McMackin and Lumpkin Interview / Budget

In what's looking more and more like mere formalities, Greg McMackin and George Lumpkin will be interviewed for the head coaching position today, writes Stephen Tsai:

Greg McMackin could be chosen as the University of Hawai'i's next head football coach as early as tonight, according to people familiar with the situation.

McMackin, the Warriors' defensive coordinator in 1999 and 2007, and associate head coach George Lumpkin are the only confirmed candidates who will meet with the selection committee this afternoon.

And this is awesome:

Even Lumpkin said he supports McMackin's candidacy.

"Mac and I are really close," Lumpkin said. "He's a really good friend. He knows I think he's a great coach."

Lumpkin, meanwhile, said he applied as a way to "make sure that one of us is there to keep the staff together."

Adds Dave Reardon:

Lumpkin is a guy who has done whatever is needed for the program the past 35-plus years. Today it’s being a candidate for head coach although the entire world knows Greg McMackin is nearly a lock for the job.

Lumpkin will be retained on the new staff. That wasn’t the case when Fred von Appen took over in 1996.

Nice.

Jeff Reinebold talks to Michael Tsai about recruiting during this waiting period and the work that lies ahead once a head coach is hired.

Reinebold said he and other assistants have maintained weekly telephone contact with recruits, as allowed by NCAA regulations, during the upheaval following June Jones' departure for Southern Methodist University and the firing of Frazier.

"We've been trying, in our own individual ways, to contact players and encourage them not to sign (with another school) yet," Reinebold said. "There is no need for them to hurry, just let the dealer deal all the cards."

Reinebold said it will be important to determine how many of the program's "gray shirts" — players who are sitting out a semester to preserve their maximum five years of NCAA eligibility — will honor their commitment to the team.

That count will affect the total number of scholarships the team is able to offer.

NCAA Division I programs can offer a maximum of 25 scholarships per class, and carry a maximum of 85 scholarship athletes overall.

Because of the late start, Reinebold said it is likely this year's Warriors class will number about 20.

"That's why it's so important that we have a quality class," he said. "I'm sure we'll have a great class."

Just hope Reinebold will be a part of the new UH football staff.

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Some encouraging words for UH in a couple articles about budget requests. From B.J. Reyes of the Star-Bulletin.

The departure of University of Hawaii football coach June Jones, and the highly publicized reasons behind it, were helpful in one sense to Manoa Chancellor Virginia Hinshaw.

"It has, to me, emphasized the need for change," Hinshaw told lawmakers yesterday.

Stressing the need to develop public-private partnerships and find new streams of revenue, university officials formally briefed lawmakers on their budget requests for the next fiscal year.

University President David McClain said it was imperative that the system seek out and develop more public-private partnerships, such as the one developed through a $25 million donation by real estate investor and UH alumnus Jay Shidler to what is now called the Shidler College of Business.

From Loren Moreno of the Advertiser:

The success of the UH football team last year will likely lead to more private money coming into the program.

"I've ... had a number of private sector people turn to me and say, 'We now understand something we didn't get before: We understand the transformational power of Warrior football in this state,' " McClain told legislators.

The university is requesting some $100 million in its capital improvement budget, which includes money to renovate athletic offices, locker rooms and other athletic facilities.

State Rep. K. Mark Takai, D-34th (Newtown, Waiau, Pearl City), said he will ask lawmakers to support about $25 million in line-item construction money for UH athletic facilities.