Lempa's departure puzzling

By Ferd Lewis
Advertiser Staff Columnist

Of course, as the associate noted: "I'm looking out my window and there are two inches of snow on my barbecue grill, so I'm thinking he must be crazy."

Weather aside, it is a fair question: What is really behind Lempa's move to B.C.?

When his predecessor at defensive coordinator, Greg McMackin, bolted after one season for the same position at Texas Tech, it made immediate sense. McMackin, at a then-$250,000, got a six-figure raise and became the highest-paid defensive coordinator in the country.

But in returning to B.C. as the defensive backs coach, Lempa is taking an interesting step down if not backward. He's becoming a position coach again, which is what he was from 1981-'90, the last time he was at Chestnut Hill. And the money doesn't figure to be significantly better than the $100,000-plus package ($105,000 base) he is said to have been receiving at UH, where he was the highest-paid defensive coordinator in the Western Athletic Conference.

All in all a curious career move for someone who will be 51 by the time this football season kicks off and whose avowed goal has been to become a head coach.

Lempa has done well at UH, where it isn't always easy to be the defensive coordinator. When the head coach is also the offensive coordinator and runs the run-and-shoot offense, you know which side of the ball will always take precedence and which unit will be spending most of the time out on the field.

Yes, we know Lempa is returning to New England, where he has grown up and spent much of his life. And, yes, there is something to be said for being back with family, seeing the seasons change, having some really great clam chowder and all that.

But when Lempa came here in 2000, he said after all the moving he'd done he wanted to remain in one place long enough to see his kids graduate from college. Well, a daughter, Tara, will stay and finish her senior year in Manoa — and he'll be at B.C.

All of which means you don't have to be staring out the window at the harshness of a New England winter to wonder what is really driving Lempa east.