Utah football coach Ron McBride told a Honolulu newspaper reporter that he is very interested in the University of Hawaii's vacant head-coaching job.
McBride, 59, spent Friday and Saturday interviewing for the position with Hawaii athletic director Hugh Yoshida and with a selection committee, and then he met with five Hawaii players, including quarterback Dan Robinson of American Fork."I enjoyed our talk. I wanted to hear what the players thought," McBride told reporter Stephen Tsai of the Honolulu Advertiser.
McBride told Tsai that he didn't think Hawaii's salary package would be a problem for him. McBride told UH in 1995, the last time the job was open, that he couldn't afford to live there.
Hawaii is thought to have elevated its salary to around $250,000 a year. The fired Fred vonAppen got about $263,000 as a buyout for the last two years of his contract. McBride is thought to make between $200,000 and $300,000 at Utah, where he has coached for nine years and has a 62-43 record and four bowl appearances.
McBride indicated to Tsai that he felt he might have worn out his welcome at Utah, having elevated expectations with the bowl appearances but missing out on the postseason the last two years with records of 6-5 and 7-4. Ute fans used to be happy with two or three wins a year, but McBride's success and the new 45,634-seat Rice-Eccles Stadium, along with an easy schedule this season, made some fans unhappy enough to call radio stations and complain.
"I wouldn't have come over here unless I was interested. Why make the trip and waste money?" McBride told Tsai, reiterating that he loves the challenge of building a program, and Hawaii's is similar to the one he took over at Utah in 1990. Hawaii was 5-31 and is on a 15-game losing streak under vonAppen.
McBride was attending a Hawaii volleyball game and unavailable for comment by press time Saturday night.