Stephen Tsai: University of Hawaii Football would be better with a concerted effort

In 1995, Art Modell announced that he would be relocating his NFL team to Baltimore from Cleveland, where it was founded 41 years earlier.

As the owner, Modell insisted: his team, his rights.

The City of Cleveland and season ticket holders on the team argued differently: our tax breaks and consumer funds; our team.

It was the same Spike Lee debate: whose restaurant is it – the owner’s or the customer’s?

The negotiated solution was that Modell’s team became the Baltimore Ravens, while Cleveland retained the history and intellectual rights of what would be re-established as the Cleveland Browns.

“The Move,” as the Cleveland / Modell controversy has been widely quoted, appears to be at the root of recent problems related to the University of Hawaii football program.

When state Senate officials requested an informational hearing on published complaints about the soccer team, the premise was to review the psychological well-being of student-athletes under the demanding – and supposedly blatant and demoralizing – guidance of an old coach. However, as the session progressed, it became clear that the aggrieved players’ complaints were being used as part of the legislature’s longstanding question: Why are things out of control in Manoa? And why do we have to keep giving you money?

It was an unspoken power game in which lawmakers tried to prove final control over the university with disguised threats of resignation.

What matters: whose team is it?

Does it belong to the players who actually play the game and proudly name the name on the back of their shirts and the photos of inspiring characters in their lockers? Without the actors there is no show. And now players who used to save with scholarship checks and Costco memberships can earn money for their name, image and likeness and transfer them without penalty.

Does it belong to the coaches who recruit, line up, plan strategy, and oversee their players’ training, diet, and study? As the state’s top earners, head coaches always had the most juice. It was June Jones, along with administrators and marketing strategists, pushing for UH to be rebranded. The team became the “Warriors,” with a uniform color scheme to mirror that of the Oakland Raiders, and the “H” became a logo that would be part of a lucrative merchandise business.

Does it belong to the administrators who raise the money, hire – and fire – the coaches, and are responsible for the overall health and training of the student athletes? Sports director David Matlin’s mistake is trying to do the right thing instead of announcing it. When players publicly aired complaints – comments circulated nationwide – Matlin met with the players in an air-it-out session. He should have announced how the matter is being handled. But he kept his mother, as he did after meeting with players prior to the Warriors’ withdrawal from the Hawaii Bowl, believing internal affairs should be kept internal. Matlin tries to win all sides and does not act unilaterally; he has to shed the image that he is doing.

Is it one of the boosters that pay the rewards, participate in the cash-making golf tournaments and banquets, and help purchase equipment and helmets? The donors help to offset the cost of the training tables. In men’s volleyball, the boosters take turns providing food after the game.

Does it belong to the legislature who holds the strings on a glittering wallet? The state provides approximately 50% of the campus’ $ 1 billion budget. UH earns the rest through tuition fees, grants, donations, federal funds for Title III and Title IV, among other things. The original intent of the state contribution was to offset the cost of attending Hawaii’s only public higher education system. At its peak, the state’s contribution was between 80 and 90%. But at the last session, over the pandemic and hopes the federal funding would cover, lawmakers cut $ 47.9 million from its contribution, including $ 35.6 million for Manoa. In addition, UH Athletics received $ 2.7 million annually from lawmakers for fiscal years 2019 and 2020. That contribution was up to $ 3.6 million for fiscal 2021. However, these appropriations have been removed from the committee’s cuts. UH asks for restoration. In the chain of command, the legislature agrees with the governor’s recommendation to appoint the regents who hire the school president, who hire the sports director, who hire the football coach.

Or does it belong to the singing fans? There are fans who neither participate in games nor subscribe to pay-per-view. But as part of the public, they help shape public opinion through social media posts. No money doesn’t necessarily mean no influence.

Ideally, UH Football would be a joint partnership. Recent circumstances prove that it is not.