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It'll be a reunion for bowl coaches By RANDY HAMMERICKSEN Hawaii defensive coordinator Greg McMackin isn't thrilled about matching up against his best friend Christmas Day in the Jeep Oahu Bowl. But McMackin, 51, a former Southern Oregon University defensive back and the head coach at Oregon Institute of Technology from 1986-90, is going to have to try to figure out what "the master of offensive college football" might do for 60 minutes against the Rainbows. It will be McMackin's Hawaii defense going against Oregon State coach Dennis Erickson. Oregon State takes a 7-4 record under Erickson, the Beavers' first-year head coach, into the bowl game. Hawaii is 8-4. McMackin will be coaching his final game as Hawaii's defensive coordinator. He's taken a job as associate head coach and defensive coordinator at Texas Tech. "I'm taking the first flight out of town after the bowl game," says McMackin. McMackin was Erickson's defensive coordinator for three seasons (1993-95) at the University of Miami and for four years with the Seattle Seahawks (1995-98). The coaches first met San Jose State assistant coaches in 1978. McMackin said Monday he hasn't seen Erickson yet in Hawaii but will undoubtedly run into him during pre-bowl festivities. Oregon State arrived in Hawaii Saturday. "Dennis and I talked (by phone) about once a week during the season," says McMackin. "I'm real happy for him because he's back to himself again after a tough ending in Seattle. "The Oregon State people are treating him real well, and he's very happy." McMackin has one positive working for him going into the game. "I know exactly what Dennis is going to try to do," he says, "but I don't know what or how much we can do about it. He will try to establish the running game and then hit us with the big pass. "They have a great tailback (Ken Simonton) and some very fast receivers. They scare me. Dennis is an offensive genius. And I know he's calling most of the plays for them." McMackin says Erickson is running almost the exact same offense he operated at Miami and Seattle. "At Seattle, Dennis didn't have as much of a direct hand at running the offense as he does with Oregon State," says McMackin. "That's pretty scary, when you think about having to come up with a defense to stop his offense. This will be the best offense we've faced all season." Hawaii lost its final regular-season game to Washington State (22-14). The Rainbows are 0-2 against the Pac-10, which seemingly bodes well for the Beavers. Hawaii lost to USC 62-7 in its opener. OSU pounded Washington State and nearly beat USC at the Los Angeles Coliseum. "Oregon State is a much better team than USC," says McMackin. "In fact, we were hoping we might play USC again in our bowl game." McMackin took his new position at Texas Tech last week. He will be associate head coach and defensive coordinator under Leach, which means he will coordinate all recruiting and all decisions made from the defensive point of view in the program. "It's an exciting opportunity, but I'm going to miss Hawaii," says McMackin. The Rainbows will miss him, too, says head coach June Jones. "Greg's probably one of the best defensive guys I've ever been around as far as schemes and knowledge of the game," says Jones. "He brings a people-oriented approach to the players. "Ever since I've known Greg, he's gotten the most out of his players because he cares about the guys, not just on the football field, but as people. "He's a great recruiter, and he's won at all different levels." Today's Sports Index Mail Tribune Copyright� The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, OR U.S.A.