2008 Review, 2009 Preview

Coach Mack talks to Jason Kaneshiro about where UH goes from here.

"I'm going to take about a week to evaluate the season and make some decisions and go from there," McMackin said before departing yesterday for Las Vegas, where he and his wife, Heather, own a home.

Two days after the season-ending loss to Notre Dame in the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl, McMackin had already identified two areas of emphasis for next season -- sacks and penalties.

Hawaii quarterbacks were dropped for losses an NCAA-record 59 times. The Warriors also tied a school record with 122 penalties and broke the UH mark with 1,097 yards in infractions.

Geez. The defense will also have to replace nine starters. Let's hope Blaze comes out blazin' and healthy next season. Also looking forward to what Paipai Falemalu, Alema Tachibana, Geordon Hanohano, Haku Correa and the rest of the redshirt, grayshirt and incoming players can do. And another key to next year:

The Warriors will have to replace all of their specialists in kicker Dan Kelly, punter Tim Grasso and long snapper Jake Ingram.

The Star-Bulletin has a look back at 2008, which includes short game summaries, final statistics and Dave Reardon's five key plays of the season.

Reardon takes a look at rebuilding for 2009 in his Further Review column.

Hope you liked that transition season, Hawaii football fans.

You've got another one coming up.

Technically, every year's a rebuilding year. But this is going to be a doozy, more of one than the just completed 7-7 campaign.

The Warriors lost a lot more than the Hawaii Bowl the other day. They lost 35 seniors -- most of whom were in three bowl games and were on teams that went a combined 23-4 in 2006 and 2007. Many played major roles in the greatest two-year run in UH football history.

That's more than one-third of your team, 35 seniors.

Speaking of those who are leaving, Reardon writes that Ryan Mouton and David Veikune have signed with an agent.

Agent Kenny Zuckerman, who has an excellent track record with Hawaii football players including Olin Kreutz and Davone Bess, has signed Ryan Mouton and David Veikune. Both will train at Athletes Performance Institute in Carson, Calif., at the Home Depot Center where UH does its annual pro day.

And Stephen Tsai writes about Alex Gerke leaving UH.

UPDATE: Tsai shares his thoughts on the future.