Feature on the how each UH coach ran a different offense

HA Note: "The "wildcat" formation? UH running back Mike Bass was taking direct snaps in June Jones' four-wide offense in 2001. And 46 years before that, Skippy Dyer was doing the same in the I-back formation."

About how every coach takes elements from other team's systems, former UH head coach Larry Price said:
"There's a lot of copying in football. One guy would try something, and another would copy it." (HA)

About the different offensive systems, UH assistant head coach George Lumpkin said:
"Offensive coaches try to come up with schemes to counter tough defenses. The guys who used to coach defense come up with offenses that used to give them trouble. Football is all about adjusting." (HA)

About how success in football comes down to mismatches, Price said:
"That's how you play offensive football. You put the big guy on the small guy. You put the fast guy on the slow guy. That kind of thing has not changed from when the game was invented." (HA)

About their offense in 1966, the first year UH played an all-college schedule, Tom Shine (QB for the first 3 games before suffering a season-ending broken thumb) said:
"We ran some type of pro offense. All I know is we didn't throw very much." (HA)

About adjusting their offense for QB Alex Kaloi when he took over as head coach in 1974, Price said:
"Having Kaloi, with the small offensive line we had, we couldn't drop back and pass. He wouldn't be able to see." (HA)

About switching to the veer because it fit Kaloi better, Price said:
"With the rollout, he could run away from the defensive line." (HA)

HA Note: "The most difficult thing was to concoct a nickname. An assistant suggested Hawaiian-I, a play on the television show, "Hawaiian Eye." Instead, because of the offense's constant shifting — like the hips of a hula performer — the offense was named Hula-T."

About naming their offense the Hula-T, Price said:
"It actually was a modified Houston veer, but I wasn't about to call it the Houston veer." (HA)

HA Note: "Tomey's two-back offense was meant to chew up yards — and time — while limiting turnovers. Tomey's mantra was: "We want a chance to win the game in the fourth quarter." He deviated from the plan once, in 1984, when Jones served as an assistant coach. Jones put in elements of the run-and-shoot passing attack he learned at Portland State, where he played after transferring from UH. But a year later, after Jones left, Tomey went back to his ball-control offense."

HA Note: "Soon after being hired, Wagner looked to Georgia Southern with the intent of hiring either offensive coordinator Paul Johnson or line coach Mike Sewak. Wagner ended up landing both."

Asked why he wanted to implement such a radically different offense, Bob Wagner said:
"I wanted to beat BYU. That was No. 1. What's your definition of an idiot? Doing the same thing over and over and getting the same results. BYU was our rival. You're not going to stay around long if you keep losing to your rival." (HA)

About why using a blend of triple option and run-and-shoot made sense for UH, Wagner said:
"There are a lot of slot-type guys in Hawai'i. But it was hard to find tight ends." (HA)

HA Note: "Wagner and Johnson, who was named offensive coordinator, made a significant adjustment. They decided to use one of the slotbacks to block the linebacker assigned to tracking the quarterback. That gave the offense an advantage on plays to the perimeter. What was it Price said about football being a game of mismatches? Wagner's teams beat BYU three times, and in 1992, the Rainbow Warriors defeated Illinois in the Holiday Bowl."

HA Note: "Jones brought in what he called a four-wide offense. He took the basic principles of his mentor Mouse Davis' run-and-shoot offense, then adjusted it to fit his style. The offense has only three formations — three receivers on the left if the ball is on the right hashmark, three on the right if it's on the left hash, and two apiece on each side if it's in the middle. The receivers decide on their routes after reading the defensive coverage. For every coverage, there is a counter attack."

About changing his offense by 25% each season, JJ said:
"Defenses adjust. You have to adjust. That's what football is all about." (HA)

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