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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Friday, December 6, 2002

UH coaches go all out to market stars to NFL teams

By Stephen Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer

There is little doubt that University of Hawai'i outside linebacker Pisa Tinoisamoa is a talented football player.

But it was the Warrior coaches' extensive marketing campaign that helped Tinoisamoa receive an invitation to the 2003 Senior Bowl for college standouts and emerge as a highly regarded pro prospect.

Embracing the ad man's mantra — "Who cares what the hamburger tastes like, it's the packaging that counts" — the UH coaches have developed a system to help their players draw interest from National Football League scouts.

Jerry Jones, who has analyzed the NFL draft for 26 years, said Tinoisamoa was not on the NFL's "radar at all last summer." Tinoisamoa had suffered a stress fracture in his left leg in 2001, tempering an otherwise breakout season, and there were questions about his effectiveness playing this season at 212 pounds. He weighed about 230 at the end of the 2001 season.

While most Division I-A programs promote their players to the media — creating Web sites and sending out postcards and bobble-head dolls — the UH coaches targeted NFL scouts.

College football coaches usually are reluctant to promote players with more than a season of eligibility remaining. But the UH coaches actively talked up Tinoisamoa, even though, after entering UH as a partial-qualifier in 1999, he would be eligible to play in 2003 if he earned a bachelor's degree by next August.

"I think a lot of coaches are scared about juniors leaving early, and they don't get into that type of (promotional) stuff," UH assistant coach Rich Miano said. "We're trying to promote the program as a whole, and part of the program is sending guys to the NFL. We'll do what we can to let (NFL) scouts know about our players."

Each college football program receives questionaire forms from scouting services. Jones, who is publisher of the Drugstore List, said UH's responses were "very detailed."

In scouting, comparisons are a widely used measurement. A wide receiver, for instance, is referred to as a "Randy Moss-type player," and so forth. Jones said the UH coaches made sure to compare each of their prospects to a pro player.

Brian Baldinger, a football analyst for Fox Sports, received a highlight tape of UH offensive lineman Vince Manuwai, regarded as a high-round prospect. Baldinger compared Manuwai to offensive lineman Larry Allen, and UH coaches repeated that description to pro scouts. Now, nearly every scouting publication describes Manuwai as a Larry Allen-type player.

During each of the five road trips this season, UH coaches scheduled meetings with NFL scouts. Mel deLaura, the team's conditioning coach, distributed charts listing the players' results in 11 strength and agility drills — the same 11 drills used at the NFL combine.

The closer is when UH head coach June Jones meets with each scout.

"Very few head coaches do that," Miano said. "Coach Jones does a wonderful job of promoting players and trying to get them drafted, or moved up in the draft, or signed as free agents."

UH also has shown a willingness to make sacrifices in exchange for national exposure. Six of the 10 Western Athletic Conference teams refuse to play home games on Friday nights, even for national television coverage, because they do not want to conflict with local high school games. UH is one of the exceptions, and last year's nationally televised victory over Fresno State on a Friday night helped wideout Ashley Lelie draw widespread notice. Last April, Lelie became the first Warrior to be drafted in the first round.

Miano said the NFL's interest in Tinoisamoa reached a high level after he made 19 tackles in last week's ESPN game against Alabama. Jerry Jones said Tinoisamoa now is expected to be drafted between the second and fourth rounds in April.

"He really moved up the list," Jerry Jones said.