Pablo's Blog: In memory of Bob Wagner (1947-2023)

Sunday, October 08, 2023

In memory of Bob Wagner (1947-2023)

Bob Wagner was the head football coach for the University of Hawaii from 1987-1995

Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Bob Wagner

Being that I was born in 1980, Bob Wagner was the 1st UH football that I can remember. I was too young to be paying attention when the previous coach Dick Tomey had his magical run.

Learn more about Dick Tomey at https://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2019/05/in-memory-of-dick-tomey-1938-2019.html

Bob Wagner continued Tomey's winning tradition and took the program to even greater heights.

For example, for years & years, UH kept losing to BYU! Being that UH had the only college football team in Hawaii, we didn't have an instate rival, and therefore BYU was our rival at the time! BYU not only beat UH on the field but also in recruiting. Laie was the center of Mormon culture in Hawaii, and that town also had a lot of Polynesian players who played for Kahuku High School and BYU! Bob Wagner jokingly called Laie "Guantanamo" (the US military base in Cuba). (and yes, Laie has a BYUH, a satellite campus without a football team)

Hawaii has so many heart-breaking losses to BYU that legend had it that elderly fans begged UH coaches to beat BYU before they passed away.

In 1989, under Bob Wagner, UH finally did it. They finally defeated BYU. To us, it was like winning the Super Bowl.

And in 1990, they did it again. UH beat BYU again. It was also the last game of the regular season! And the funniest part was that earlier that day, it was announced that BYU QB Ty Detmer won the Heisman Trophy! UH receiver Jeff Snyder mocked Detmer by doing the Heisman pose after making a touchdown.

(I'm not sure about this, but I think that game was probably why they now delay the announcement of the Heisman Trophy winner until after the regular season is over)

Then in 1992, UH not only beat BYU but also the conference championship! We won the WAC (Western Athletic Conference) and we were headed for our first bowl game on the continent. We were playing in the Holiday Bowl against Big Ten's Illinois! And we surprised the world with a bowl victory.

However, for Bob Wagner, it was downhill from there.

The next 3 seasons didn't have the success of his earlier seasons.

Some blamed UH administration for making it's academic standards stricter for incoming students. But this is COLLEGE football, and coaches are expected to find student-athletes who can win in the classroom and on the field.

Also, even with the win, UH didn't have the money to invest in the facilities while its competitors were impressing recruits with shiny new facilities.

I remember in 1994, attending my first UH football game in-person, watching UH defeat Oregon early in the season. The interesting thing was that the Oregon team ended up playing the prestigious Rose Bowl whereas UH ended the season with a 3-8-1 record! Talk about a reversal of fortunes.

By 1995, the fans were sick of losing. They no longer thought of Bob Wagner as the guy who finally defeated BYU and won the 1992 Holiday Bowl. They acted as if he's a no-good coach. I'm old enough to remember hearing family members & peers who wanted him gone, as if he never had a winning season in his life.

Before the last game, it was announced the Bob Wagner would be fired, but that he would be allowed to coach the last game!

And guess who replaced Bob Wagner?

Fred von Appen, who had 3 losing seasons at UH including the notorious 0-12 team of 1998!

Because of the fan's impatience, UH replaced Wagner with someone who was much worse!

Sadly, it wouldn't be the last time that UH gave in to impatient fans to replace a winning coach with someone much worse.

Gregg McMackin (aka Coach Mack) went 10-3 in 2010. In 2011, the team went 6-7, and angry fans acted as if Coach Mack was the worst coach ever. All for a slightly-less-than-average season after a winning season!

UH "retired" Coach Mack at the end of the season

(learn more at https://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2023/02/jim-leahey-and-coach-mack-2-legends-of.html )

UH replaced him with Norm Chow (a former BYU assistant coach).

Guess what? EVERY SINGLE SEASON under Norm Chow WAS WORSE THAN ANY SEASON under Coach Mack.

In 2014, Norm Chow nearly matched Fred von Appen's 0-12 record. He only avoided that by finally winning one game, which happened to be the final game of the season.

Norm Chow was fired after losing a Halloween game in 2015.

(learn more at https://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2015/11/the-end-of-norm-chow-era.html)

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Anyways, back to Bob Wagner.

After losing his job at UH, Wagner did join Dick Tomey at Arizona.

Then, he came back to Hawaii in 2002, this time as an athletic director at what was then a new high school, the Kamehameha School's campus on the Big Island. He remained in the position for 10 years until he retired.

In 2014, former UH president Kenneth Mortimer apologized to Bob Wagner for the way the school handled Wagner's dismissal in 1995.

Then, in this past week, Bob Wagner died at the age of 76.

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After the 1992 season, Bob Wagner wrote the book "Getting the Edge: Hawaii Football"

"Getting the Edge: Hawaii Football" by Bob Wagner

In that book, Wagner wrote about his life growing up in Ohio, being an assistant coach at the University of Washington, and coming to coach at Hawaii. He wrote about the various players that he coached here at UH! But most importantly, he wrote about his coaching and recruiting philosophy. His philosophy can be applied to other careers and even your personal life. I definitely recommend this book!

I got the book at one of those Friends of the Library of Hawaii booksale years ago!

According to a quick online search, the book is currently being sold on Amazon and eBay.

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