KITV's Robert Kekaula reports that Ryan Grice-Mullins has signed with an agent, making him ineligible to return to UH for his senior season.
Grice-Mullins will now apply for the 2008 NFL draft.
Don't be surprised if details appear tomorrow at:
http://www.hawaiiathletics.com/pr.html?prid=14874&p=3
Meanwhile, linebacker Adam Leonard said he is returning for his senior season.
"I think I have more to prove," Leonard said. "I feel my best football is ahead of me."
Leonard played all of last season with a fractured right thumb. A recent medical scan showed that a piece of bone broke off completely. He said he will undergo another scan tomorrow, at which time it will be decided if the injury requires surgery. He would miss only a month of lifting if he had surgery.
* * *
It's nice to hear that president David McClain is asking for suggestions before assembling a search committee for the next AD.
In the past five years, too often a selection committee would involve tennis or golf coaches. It appears that McClain wants to ensure that the committee, like the eventual hire, has a strong feel for the islands.
* * *
Call off the search committee.
Cancel the contract with the head-hunters. (That's how we got in this mess in the first place.)
The best candidate to succeed June Jones already is on the payroll, already has a third-floor office with 15-year-old carpet.
My pick is defensive coordinator Greg McMackin.
He's still in town.
Best of all, he knows the town.
He wears slippers to practice. He eats poke. He embraces the Polynesian culture.
He's been in the big time — Miami Hurricanes, Seattle Seahawks, San Francisco 49ers — but doesn't act big time.
He's a football genius. UH doesn't beat Oregon State in the 1999 O‘ahu Bowl without that funky defensive twist, moving up an outside linebacker to create a five-man front.
Last season's comeback victory over San Jose State, the one that spawned the "Believe" rallying cry? That was made possible because McMackin ordered Blaze Soares to heat-seek the running back.
McMackin offers the best chance for continuity in a program that desperately needs stability.
With McMackin, the staff turnover is minimized.
And the systems remain. Ron Lee can run Jones' four-wide offense.
Cal Lee can run the defense.
And two guys with head-coaching futures — Rich Miano and Jeff Reinebold — get to stay in Hawai‘i.
With McMackin, recruiting proceeds as scheduled. It might even improve. McMackin is a skilled recruiter who can work the living rooms. And he could turn loose the Lee brothers, Miano and Reinebold. Cal Lee can land most of the top local prospects.
Most of all, McMackin is a workaholic. That office carpet? Who notices. The floor often is covered with pages and pages of defensive concepts.
Not sure if he would even want the job. But it wouldn't hurt to ask.
* * *
Colt Brennan on the coaching search:
"Hawai‘i is a unique place. You just can't bring in any football coach from anywhere. You've got to bring in someone who understands the culture and the community, as well with the football aspect to it. Coach Jones knew that because he lived here and went to school here, and he came back here years later as a seasoned coach, and balanced those things really well."
* * *
Mad Dog found this funny story from The Associated Press:
Former Michigan State coach John L. Smith, who runs a wide-open offense similar to Jones', is among those being considered for theHawaii job.
"With 18 years of collegiate head coaching experience and over 130 wins, I would hope that would qualify me as a candidate to be the next head coach at the University of Hawaii," Smith told The Associated Press in a telephone interview from his home in Louisville, Ky.
Smith, who was fired following the 2006 season after compiling a 22-26 record with the Spartans, said he couldn't wait to get back to college football.
"I think I could bring high energy and an unsurpassed work ethic to help keep Hawaii at the top of the WAC," he said. "I've had experience recruiting Hawaii, and also Samoa along with of course, the West Coast and the rest of the country."
Hawai'i's Newspaper Online 
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
