Saturday News

Michael Tsai wrote about the UH Board of Regents approving the buyout of Herman Frazier's contract and the appointment of Carl Clapp as interim AD.

"I still need to work with (McMackin) as he puts together his staff, gets on the recruiting trail and transitions the program," Clapp said.

Clapp said he will put "as much energy as I can" into addressing long-delayed improvements to Cook Field and other facilities, as well as the completion of the department's third-floor office space.

Clapp will also work with administrators to put together a five- to eight-year master plan to guide the department.

Dave Reardon spoke to Clapp about the items on his agenda.

One of the biggest criticisms of Frazier, who was fired last week, was the 2007 football schedule that was short a game and included two meetings with Division I-AA teams.

The 2008 schedule is set, and Frazier was nearly done with 2009.

"We will pick up on work in progress," said Clapp, a few minutes after being approved by the Board of Regents yesterday. "It's probably something I delve into this weekend, get myself a little more up to date. I think we are in pretty good shape, but we have to remain vigilant to stay there and continue to work on it and see what opportunities there are."

"I'm anticipating that I will be spending time with the legislature, and will do everything we can to make sure they're informed as they can be," Clapp said. "I also respect that they have a lot of priorities and some really key decisions to make as well. Anything I can do to get them information and assist and facilitate, we'll definitely be doing.

That article also contained news and notes about Kealoha Pilares and Daniel Libre possibly moving to slot, McMackin continuing morning practices, new season tickets sales, McMackin meeting recruits, and:

An ESPN crew, including reporter Shelley Smith, is here filming a segment on UH football for "Outside the Lines."

Reardon also wrote about Colt Brennan signing with an agent.

Former Hawaii quarterback Colt Brennan has signed with the Rep 1 Sports Group agency based in his hometown of Irvine, Calif.

Cousins Bruce and Ryan Tollner are the agency's owning partners.

"I've signed the papers with the Tollner group," Brennan told the Star-Bulletin in a phone interview. "I'm comfortable with them and they have some good quarterbacks."

Stacy Kaneshiro wrote about UH inviting Kama Bailey to walk on.

While it seems surprising that UH has not offered a scholarship, it might be because of the Warriors' intent on recruiting a bruising fullback for the run-and-shoot offense with new offensive coordinator Ron Lee at the helm. At 5-feet-8 and 175 pounds, Bailey might be projected as a slotback. Bailey had six receptions for 94 yards this past season.

NCAA rules prohibit UH from commenting on prospective recruits.

Meanwhile, Leilehua all-state linebacker Art Laurel (6-1, 210) will visit UH next weekend, Mules coach Nolan Tokuda said.

From the blogs, Stephen Tsai wrote about cornerback Steve Stepter.

The offseason conditioning program started a few days ago, and Steve Stepter already has impressed teammates with his quickness and work ethic.
Stepter, a 5-foot-10, 180-pound cornerback, is a 2007 graduate of Crenshaw High in Los Angeles. He trained in Los Angeles during the fall semester, and began attending classes at UH last Monday. He is on football scholarship.
Stepter is learning the defense by watching videos and hanging out with linebacker Solomon, another Crenshaw alumnus.

And Dave Reardon caught up with Josh Leonard.

Also, I ran into Josh Leonard today. He is up to 296 and is excited about playing tackle again. He said he wants to get up to around 310 pounds, and then sculpt it back to around 300 as playing weight. Sounds like a man with a plan. Losing Mike Lafaele is big, but Leonard, Fale Laeli, Keala Watson and Rocky Savaiigaea is a solid two deep.