College football head coaches, it has been said, don’t ask Santa Claus for Christmas gifts.

They let their agents negotiate for them.

If you are Nick Rolovich’s agents at the Legacy Agency and his employer, the University of Hawaii, balancing what the coach deserves and what it takes to be competitive while staying within what the school can afford figures to require considerable creativity and flexibility in the coming weeks.

Rolovich and the Rainbow Warriors are coming off an 8-6 (5-3 conference) finish that is the school’s first winning season in eight years and best conference showing in seven years of Mountain West membership. That’s no small accomplishment in a season in which Las Vegas oddsmakers had the over/under on UH’s win total pegged at 3.5 victories.

When audited figures are in, the ’Bows’ attendance could be up as much as 13 percent over last year to a five-year high.

Elsewhere among the ’Bows’ peers that would come with the expectation of a significant raise and extension. But this is UH, where there is an ongoing mandate to rein in finances that has kept Rolovich the lowest-paid ($425,004 plus bonuses) in the 12-member MWC, among the bottom five in the 129-school Football Bowl Subdivision and on one of the shorter leashes.

He has two seasons remaining on what was originally a four-year agreement; he earned an automatic one-year extension from the 2016 Hawaii Bowl appearance. This year’s bowl game did not provide one.

It has been 15 years since UH last paid another head football coach at or below Rolovich’s current contract level. His predecessor, Norm Chow, received $550,008. The one before that, Greg McMackin, was cashing checks of $1.1 million annually when UH was living beyond its means and paying huge buyouts.

Elsewhere, Fresno State head coach Jeff Tedford alone is expected to pocket more for this season than the entire 11-member UH coaching staff (Rolovich and 10 assistants). Boise State is preparing to pay its assistants almost twice as much as UH’s.

The realities are well known to Rolovich. “Do I know I’m one of the lowest-paid coaches (in FBS)? Yes,” Rolovich said. “Do I think Hawaii will ever be a $2 million-a-year job? Probably not. Would I like to see something more competitive for all our (football) coaches? Yes. It is a very competitive business (in which) to get and retain good (assistant) coaches.

“But the other stuff, that you wake up every day in Hawaii, is something that is hard to put a price on. I mean, when you are winning it is (about) how happy can you make people, I think it is hard to put a price on that. And it is not like I’m (unable) to provide for my family right now,” Rolovich said.

His name popped up in connection with Utah State’s coaching search early this month prior to Gary Andersen’s return, to the point where Rolovich held a closed-door meeting with players to assure them he wasn’t going anywhere.

“I can’t make straight comparisons with some other places. I can’t do that,” Rolovich said. “Not with Hawaii. I try not to. I look at it like this: Whether I’m the lowest-paid (coach) in America or I’m one of the highest-paid state workers in Hawaii, with all the issues we have with the homeless, the cost of living, rail, schools and all that, there are needs before moving it to the football coach.”

“So,” Rolovich said, “What are you going to do?”

This, then, is where we see how imaginative and resourceful the parties can be in the days ahead.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.