Long-time coordinator and universally revered offensive genius Norm Chow was officially named the new head football coach at the University of Hawaii yesterday, becoming the first Asian-American to lead a major college program. The hiring is a homecoming for the Honolulu native, and one that is considered long overdue.
Chow rose to prominence as a longtime assistant and offensive coordinator at BYU, where he groomed former standout quarterbacks Jim McMahon, Steve Young and Heisman Trophy winner Ty Detmer. Chow added to his reputation as a quarterbacks guru at USC where he was the offensive mind that helped lead USC to two-national championships, and helped develop two more Heisman winners in Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart. He has also had stints as the offensive coordinator at UCLA, North Carolina State – where he worked with current NFL star Philip Rivers – Utah, his current employer, and the NFL’s Tennessee Titans.
Chow has been considered for many head coaching vacancies at the college and pro levels over the past several years but never got a serious shot before now. Hawaii has always produced high octane offenses so it will be interesting to see how much more innovative they can get with him at the helm. In a bit of irony, Hawaii will open it’s 2012 campaign against USC and will also travel to BYU later that same month.
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