UH softball coach Coolen declines one-year offer
By Stephen Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer
Contract negotiations between the University of Hawai'i athletic department and softball coach Bob Coolen have hit a snag, The Advertiser has learned.
Coolen, whose three-year contract expired June 30, is seeking a multi-year contract. He earns $50,000 annually. Yesterday, he was offered a one-year contract.
Coolen turned down the one-year deal, and declined comment, except to say, "Nothing has transpired so far."
Marilyn Moniz-Kahoohanohano, an assistant athletic director and UH's senior woman administrator, said that negotiations were continuing. She also declined further comment.
"Whatever Marilyn says, that's what I'm going to go with," Coolen said.
Under the guidelines of the contract system established by the Board of Regents in 1998, Coolen should be eligible for a multi-year contract. The system is supposed to reward coaches whose players are successful on the field and in the classroom.
In 10 years as UH's head coach, Coolen has amassed a record of 381-233-1. His teams have played in the NCAA regional tournament three times in the past four years, and in five of the past eight.
Including his two years as assistant coach, Coolen has been affiliated with UH in 12 of the program's 17 years.
Coolen is not the only UH coach without a contract. Men's volleyball coach Mike Wilton's contract expired on May 31.
While Wilton has reached an agreement in principle to return for a 10th season, both sides are far apart on the contract terms. Wilton is seeking a five-year contract, with a substantial raise for his top assistant, Tino Reyes, who earns about $32,000 annually.
Wilton and UH athletic director Hugh Yoshida are scheduled to meet, for a third time, on Tuesday.
Men's volleyball is only one of UH's four profitable sports. The Warriors led the nation in attendance this year, and four of their players made the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation's all-academic team. The Warriors had a grade-point average of 3.1 during the spring semester.
