Norm Chow Fired by Hawaii: Latest Details, Comments and Reaction

On the heels of its sixth straight loss, the University of Hawaii announced it has fired head coach Norm Chow effective immediately. 

The 69-year-old head coach was in the midst of his fourth season with the Rainbow Warriors, with whom he compiled an overall record of 10-36. Hawaii is 2-7 this season with victories over the Colorado Buffaloes and UC Davis Aggies.

Hawaii athletics director David Matlin thanked Chow for his service in a statement:

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I'd like to thank Coach Chow for his dedication to our football program for the past four years. Ultimately, we feel this decision is in the best interest of the University and Athletics Department and we need to move in a different direction. Coach Chow should be commended for helping our football program achieve all-time highs in APR scores and graduation rates.

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This was the first head coaching job for Chow, who began his collegiate coaching career as an assistant at BYU and remained with the team in some capacity for 27 seasons. He spent three seasons in the NFL as the offensive coordinator with the Tennessee Titans. In addition, he also served as an assistant coach for North Carolina State, USC, UCLA and Utah before taking the Hawaii job.

Chow certainly didn't have the talent to work with previous Hawaii teams had, but the administration had seen enough losing after the team's relative success prior to Chow. Hawaii played in seven bowls between 2002-2010.

The school announced assistant coach Chris Naeole will take over interim duties for the remainder of the season.   

Tom D'Angelo of the Palm Beach Post reacted to the fact there are now 10 vacant FBS head coaching jobs:

The Rainbow Warriors have no chance at the postseason, but with teams like 2-6 Fresno State and UNLV still on the schedule, they have a shot at making this season respectable. Firing Chow now as opposed to after the season will give the school more time to search for a coach and talk with recruits about the process.