RENO — Dick Tomey said he was "very disappointed" at not being hired as the University of Hawai'i's athletic director three years ago.

"I tried," said Tomey, the winningest coach (63-46 record from 1977-86) in UH football history. "But I really didn't have ... you know, ultimately, I didn't have a chance."

Instead, then-UH president Evan Dobelle recommended hiring Herman Frazier, who recently received a new five-year contract.

Tomey, who enters his first season as San Jose State's head coach, is participating in this week's Western Athletic Conference Football Media Preview. At last night's reception at the Reno Hilton, Tomey was warmly greeted back into the league, receiving hugs from opposing coaches.

The San Jose State football media guide proclaimed: "It's a New Day in San Jose ... the Dick Tomey Era Begins."

"It was so disappointing not to get the (UH) job, but like a lot of things in life, I wouldn't trade this experience for anything," Tomey said. "I wouldn't trade the great things that happened to us — (wife) Nancy and I — since the Hawai'i AD thing. You look back and say, 'Wow, I'm glad I didn't get the job.' "

After that, Tomey was hired as an assistant coach with the San Francisco 49ers and then at the University of Texas before landing at San Jose State.

"It's just been a blessing," Tomey said. "That's how life works. When something happens, you've got to look at it like there's a good reason it happened, and then you go on."

In the end, Tomey said, he probably is best suited to coach.

"What's happened since then, I had a chance to get three fantastic coaching jobs — the 49ers, Texas and San Jose — and I had nobody talk to me about an administrative job," he said. "Obviously, (coaching is) where my niche is at this point."

At 67, Tomey said, "I'm probably more excited than I've ever been."

On returning to the WAC, he said, "it's changed a lot. The WAC's undergone a lot of evolution. I don't know if all of the changes have been well thought out or not. That's not my place. We're thrilled to death to be in a conference, because I think it's a hell of a conference."

He also said he has changed. "We're all evolving," he said. "You're either getting better or you're getting worse. Either your thinking is evolving or you're stagnant. I think the last four years have been very good for me. I think I'm a much better coach than I was four years ago. I'm learning all of the time, from my players and from my assistant coaches. I hope I'm continuing to grow."

He also said he relishes a chance to coach against UH this season. The teams meet Oct. 22 in San Jose.

"I have the utmost respect for them," he said. "It's always going to be emotional playing somebody who has so many good friends. You always want to beat your friends. It'll be exciting."

HONEYMOON'S OVER

As one of the nation's top offensive linemen, Boise State's Daryn Colledge has had to make several tough calls. His most difficult came when he decided to continue plans to honeymoon in London a week after the bombings.

"We figured lightning wouldn't strike twice and we would be safe," he recalled thinking. "Needless to say, something kind of happened (last week) while we were there, but we made it back safely."

Colledge and his wife were "a few blocks away" from last week's incident.

"It was in the center downtown," he said. "We were just outside. Nothing really blew up, but there were sirens running all day long. It was close enough we knew what was going on."

Before leaving for the honeymoon, he recalled, "everybody told me 'don't be a hero if something happens.' I didn't want to step in. Scotland Yard can handle that. They're professionals. I just play football."