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The Hawaii coach certainly doesn't subscribe to the theory of so many other coaches who believe in NEVER saying anything boastful. I heard him on ESPN radio this afternoon with Andy Pollin and Mel Kiper, Jr., and here's (a paraphrase of) what he had to say:

(On Boise State, viewed by many as Hawaii's top competition this year for the WAC title)
"I'd rather play Ohio State than Boise State." They even stopped to ask him if that's what he really meant to say. "With Ohio State or and SEC team, you know they're going to line up in the I and pound you - you know what to expect. In this (WAC) conference, you see everything .... 5-WR sets, 4-WR sets, 2-TE sets .... everything. You have to prepare for absolutely everything. And Boise State is so talented, they can play with anyone in the country."

(On losing three starting offensive linemen, including two -- Vince Manowai and Wayne Hunter -- who were drafted in the NFL)
"They were great players, and we've got a tough test early (UH has an early-season game at USC). But we have 14 or 15 offensive linemen on campus who I think could be really good players. A couple of our redshirt freshmen are going to step in and be better than Vince and Wayne."

(On how good QB Timmy Chang could be)
"I tell you, we've really sort of taken over from BYU as the 'Passing Team of the Pacific,' or whatever you want to call it. Timmy, if he stays healthy, will break all of our records. He ha a chance to be what Steve Young, Ty Detmer, Mark Wilson and Jim McMahon were at BYU. He has a chance to break Ty Detmer's (all-time NCAA passing yardage) record, and I think he can do it by about the third game of his senior season (Chang will be a junior this fall.) And I think he could set that record so high that it will never be broken in the history of the game."

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(FYI: the quotes about Chang are almost exactly word-for-word. I was so stunned that he'd say that I nearly drove off the road. I pulled over and wrote it all down immediately. Even Kiper, who's known to lob an exaggeration or two over the airwaves, sounded amazed that Coach Jones would say all this. He's a hell of a good interview.)

He'd rather play Ohio State than Boise State? That's a pretty huge claim. Boise's a real good team, but come on, Ohio State is the defending national champion. He might re-think that next year, when Hawaii's supposed to finalize a home-and-home schedule contract with Oklahoma. The best WAC teams (Boise, Hawaii, Fresno) are good teams, but he might be biting off more than he can chew with statements like that.

And those comments about Timmy Chang breaking the NCAA passing records - nothing like heaping pressure on a kid, huh? I mean, Chang's really good, but that's like Mel Kiper calling every smart QB in the draft "the next Peyton Manning" or every RB who can catch the ball "the next Marshall Faulk." There's no way for the kids to live up to those claims.

Maybe the players will issue a gag order on their coach.

I like the guy. His kids love him, and so do the folks over in Hawaii. His enthusiasm is great, part of waht is exciting about him I see reflected in Coach Bennett. Yes, he might be putting pressure on Chang, but the kid can play. I also might think that it is pressure, but don't you think that maybe he loves it that his coach has such confidence in him?

Boise st. might not be ohio st., but that doesn't mean they aren't tough. And getting better. Let's do the same.

Go Ponies!

Ditto, No Cal. Timmy Chang is a good, tough player, and while he ain't no Steve Young, I just see a coach who knows how to inspire confidence in his QB.

He's a little injury-prone, though. Who knows if he'll make it two more years without getting hurt.

He may not be Steve Young but I think he is better than Ty Detmer. The kid can play.
BTW- The DMN article about returning QB's didn't mention Brad Smith at Mizzou. I thought originally they were talking Texas schools until they mention Seneca wasn't coming back to ISU. How could anyone overlook Smith? The guy is the best QB in the big 12 and maybe the most exciting in the USA. He amy be the biggest difference maker I've seen at QB for sometime.

bump

Had to do it.

Pretty interesting, when you look at the dates, on all of these post.

He had a lot of doubters early at Hawaii as well, guess a BCS appearence will calm some nerves....

We should feel good about him, and know that by the time his contract is up, we will be far better...

Big Question to me is will JJ stay longer than 5 years.

I suspect this is his last coaching gig.

Retiring in his 50's may be too difficult for him.

SoCal_Pony wrote:Big Question to me is will JJ stay longer than 5 years.

I suspect this is his last coaching gig.

Retiring in his 50's may be too difficult for him.

Hopefully he will have this program "close" to competing for the CUSA Championship and will have enough studs in the FR and SO classes that he will want to stick around and make another BCS run...provided the Circle of Champions is ready to "Pony Up" to keep him here

I wouldn't mind Reinbold taking over for JJ four years from now.

I have always thought he might be the one to step in when JJ was ready to go.

HorsePower wrote:And Boise State is so talented, they can play with anyone in the country."

Fiesta Bowl vs. Oklahoma proved that out. Since JJ's quote here Boise State beat Oklahoma, Oregon, Oregon State, Utah, TCU, etc.

(On losing three starting offensive linemen, including two -- Vince Manowai and Wayne Hunter -- who were drafted in the NFL)
"They were great players, and we've got a tough test early (UH has an early-season game at USC). But we have 14 or 15 offensive linemen on campus who I think could be really good players. A couple of our redshirt freshmen are going to step in and be better than Vince and Wayne."

This quote was from 2003, so the freshman JJ referred to would have been seniors in 2006. In 2006, Samson Satele was a 2nd round draft pick and was the first rookie center to start (from the first game of the season) for the Dolphins in their history. He has started all 16 regular season games in his 2 seasons and their playoff game this year. Both tackles on the 2006 team (Tala Esera and Dane Uperesa) were also in the NFL in 2007.

(On how good QB Timmy Chang could be)
"I tell you, we've really sort of taken over from BYU as the 'Passing Team of the Pacific,' or whatever you want to call it. Timmy, if he stays healthy, will break all of our records. He ha a chance to be what Steve Young, Ty Detmer, Mark Wilson and Jim McMahon were at BYU. He has a chance to break Ty Detmer's (all-time NCAA passing yardage) record, and I think he can do it by about the third game of his senior season (Chang will be a junior this fall.) And I think he could set that record so high that it will never be broken in the history of the game."

Detmer had 15,031 yards, Chang ended up with 17,072 yards! Chang broke Detmer's record by over 2,000 yards and it still stands.

Other records Chang set include passing attempts, completions, passing TDs, and total offense. Unfortunately, he also set the INT record. Colt Brennan had a much higher completion rate and a much better TD/INT ratio, but Colt only played 3 seasons in the offense.

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(FYI: the quotes about Chang are almost exactly word-for-word. I was so stunned that he'd say that I nearly drove off the road. I pulled over and wrote it all down immediately. Even Kiper, who's known to lob an exaggeration or two over the airwaves, sounded amazed that Coach Jones would say all this. He's a hell of a good interview.)

JJ uses a lot of hyperbole...but he was exactly right on what he said about Chang. I was expecting to read statements that were way off, but in these cases JJ's confident quotes were proven to be reasonable statements.

One thing to remember about why it will be so hard to break Chang's record: Hawaii is allowed to play one more game than the rest of the D-IA teams (except the teams that play at Hawaii since they get an extra game also) and Chang played 5 seasons because he suffered a season-ending injury early enough one season that he was able to get an extra year via medical redshirt. So, Chang had an extra game every year and a few extra games one season that didn't count towards his 4 years of eligibility.

If this team is making jBCS runs expect that circle of champions to get A LOT bigger