Former Hawaii coach Norm Chow lands in Europe league

In 2011, Norm Chow headed west to Hawaii to coach the Rainbow Warriors football team after nearly four decades of coaching on the mainland. Now the Punahou alum heads in the other direction to resume his career.

The Helvetic Guards of the European League of Football announced Friday that Chow will be their inaugural head coach when they start play in 2023.

The ELF is in its second season, with seven teams in Germany, two in Austria and one apiece in Poland, Spain and Turkey. Helvetic will be the first franchise based in Switzerland. Three other teams will join in next season’s expansion — an eighth German squad and the first teams from Hungary and Italy.

Among the other head coaches in the ELF is former San Francisco 49ers head coach Jim Tomsula, who leads the Rhein Fire. The team’s name recalls the NFL Europe franchise of the same name that played from 1995 to 2007.

The ELF plays 12-game seasons, kicking off in June and culminating with a championship game in September. Attendance has nearly doubled this season to more than 3,200 per game from 1,800 in the league’s inaugural season.

Chow coached the University of Hawaii from 2012 to 2015, compiling a record of 10-36. In the years since he has coached in the XFL and at California high schools.