*** Reading between the L I N E S ***

[BigWave96744]

Did you see this week's JJ TV Show? If not you gotta check it out...
In the Warrior to remember section, they featured former Rainbow Warrior Rich Ellerson who is now the head coach at DIV IAA Cal Poly Mustangs.

Quotes from Cal Poly http://www.gopoly.com/football/mens/bio ... erson.html

With the hunger and passion for a solid defensive unit, Ellerson has successfully carried over his passion for the defensive side of the ball to the players, coaches and all of those associated with the Mustang football program
......
Cal Poly also improved on the 2000 defense that ranked near the bottom of I-AA with 279 yards rushing per game allowed. In 2001, the Mustangs finished the regular season ranked 26th in Division I-AA with just 122.6 yards rushing per game allowed. Cal Poly's pass defense was just as stingy, allowing only 213.0 yards passing per game.

Using the same "swarm" defense Ellerson had installed at Arizona, the Cal Poly defense caused havoc for opposing offenses all season as Cal Poly finished the regular season ranked sixth nationally in turnover margin at 1.6 per game
......
In 2000, Ellerson's last season with the Wildcats, Arizona again led the Pac-10 and finished the regular season ranked eighth in the nation in rushing defense, allowing just 88.5 yards per game.
......
While at Arizona, Ellerson was also responsible for coaching the Wildcat kickers as Sean Keel improved from making only six of 19 attempts in 1999, to making 13 of 17 tries in 2000, ranking him third in the Pac-10 with 1.18 field goals per game.
.......
Prior to that, Ellerson was a four-year assistant at Arizona with defensive coordinator Larry MacDuff from 1992-95. The Wildcats' defensive system was ranked No.2 against the run from 1992-93 and ranked in the top 10 in total defense all four years. He also helped improve Arizona's special teams play and coached placekicker Steve McLaughlin to the Lou Groza Award in 1994.

Lets see:
- He's good friends with Coach Jones since his playing days at Manoa (played both LB and Center)
- Former DC under the Tomey's "Desert Swarm"
- Guarantee to have ties to local HS coaches in Arizona and the Cal Long Beach area
- Not only a Great DC but also a Special Teams guy
- Loves coaching at Cal Poly, but said he wouldn't mind going back to the next level
- Loves Hawaii

HOLY SMOKES GANG, HE'S OUR GUY!!!!!!! Quick someone phone or email Herman Frazier and have him contact Rich ASAP!!!!

[warrior650]

Good one.

Only thing - I don't see the Long Beach, CA connections?

Other than that, I totally agree with you! I would love to see him back in Hawaii. I wonder if he would leave as a head coach (albeit D1AA) to be an assistant again. He may actually be ready for a shot as head coach of a smaller 1A program, or maybe Cal Poly is looking at making the move up to 1A.

Just an aside from his bio - isn't Salpointe High School the same school that produced Tyler Graunke? I don't have the media guide in front of me, but it sounds familiar.

[warriorfan808]

I actually saw the show a while back and thought about commenting on it, but it slipped my mind. After watching the show, I had the feeling that he was, "the warrior to remember", for a reason. At the time and I believe we all still believe the same, everyone has been hounding the athletic department to bring in a new DC. Not only that, with Ayat leaving, we're really going to be hurting on our kicking game. I'm not saying that Ayat is the greatest kicker in the world or anything, but he's by far noticeably better than Miranda. Ayat has a great leg, but there hasn't been any coaching available to help him produce more as a kicker. Miranda isn't as natually gifted and we can't make the same mistake we made with Ayat.

As Bigwave pointed out, he has all the connections needed to mold into Hawaii's coaching staff. He also has a proven background on defense, particularly defending against the rush which Hawaii is one of the worste in the nation at. Then he has a background with kickers, which is something Hawaii is in much need for. I believe that if we had a kicking coach, Hawaii wouldn't be in the situation it's in now. Remember, we would have sealed the game against FAU with a field goal and the same almost happened again against Northwestern.

He was put on the show to help boost his stock with the public and boosters. Before the show, he was hardly on anyone's list that I've seen, but now he is. Getting him on the June Jone's show was perfect timing by June Jones and I believe that there's an extremely good chance we got a view of our next DC.

[NelsonO]

I didn't know Ellerson was the coach at Cal Poly (even though my daughter attends Cal Poly). No disrespect to Ellerson as I think he is a fine coach, but I don't think there will be a DC opening at Manoa.

Coach Lumpkin is a former Rainbow football player and he has coached at UH for more than 30 years. If you like tradition and loyalty, you gotta like Coach Lumpkin.

The Warrior defense has had a bad year, but I don't think Coach Jones is going to make a change any time soon and I don't think Coach Lumpkin is going to quit any time soon.

Clearly, however, we need to get better defensive players. And we need them to stay healthy.

[warriorfan808]

I didn't know Ellerson was the coach at Cal Poly (even though my daughter attends Cal Poly). No disrespect to Ellerson as I think he is a fine coach, but I don't think there will be a DC opening at Manoa.

Coach Lumpkin is a former Rainbow football player and he has coached at UH for more than 30 years. If you like tradition and loyalty, you gotta like Coach Lumpkin.

The Warrior defense has had a bad year, but I don't think Coach Jones is going to make a change any time soon and I don't think Coach Lumpkin is going to quit any time soon.

Clearly, however, we need to get better defensive players. And we need them to stay healthy.

I think Lumpkin is going to move back in as a position's coach. Not sure what position, but that's just my guess.

[BigWave96744]

Only thing - I don't see the Long Beach, CA connections?

Sorry Warrior650, I confused Cal Poly with Long Beach Poly....
Since you are in Cal, can you tell us where the Cal Poly campus is and if it's near Long Beach...

I wish Hercules Satele could help persuade some of his friends/cousins/etc from Long Beach Poly to come to Manoa..

[MisterPurple]

Cal Poly (Polytechnic) has two campuses that I know of: Pomona and San Luis Obisbo (SLO). As far as I know, unless otherwise specified, "Cal Poly" refers to the Pomona campus.