Quote about HF leaving

About HF, Dave Shoji said:
"Herman has always been good to me. He obviously treated me fairly and was always supportive of my program, but I understand that he lost the confidence of the general public. You hate to see anyone lose his job and I feel for Herman. But at this point in time, I think the administration needed to make this change." (HA)

"Herman has always treated me fairly. Whenever anybody gets let go, you feel bad for that person. But I understand that the public has lost confidence in him. I just don't think losing June Jones should be the sole reason for him to get let go." (HSB)

Trying to lobby for the UH coaching job, John L. Smith said:
"With 18 years of collegiate head coaching experience and over 130 wins, I would hope that would qualify me as a candidate to be the next head coach at the University of Hawai'i." (HA)

Rep. Takai said that HF needed to go:
"We need to be prudent and expeditious in hiring a new football coach, and we needed new leadership in the athletic department in order for us to be successful. What happened today is another unfortunate hiccup, but what is encouraging is that the university recognized that change is necessary." (HA)

About how the next AD has to be able to communicate well with the community, Takai said:
"The next athletic director has to be someone with a vision and someone who can articulate that vision not just to players and coaches, but to fans and the business community. The next athletic director will also need to have a great understanding of our corporate community. He needs to have already-established relationships with that community. We can't start fresh again." (HA)

About how the "major priority" should be finding an AD who can generate necessary funds for UH's athletic programs, Shoji said:
"I'd like to see someone who has the confidence and support of the community. The new athletic director has to be able to go out and raise significant monies for the program. We need a person that the community responds to." (HA)

About how he hopes the next AD will quickly respond to the needs of the department and individual programs, Shoji said:
"As a coach, I want to see some of our needs addressed right away, whether it's sweeping the floors or shampooing the carpet. These are small things that affect our job in recruiting and retaining athletes. We need a detail guy. This is something coaches here have been frustrated with all through the years. I've been here for 32 years and some of these things have never been addressed. If it needs to be micromanaged, so be it." (HA)

About how he hasn't been contacted about the AD position, but how he's learned a lot since he was associate AD at UH, Jim Donovan said:
"I've learned to listen to everything, but I have a good job, I work with a great team of people to make the Hawai'i Bowl better and better. Whatever I'm doing, I will always help UH as much as I can." (HA)

Unsure if he'll apply for the AD position, Amemiya said:
"It would be a great opportunity to work at the University of Hawai'i but at the same time, I'm happy with what I'm doing now working with all of the high schools across the state." (HA)

About how UH Athletics is in good shape, Shoji said:
"A week ago, we were riding a huge high. We need to think of the positive things that have gone on for the last few months. We've had WAC championships. The program is on the rise. Everyone was so down when June left, but people need to realize that that happens in college athletics. Let's go out and get a good football coach and the best person we can find for athletic director and hope that the public will continue ... to support Hawai'i athletics." (HA)

HA Note: "Where previous UH directors were introduced in the athletic department in little more than pot-luck affairs, Frazier got the red-carpet treatment befitting a man Dobelle hailed as "a true American hero" and someone "who will do great things for this university, this state. Someone who can lead without limits." Today, UH looks for Frazier's replacement, having announced his buyout yesterday in the wake of football coach June Jones' stunning departure to Southern Methodist University. "In the best interests of the athletic program," UH said it will pay $312,510 to buy out a contract that was to have concluded July 31, 2010."

A week beofre UTEP went to Conference USA in 2004, HF said:
"I don't think UTEP is going anywhere." (HA)

HA Note: "As late as November 2006, Frazier, 53, had four openings for the 2007 schedule but maintained he would find quality opponents and fill out a completed 13-game schedule. Just a month earlier, he said filling a complete schedule with quality opponents would "be a piece of cake." Michigan State, which bought its way out of a scheduled game for the $250,000 cancellation fee, resulted in one opening. But Frazier struggled to fill the others before finally announcing Washington, Charleston Southern and Northern Colorado for a lineup that drew much derision nationally as well as locally."

HA Note: "The 11th-hour scheduling was in sharp contrast to the late Stan Sheriff, one of his predecessors at UH who would get antsy if football schedules weren't complete two years before kickoff. The scheduling debacle played out amid a slow-moving search for Riley Wallace's successor as men's basketball coach. Wallace's contract, which was signed in 2005 and which Frazier oversaw, specified that "both the coach and the university understand and agree that the term of this agreement will not be extended or renewed" after Wallace completed the 2006-07 season. Despite the lead-time, Frazier announced the process to find a new coach on Dec. 29, 2006, but as the perception grew that the search was dragging on, Frazier came in for frequent criticism on radio call-in shows and online sites. Things got so bad that when Wallace was honored in March 2007 at his last home game, fans showered Frazier with a heavy chorus of boos. So loud was the outpouring that even Wallace, who came to be increasingly at odds with the man who he claimed forced him out, put a hand on Frazier's shoulder at midcourt."

George Steinbrenner praised HF when UH hired him, saying:
"He is one of the most prepared individuals I have ever met. He's very detail-oriented." (HA)

HSB Note: "Even though University of Hawaii athletic director Herman Frazier is losing his job for an apparent lack of performance, he will still get at least $28,334 in bonuses and perhaps $15,000 more for reaching goals that were accomplished under his leadership. Frazier and UH-Manoa reached an agreement yesterday to buy out his contract for $312,510, the university said in a short news release. That equals 15 months' salary under Frazier's employment contract -- his compensation if he loses his job "without cause." If he was fired or resigned, according to the contract, he would not receive a severance."

About how UH was paying for HF's settlement, UH spokesman Gregg Takayama said:
"As far as I know, they (the boosters) have not actually contacted the UH." (HSB)