Making the morning rounds.
• Just to be clear: In this case, it means "goodbye." Hawaii coach Greg McMackin announced his "retirement" Monday, two days after the curtain fell on a losing (6-7) season in a 41-20 flop against BYU — the Warriors' fourth loss in their last five games, three of them coming in the usual friendly confines of the islands. For one night, however briefly, every coach in college football spent at least a few seconds Monday wistfully considering the possibilities.
These decisions always come down to wins and losses, especially for a team that was widely favored to win the WAC after sharing the conference title in 2010. But McMackin has had other problems over the last four years, including a $169,000 fine for a using a homophobic slur in a press conference in 2009 and, as of last month, an investigation into allegations of point-shaving on his watch. I'm sure athletic director Jim Donovan will up front and open with candidates, just as soon as they catch the sunset on Waikiki. [Associated Press]
• We hardly knew ye. The annual exodus for the NFL begins in Miami, where a pair of fourth-year juniors from the 'Canes' hyped 2008 recruiting class — former high school teammates Marcus Forston and Tommy Streeter —have officially tossed their hats into the draft. Fortson and Streeter were two of the eight players who signed with Miami off of the 2007 "national championship" team at nearby Northwestern High, a group that leaves four years later with zero conference or division championships, a burgeoning scandal and a 6-6 record with no bowl game in their final season.
Streeter goes out as the 'Canes' leading receiver in 2011 with 48 catches and 8 touchdowns, but is generally considered a late-round pick at best; Forston will have to overcome a major knee injury to get anywhere near first-round projections. Both have signed (brace yourself) with U alum Drew Rosenhaus. [Miami Herald]
• We'll see you when we see you. Predictably, sophomore Jake Heaps — once ranked as the No. 1 incoming quarterback in the entire 2010 recruiting class — has announced plans to transfer from BYU after losing his job at midseason to junior Riley Nelson. As a freshman, Heaps started the last ten games and seemed well on his way to fulfilling the hype after a fast finish. Now, he seems well on his way to a fresh start in the Pac-12 after regressing by every possible measure in his second year. [Salt Lake Tribune]
• The boys are back in town. As expected, new Arizona coach Rich Rodriguez is getting the old gang back together, officially naming former Michigan staffers Calvin Magee, Tony Gibson and Tony Dews — all of whom spent the 2011 season in Pittsburgh — to his new staff in Tucson. Magee and Gibson both spent a decade working for Rodriguez at West Virginia and Michigan, Magee as a running backs coach and offensive coordinator (though it remains very much Rodriguez's offense) and Gibson as defensive backs coach.
Next item on the agenda: Where are they going to find a few quarterbacks? [Associated Press, Arizona Star]
• Nice to see him taking the high road. Former Pittsburgh coach Dave Wannstedt has some advice for his old quarterback, Tino Sunseri: Get the hell out of there, kid. "If he was my son, he would be gone," Wannstedt said Monday on local radio. "I would pull him out of there and transfer him. … I'm really shocked the way people have put a microscope on this kid. … In the NFL, you do it when a guy is making $10 million a year. You throw him under the bus and try to run him out of town.
But not a 20-, 18-, 19-year-old college kid [Sunseri turns 23 this month — ed.] who had other places to go and chose to come to Pitt and he won a state championship there at the local high school and his father (Sal) was an All-American there? If he can't play, don't play him, but do it the right way." [Pittsburgh Tribune-Review]
Quickly… Dominique Easley will miss Florida's Gator Bowl date with Ohio State with a torn ACL. … Maryland loses another key transfer on the offensive line. … Houston gets a cameo in Penn State's "Healing Process." … Virginia Tech defends its unpopular bid to the Sugar Bowl. … Matt Barkley meets with Lane Kiffin. … And UCLA's coaching search, it's not going so hot.
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Matt Hinton is on Twitter: Follow him @DrSaturday.