Reinebold & Recruiting

First of all, it's great news that Coach Jeff Reinebold is still a Warrior!

Reinebold was a finalist for a coaching job with the Oakland Raiders.

The Raiders requested — and received — permission from UH coach June Jones to interview Reinebold for the job as special teams coordinator.

Reinebold met with Raider officials Monday and Tuesday in Oakland.

On Tuesday night, Jones recalled, "I talked to (Oakland head coach) Lane Kiffin and I felt he was going to offer the job to Jeff."

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But Reinebold, whose right leg and arms are covered with Polynesian tattoos, said it would be too difficult to leave a program that has become his hanai family.

"When the plane started its descent to the Islands, I felt like I was coming home," Reinebold said. "I've got an awful lot invested here emotionally."

He said his decision became easier after four of his recruits — Ray Hisatake, Francis Maka, Jake Patek and Myron Newberry — stopped by his office yesterday.

"It was like, 'Oh, my gosh,' " Reinebold said. "All of a sudden it hits you. You get emotionally attached to these players. You're not supposed to, but you can't help it. I've never been able to coach the game without getting attached. It's hard for anybody who doesn't do this to understand."

Jones said: "Lucky for us he's not leaving. Jeff is as good a coach as (defensive coordinator) Jerry (Glanville) and I have ever had."

Stephen Tsai with the inside scoops. Glad to hear "Sun God" will be here, and it sounds like he'll be here for a while.

Back to the new recruits, many of which Reinebold recruited, Stephen Tsai writes that Korey Reynolds will become a Warrior, after a night of deliberation, after all.

During Hoover's news conference Wednesday, Reynolds, wearing a lei, signed his UH letter. His father co-signed.

But later Wednesday, Auburn made a gray-shirt offer to Reynolds. In deciding to mull the offer overnight, the Reynolds did not fax a copy of the signed letter to UH. The NCAA recognizes a faxed copy as a binding agreement.

Late yesterday morning, Korey Reynolds reaffirmed his commitment to UH. The Warriors received his fax yesterday afternoon.

Right on! Glad Korey is a Warrior!

Jason Kaneshiro has a round-up of this year's recruits and how they'll help down the line and along the line.

Jones said defensive ends Christopher Leatigaga (6-5, 250) and Joshua Leonard (6-4, 275) will be in the mix to replace seniors Melila Purcell and Ikaika Alama-Francis. Jones said returning defensive linemen Amani Purcell, John Fonoti, Victor Clore and Nate Russell will have a chance to develop into contributors up front, "and when we add these other kids with them we're pretty good."

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"When you talk to these kids, they feel something different when they come on their recruiting trip," Jones said. "We may not have a lot of the things other schools have, but we do have a great unity and a great family atmosphere and the kids like it here. They like playing with each other and they like playing for the coaches we have."

Great job of Coach Jones for fostering this type of atmosphere at UH. And finally, on this page, the Honolulu Advertiser has links to video of Jones' press conference discussing the recruits.