sarcastically suggest reaching even further back to the Hula T?

Thanks for hanging in there, Mom. And maybe Michael Carter and Travis Sims are still reading, too. Possibly Darrick Branch and John Veneri.

They all played for UH (well, yeah, except for Mom) in a version of what is now called the flexbone. With it, Hawaii notched its first conference championship and to this day its only postseason win away from the islands, the 1992 Holiday Bowl.

Some fans say this offense is boring, because it’s run, run, run. Well, not always; UH went to the airways to beat Brigham Young twice, 56-14 and 59-28 in 1989 and 1990.

Veneri, now the color analyst for UH radio broadcasts, was a slotback on the Holiday Bowl team. He’s seen the offense up close at its best and its worst — like in 1994 when the 3-7-1 season included a 14-3 loss to Utah.

"I don’t know if Hawaii is ready for that," Veneri said. "It can be exciting at times. But when it’s not working right it’s slow."

It certainly works for Navy. On Saturday, the visiting Midshipmen clobbered No. 15 Memphis 45-20 to improve to 7-1 and a No. 22 ranking.

Navy’s head coach is Ken Niumatalolo, who learned the offense while a quarterback at UH. His teams are 64-36 since he took the helm in 2007. Sorry, he’s not leaving Annapolis any time soon, in the midst of a long-term contract that pays him $1.7 million a year.

But Jasper, 45, also a former Rainbows quarterback, might be interested. He and his family have developed roots during 16 years at Navy, but Jasper has said he’d like to become a head coach at the right time and place.

"He’s a good coach and well-respected by his players," Veneri said of Jasper, who was his teammate at UH. "And he’s been running that offense a long time, even made some changes to it. It’s an offense he can get players for."

You don’t need five-star recruits to win with it. Air Force tore up Hawaii for 58 points running an option attack last week.

Your defense is on the field less and not as likely to wear down.

Quarterback Ikaika Woolsey, a senior next year, has the skill set to operate it.

Yes, the flexbone isn’t as flashy as the run-and-shoot. But if Jasper is interested, it’s an option.

Reach Dave Reardon at dreardon@staradvertiser.com or 529-4783. His blog is at Hawaiiwarriorworld.com/quick-reads.