Islanders' Benjamin steps down

Advertiser Staff

Guy Benjamin has resigned as head coach of the Hawaiian Islanders arena football team because of health-related reasons, the team said last night.

Benjamin was having heart trouble, according to general manager Chad Carlson, who filled in for Benjamin during last Saturday's game against the Tulsa Talons.

Carlson will relinquish his GM position and take over for Benjamin permanently.

The Islanders are 1-4 in their first season in arenafootball2.

Benjamin is a former All-America quarterback at Stanford who later played in the NFL for the San Francisco 49ers, where he earned two Super Bowl rings, New Orleans Saints and Miami Dolphins.

His college coaching resume includes stints at Contra Costa College (Calif.), the University of Hawai'i and Stanford.

Benjamin has also coached here at Campbell and Kapolei high schools, and led the Hawai'i Hammerheads to the 1999 Indoor Professional Football League championship.

He was hired by the Islanders on Sept. 20, 2001.

The Islanders, on a four-game losing streak, will play the San Diego Riptide at the Neal Blaisdell Center Saturday at 7 p.m.