The University of Hawaii is laying the ground work for longer term coaches contracts with a request before the Board of Regents that would give the school president the power to sign off on five-year deals.

“The administration believes that delegating authority to the president to approve coaches’ appointments up to and including five years in duration would increase the university’s ability to compete in a changing market,” a proposal from athletic director David Matlin said.

Currently, the president may sign off on contracts of three years or less, but longer agreements require the regents’ approval. Regents approval would still be required for salaries of $500,000 or more or those that exceed listed salary ranges by more than 25 percent.

The proposal is listed on the agenda for Friday’s board meeting.

The proposed change would also allow the UH president to approve amended contracts up to and including five years. Amended contracts are when additional years are added to what remains on an existing contract.

For example, if men’s basketball coach Eran Ganot receives a multi-year extension in his current negotiations, he could reach five years.

Most UH contracts are in the three-year range. Former Rainbow Wahine volleyball coach Dave Shoji had the longest contract in school history at six years and eight months.

In his proposal, Matlin said a review of 64 contracts for football, men’s basketball and women’s basketball coaches from UH’s “Group of Five”peers “showed 95 percent are five years or longer. … Additionally, there are 29 head coaches of various other sports with contracts of five or more years. As a further example, a review of 49 ‘Power Five’ (conference) head football coach contracts showed that over 70 percent of the contracts were five years or longer.”

Matlin’s proposal contends, “The current practice of requiring the Board leadership approval for appointments and reappoints greater than three years in duration limits employment negotiations and reduces our bargaining power due to the additional time necessary to obtain such approvals. In moments where time is of the essence and a commitment by the university is needed within hours or days instead of weeks or months, such additional time can be fatal. The flexibility to negotiate contract terms with expediency is necessary for the university to pursue highly sought-after coaches to the best of its ability.”

The proposal does not address job-posting protocols, which have also been cited for slowing the hiring process.