Hawaii announces head coaching hire amid drama

Former Hawaii quarterback Timmy Chang is officially the program’s new head coach, Hawaii Athletics Director David Matlin announced on Saturday night. Chang was a record-setting signal-caller during his playing days for Hawaii.

The announcement comes following a week of drama with former Hawaii head coach June Jones. The school was trying to bring Jones back to Hawaii, but there were a lot of issues surrounding the negotiations since the school wouldn’t give him the deal he wanted. On Friday, the school’s athletic director officially announced that both sides could not come to terms on a deal.

Jones coached at Hawaii from 1999-2007 before leaving for SMU. At Hawaii, he went 76-41 to become the winningest coach in program history.

The negotiations with Jones didn’t work out and former UH legend Timmy Chang is now officially the new headman at the school. He talked about his excitement on Saturday night in returning to his former school.

Chang said: “I’m back. I’m home. In my heart, I’ve never left. Like I’ve always done, I’m ready to give my all for Hawai’i. The highest privilege in coaching is the right to represent an institution as a head coach. This is beyond indescribable. I get to do it here in Hawai’i, where I am from. I am so proud to represent MY school and state. I’m honored to lead the BRADDAHHOOD,” in a press release issued by the school on Saturday night.

According to Christian Shimabuku of KHON2, Chang was selected as the school’s head coach over a pool of candidates that included: former Hawai’i and Washington State offensive coordinator Brian Smith, Arizona defensive coordinator Johnny Nansen, UCLA associate coach Brian Norwood and BYU associate head coach Ed Lamb.

Chang spent the previous five seasons as the wide receiver and tight ends coach at Nevada, before recently following former Wolf Pack head coach Jay Norvell to the Colorado State Rams.

During his five seasons at Nevada, Chang guided one of the most explosive offensive attacks on the West Coast, while the Wolf Pack earned a bowl in each of the last four seasons.

A four-year starter for Hawaii from 2000-04, Chang peppered his name all over the record books at the school and shattered NCAA records in the process.

He set the NCAA’s all-time passing (17,072) and total offense (16,910) yardage records. His 16,910 yards of total offense broke the previous record of 14,465 held by former BYU legend Ty Detmer. Detmer won the Heisman Trophy in 1990.

The Honolulu native finished his career with 117 total touchdowns, which ranked third all-time at the time. In his final season with the Warriors, he was a finalist for the Johnny Unitas Award, given to the nation’s top quarterback.

He also holds the NCAA record for the most interceptions all-time, 80.

The first game of the Timmy Chang era at Hawaii will be against Vanderbilt on Aug. 27.

Problems at Hawaii

Time is important, as it is with every college opening, due to the transfer portal. Hawaii ranks among the schools with the most departures this season and next year’s success could depend heavily on the new staff’s ability to bring back new and old faces for 2022.

Hawaii saw a rash of transfers this offseason in the wake of accusations against Graham and the program’s culture. He resigned on Jan. 14 after two seasons and an 11-11 record with the program.

Chang will have to figure out how to replace the team’s top quarterback, Chevan Cordeiro. He entered the transfer portal and transferred to San Jose State. Hawaii’s leading tackler Darius Muasau transferred to UCLA. Those are just a few of the transfers he’ll have to deal with.

The Hawaii Senate’s Ways and Means and Higher Education Committee called a meeting regarding the culture the head coach had built in the program. Several players came forward, speaking against Graham and his actions.

Hawaii finished this past season with a 6-7 record under Graham. The Rainbow Warriors originally scheduled to face Memphis in the Hawaii Bowl but backed out because of COVID-19 issues.

On3’s James Fletcher III also contributed to this story.