As the college football world turns, University of Hawaii head coach Timmy Chang remains grounded in his goals.
“I think college football has changed,” said Chang, who enters his fifth season as the Rainbow Warriors’ leader. “You have to be flexible to build a roster and compete. We’re doing that. We’re a different type of program. We’re in a different location. And that poses different factors and opportunities and challenges that we have to be able to adapt.”
Fifty-four months after inheriting a disheartened program that was in emotional turmoil, Chang is navigating an evolving landscape. The transfer portal has eased the way for players to change schools without interruption. Student-athletes may now profit from use of their name, image and likeness. The House vs. NCAA settlement requires profit sharing up to $20.5 million annually per school. (UH has budgeted $5 million for NILs and profit sharing this coming academic year, with $2.5 million earmarked for football.)
The Rainbow Warriors have been impacted living in a material whirl.
“Jackson Harris is an example,” Chang said of the wideout who received a lucrative NIL deal after transferring to LSU following the 2025 regular season. “I think he loved our program, but he left for the money.”
But the portal is accessible in both directions, and the Warriors were able to find tall and fast transfers to reload the receiver positions.
Don’t miss out on what’s happening!
Stay in touch with breaking news, as it happens, conveniently in your email inbox. It’s FREE!
“We just focus on our program, focus on our staff, focus on getting better,” Chang said. “Those are the things we can control. We focus on building and developing young student-athletes.”
In accepting the UH job in January 2022, Chang emphasized assembling a staff that shared his vision, connecting the program with academic and administrative leaders, and taking great care of his players.
“If we want someone to come into our program, it means something,” Chang said. “You’re taking in somebody’s son. You’re taking in someone who wants to trust you. That’s the biggest thing.”
For Chang, that meant providing educational and nutritional opportunities.
“Five years ago, we fought for feeding our kids and taking care of them,” said Chang, noting such programs as the Braddahhood Grindz and Sodexo provide training tables. “We’re fed year ’round besides the days we’re truly off, like spring break or winter break. We kept them fed.”
With expanded guidelines, every team member, including walk-ons, partakes in the training table.
“Once you’re on our team, you’re part of it,” Chang said.
He also has provided some leeway for youthful mistakes.
“I made it vocal, my biggest problem is we’re very quick to move to the next thing and move off people,” Chang said. “We want to build a program where we can give people second chances to try to do things right. We want to grow and develop and build that trust with them.”
During Chang’s tenure, the pied piper has been quarterback Micah Alejado, who was born and reared on Oahu and became a standout quarterback for national powerhouse Bishop Gorman High of Las Vegas.
“Micah brings a lot to the table for our program, for our state,” Chang said of the third-year Warrior. “He’s able to attract other players, as well. When you talk about receivers wanting to come and play, they want to play with Micah. A guy who left, like Jackson, still wanted to play with Micah. It’s the style of how we recruit. We recruit people. Your talent is your talent. We recruit based on who you are as a person.”
Chang also said that standard holds for his coaches and staff. Chang has reached agreement on a contract extension, although the paper work has not been signed. As part of conversations, Chang strongly proposed rewarding his staff. Last month, the assistant coaches received new contracts — some received two-year deals.
“The most important thing is continuing to build,” Chang said. “When you look at the building part of it, it’s taking care of your coaches. The coaches are an extension of me. I want to make sure we’re taking care of them. And always taking care of the players, whether it’s revenue sharing or NILs or feeding them. That’s the biggest thing.”
The Warriors became a football-only member of the Mountain West in 2012. This month, 15 UH sports joined, making the school essentially a full member. (UH’s men’s volleyball, beach volleyball and water polo teams remain in the Big West because the Mountain West does not sponsor those sports.)
With UH as full member, school president Wendy Hensel has been appointed to the Mountain West’s Board of Directors and the league’s executive committee. Athletic director Matt Elliott will have a greater voice in decisions involving UH. And UH will receive a full share of the league’s national television revenue.
On the football field, the Warriors have a chance to fill the leadership void created by Boise State’s and Fresno State’s departure to the Pac-12.
Chang will continue to call plays for the ever-evolving run-and-shoot offense.
“I think the run-and-shoot is a wrinkle in itself,” Chang said. “It’s an offense about quarterbacks and receivers being on the same page. You start with an offense like that, it becomes challenging (for defenses) to stop.”
Chang also said defensive coordinator Dennis Thurman will continue to reload a scheme in attack mode.
“Dennis has a great understanding of how he wants to attack and what he wants to do,” Chang said. “Complicated or simple, he wants to make his defense attack. This year more than others. You lose (play-making safety) Peter Manuma and you have guys to replace him. There have been guys waiting in the wings ready to step up.”