Following a 58-7 home loss to Air Force Saturday, Hawaii announced Sunday it had relieved head coach Norm Chow of his duties, effective immediately.
Chris Naeole will serve as interim head coach for the remainder of the season.
“I’d like to thank Coach Chow for his dedication to our football program for the past four years,” athletics director David Matlin said in a statement. “Ultimately, we feel this decision is in the best interest of the University and Athletics Department and we need to move in a different direction. Coach Chow should be commended for helping our football program achieve all-time highs in APR scores and graduation rates.”
A native of Honolulu, Chow returned home for the first time since launching his career in a high school job from 1970-72 for his long-awaited first shot at a head coaching job, and it was bad from the start. Taking over for Greg McMakin, Chow led the Rainbow Warriors to a 3-9 mark in 2012, 1-11 in 2013, peaked at 4-9 in 2014 and stood at 2-7 this season after yesterday’s loss.
Hawaii opened the season with a 28-20 win over Colorado, but hasn’t notched a win over an FBS opponent since. The Rainbow Warriors were shutout in trips to Ohio State, Wisconsin and Boise State, played competitively in defeats to San Diego State, New Mexico and Nevada, and then watched the bottom fall out against Air Force.
Like the rest of his kin, Chow isn’t going home empty handed.
Fired Hawaii coach Norm Chow was making $550,000 a yr under contract that ran thru Dec. 31, 2016 -- but he's owed just under $300K as buyout
— Steve Berkowitz (@ByBerkowitz) November 1, 2015
With the athletics department’s finances reportedly in shambles and the omnipresent challenge of recruiting players to an island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, Hawaii will have its work cut out in finding an interested, qualified candidate.
But, hey, June Jones is available.
