Posted on: Sunday, March 28, 2004

At UH, more QBs the better

By Ferd Lewis
Advertiser Columnist

When other football coaches learn Dan Morrison is the University of Hawai'i's quarterback coach, the question inevitably put to him at conventions and meetings goes something like this:

"Say, how many quarterbacks (on scholarship) do you guys really have?"

Morrison said, "I guess the word has gotten around how many we have and some people (still) don't believe it."

Not that the answer — five QBs for this spring and eight for the fall — is always believed, either. "One coach at the national convention this year was, well, dumbfounded, is how I would put it," Morrison said.

With such a rare, Baskin-Robbins-wide menu of choices when spring practice opens April 6, however, UH will have its work cut out for it selecting an air apparent for Tim Chang within the limits of the 15-practice window set by the NCAA.

Chang, a fifth-year senior this fall when he takes aim at the NCAA career passing mark (15,031), is scheduled to get limited work in the spring as the priority turns to choosing his immediate backups. Establishing that order of succession is what will give an otherwise routine spring session some hint of drama and urgency.

With last year's backup, Jason Whieldon, the hero of the Alabama game, gone, Chang's durability a question and a 2005 schedule that features Southern California, Michigan State and Wisconsin, just around the corner, UH's can't begin grooming a backup soon enough.

Clearly, this search for a triggerman won't lack of candidates. Juniors-to-be Kainoa Akina, who finished the season as No. 3 on the depth chart, and Jeff Rhode, who had been No. 3 coming out of last spring, have each thrown one pass. Sophomore Ryan Stickler and redshirt freshman Jack Rolovich have yet to see action.

Come August, they will be joined by incoming freshmen Tyler Graunke, Taylor Humphrey and Brandon Satcher.

And that's not counting the two returnees at other positions who, after Chang, have thrown the most passes: Linebacker Chad Kapanui (five) and slotback Se'e Poumele (two) in cameo roles.

At UH, quarterback is not only The Position, head coach June Jones' devotion to it has made it the most crowded places on the roster. Nine percent of UH's 85 allowable scholarships will be invested there, a high number by industry standards.

Florida, for example, will have four (three in the spring and another in the fall), which is about the average for schools appearing in the top 10 of NCAA Division I-A passing offense in 2003.

Only Texas Tech, which led the nation in passing (UH was second), comes close to matching the Warriors' devotion to the position. The Red Raiders will have four scholarship quarterbacks in the spring and five in the fall.

Said Morrison: "Our philosophy is that you can never have too many good quarterbacks."

Now, all UH it has to do is pick the best one.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8044.