"Coach Mac" will be on the Aloha Stadium sidelines Saturday when the University of Hawai'i meets Weber State, a veteran, no-nonsense coach in his 60s from the old school.

But he won't be coaching the Warriors, much as he once deeply wanted to.

"Coach Mac" meet, well, the other "Coach Mac" — Ron McBride of the Wildcats.

Of course, they already have.

Greg McMackin was on McBride's coaching staff at Utah (1990-91) as defensive coordinator and the two have remained close. They are friends who want to beat friends — and are the best of rivals this week.

Which is one thing that helps make what might, otherwise, be a routine Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly Division I-A) vs. Football Championship Subdivision (ex-Division I-AA) meeting a little more compelling.

Then, too, there's the matter of McBride having been a candidate for the UH head coaching job that eventually went to June Jones in 1998 and, now, coaching 22 players with Hawai'i ties — next to none of whom were offered scholarships by the Warriors. Oh, and did we mention that just after taking the UH job McMackin took Alex Gerke, a former Utah lineman, away from McBride's Wildcat staff to coach running backs and offensive line at UH?

So, yes, you can see there might just be a little history here. And, undoubtedly, a little spice to a week in which the Warriors need a redemptive effort after the 56-10 loss to open the season at Florida.

"I think the world of Ron but it is like other coaches I know that we have played, you want to kick their tail is what you want to do," McMackin has said.

And, be assured, the feeling is mutual for much the same reasons even if McBride prefers to tout the "we're the little guys" underdog role and talk up the Warriors.

McBride began his affinity for Hawai'i and its players in the 1960s while coaching in California at Gavilan Junior College, Long Beach State and Riverside. From Buddy Los Banos and Lulumafule Fiatoa to Chris Fuamatu-Ma'afala and dozens beyond, he has come to admire their toughness and they his up-front honesty as a player's coach.

As head coach at Utah, he was recruiting — and getting — as many local recruits as UH. He worked with Tommy Lee, brother of UH assistants Ron and Cal.

So, when the UH job came open with the termination of Fred vonAppen in 1998, McBride took a run at it even while head coach at Utah. Had Jones not been in the picture, the job likely would have gone to McBride.

And, he could have been the "Coach Mac" at UH.

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