HONOLULU – University of Hawai`i Warrior football head coach Greg McMackin conducted his weekly press conference Monday, recapping the team's win over New Mexico State to clinch the Western Athletic Conference title and looking ahead to UH's regular-season finale against UNLV.

 

I was really proud of everybody. We got into position. Obviously we learned we had that position to compete for the co-championship the night before. The guys were really excited. They were all watching TV. So I heard the eruption from the hotel. We were put in a position to play for that.

 

We're at a point where were going to a bowl game, we're co-champions, we're very humble about it. I think the guys have done it the right way because they've played one game at a time and we're still not finished. I'm really proud of the players and I'm really proud of the coaches. I give all credit to the coaches and the players. The players made plays and the coaches have done a great job of coaching their players and getting them better and better. We're pleased right now but we're not finished.

 

I think people are getting respect for us. We were pushing towards there and then we lost to Boise and went down into the 30s. I think it's a complement to our players and coaches. I think people are starting to realize we've done all this and we've traveled 35,000 miles These guys have really sacrificed. It's a very close group. We've used a “We are One” philosophy. They haven't listened to the outside, or any criticism from the outside. They've just tried to do what they're asked to do and get better and continue to get better. It gives our program national recognition and it's a good starting point.

 

I said from the beginning that this…could be a special group because of the way that they are working out in the off season. But those kinds of teams have to do it from within. There's been great leadership, not only senior leadership, but junior leadership, sophomore leadership. We've got a lot of leaders on this team and they've all bought into the program.

 

I think this is a very similar team to the 2007 team. If we would have played Charleston Southern…early instead of USC and Colorado we may have been in the same situation. Boise was a lot tougher this year, we played them at home that year. But leadership wise this team is good. It's a very similar team. That team was really close, this team is really close. We had a lot of even games, we had a lot of games that could have gone either way and they came through.

 

 We have some big-time play makers we're gong to have to replace, but we've got guys coming. We have recruits and we have some guys that are backing up that haven't got as many reps. You think of Greg Salas, all the great receivers we have around here and he has over 4,000 yards. That's big time. Then you think of what Alex (Green) is doing in the running game, he has over 1,000 yards. What our kicker (Scott Enos) did  (to) break Jason Elam's record, that's unbelievable to me. He's one of the greatest kickers ever. And Kealoha Pilares, what he's doing. It's just a fun group to coach, it's probably the most fun group I've had to coach in a long time.

 

We have UNLV this weekend and that's a very important ball game to us. It's Senior (Night) and this is a team that beat us last year.