University of Hawaii head football coach Greg McMackin has stepped down and will waive nearly half of his $1.1 million employment contract, he announced this afternoon.
McMackin, whose departure was expected after the Warriors football team posted a losing record and failed to qualify for a bowl game, fought off tears in a brief appearance at the UH Manoa campus.
The search for a successor will begin, bolstered by McMackin’s decision to free up $500,000 of his own salary to assist in the University’s recruitment of a new head coach.
“I have decided to retire from this position at this time,” he said.
“I believe in my players and their potential for success. In their honor I am forgoing a half-million dollars in the final year of my contract which I hope will strengthen the football program,” he said.
Athletics Director Jim Donovan and UH Manoa Chancell0r Virginia Hinshaw prefaced Donovans’ announcement by thanking him for his service to the University.
McMackin compiled a 29-26 record as head coach, guiding the Warriors to the championship of the Western Athletic Conference last year.
But the team stumbled badly this year as McMackin was heading into the final year of his five-year employment contract.
McMackin, Hinshaw and Donovan left the brief announcement ceremony without taking questions from reporters.