It was awe at first fright.
“First time I met him, he’s a big muscled guy,” University of Hawaii defensive tackle Aiden McComber said of associate head coach Chris Brown. “He’s kind of scary. Once you get to know him, you know he cares.”
Back in the day, the early 2000s, when he roamed the tackle box as a hard-hitting middle linebacker, Brown could bench-press 500 pounds and also bench 225 pounds 42 times. It has been said his skin appeared to be too tight on his body.
“It was crazy,” nickelback Elijah Palmer said of his initial meeting with Brown. “Everybody has a first impression. Big dude. You can’t really gauge his face. Once you get to know him, you understand who he is. He’s a man of God first and foremost. He’s a great human being.”
Through 2021, Brown was the assistant head coach, strength coordinator, defensive coordinator and linebackers coach for Bishop Gorman High, a Las Vegas-based football power.
Brown referred to Bishop Gorman’s weight room as the Iron Church. Tithe was set at 100% effort — in football training, in academics, in being good people.
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“The people there are amazing,” said UH quarterback Micah Alejado, a Bishop Gorman graduate. “They really want to see you succeed, from the administration to the coaching staff. They really take care of you. They definitely get you ready for the real world. I feel the love of that place.”
When Timmy Chang was hired as UH head coach in January 2022, he reached out to Brown, his former teammate. As a condition of accepting a coaching position, Brown wanted to develop a recruiting pipeline with Bishop Gorman. In particular, Brown insisted the 2023 recruiting class begin with three Gaels — McComber, Palmer and linebacker Jamih Otis.
“Those guys were the epitome of discipline and hard work,” Brown said. “The other thing is they were leaders. When I was the coordinator up there, they ran my defense for me. Their mindset was different in how they think, how they work. They had a championship mentality where it was never good enough.”
In 2022, those three helped the Gaels clobber Las Vegas high schools by an average of 71-0 per game.
The gap between Bishop Gorman and UH is greater than the straight-line air distance of 2,762 miles. The Gaels compete for national championships. With sponsorships from alumni Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta — heirs to hotel chains in Vegas — the Gaels are supplied with 64 combinations of uniforms and helmets. The weight room (officially renamed the “Iron Church”) and training area could fit two basketball courts.
“We were in the facility from sunup to sundown,” Otis said. “All that was earned. The biggest thing we built was a brotherhood of hard work. We’re close forever.”
In contrast, UH does not have a permanent home venue or grass practice field.
“I built a lot of great relationships with all those guys and their families,” Brown said. “I told them, ‘Let’s go build a championship team at the University of Hawaii like we did at Gorman. They loved the idea.”
McComber, Palmer and Otis were on the same UH-sponsored recruiting visit.
“We all had other (college) options,” Palmer said. “Once we came out here for the official visit, we all understood we could make a difference. I felt it was at our official-visit dinner where we all made the decision at the same time.”
McComber said: “We wanted to help Coach Timmy and Coach Chris in whatever role. We wanted to help flip the narrative about Hawaii’s team.”
The next goal was to secure a 2024 commitment from Alejado, who led the Gaels to a national title as a senior in 2023. It appeared improbable Alejado, who has drawn comparisons to another left-handed passer, Tua Tagovailoa, would consider UH. But Alejado grew up in Hawaii before moving to Las Vegas in the eighth grade. And when Alejado searched for a school — Mater Dei High in Santa Ana, Calif., was a consideration — Brown was influential in steering him to Bishop Gorman.
“It’s about relationships,” Brown said. “I knew Micah when he was 15 years old. … We had to get him (to UH). He had a great career at Bishop Gorman. I said, ‘Let’s do the same thing in Hawaii. You’ll be under one of the best (quarterbacks) to do it in Timmy Chang. Let’s go out there and set new records and build championship teams.”
Alejado made a verbal commitment to UH in April 2023. He took nine classes in the fall semester to complete his high school studies in December 2023 and join the Warriors as an early enrollee in January 2024.
The number of former Gaels increased to six with running back Cam Barfield transferring from Boston College last year and linebacker Giovanni Iovino joining this season. The six Bishop Gorman alumni have circled Friday, when the Warriors play UNLV at Allegiant Stadium
“It’s a surreal feeling going back home,” Iovino said. “Everybody on the team is asking for tickets.”
Otis is second among the Warriors with 53 tackles. Palmer has emerged as a vocal leader. Barfield has provided a spark as a running back and returner. And Alejado is in contention as the Mountain West’s top offensive player. UH also has received 2026 commitments from six more Gaels.
“They have a great work ethic,” Chang said of the former Gaels. “Last December, when we’re not playing, they’re together in Vegas training. … They’re dialed in. It’s very infectious. The Bishop Gorman guys are helping to bring a standard of excellence to our football program. It’s one thing for the coaches to say it, it’s another for the players to do it and show it and live it every day. Coach Chris Brown has built a great relationship with Bishop Gorman. He’s been there. He understands what Hawaii football means to this state.”