Hawai'i

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The UNLV rivalryHawai'i: the fanbase's identity shifting.our read

Mountain West · Timmy Chang, year 5 (23-31) · Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics Complex · 15,194 · 13,959 avg in 2026

The nationunrankedAP / Coaches
The model#76 CFB ZeitgeistSP+ #91 (-7.0) · FPI #103
The marketno line yetat Wyoming · our model 53% Hawai'i · a number, not a pick

LastW 29–19 vs New Mexico State · Sat Sep 12 · Elijah Palmer 1 sacks, 2 TFL, 5 tackles

Nextat Wyoming · Sat Sep 26 · 3 pm ET · War Memorial Stadium · series 12-17 · Game preview

Updated Tue Sep 15 · through week 2

Zeitgeist statureRegional Program IV#134 all-time– holding
one line from Regional Program III
The era · 2014 through 2025

The CFP Era

12 seasons inside the CFP era, no bids yet — the era the program is still trying to break into.

Era record 67-86 12 seasons
Best season 10-5 2019
TRAJECTORY · quality-score line · AP rank dotted · CFP bids marked · coach regimes ribboned
Program Quality AP Rank (inverted) CFP Appearance
'14'16'18'20'22'24NOW
CHAPTERS · 12 seasons · tap to open the archive
'14 4-9 '15 3-10 '16 7-7 '17 3-9 '18 8-6 '19 10-5 '20 — '21 6-7 '22 3-10 '23 5-8 '24 5-7 '25 9-4

Hawai'i's 2014–2025 record is 67-86. The era is still being written; the CFP line is the one the program is arguing for.

Era win %
.437
Ranked seasons (AP)
0/12
Best AP finish
—

Program outlook

Hawai'i went 12-0 in the 2007 regular season, crashed the BCS Sugar Bowl, and lost 41-10 to Georgia. The program's own all-time passing leader just coached the Warriors back to nine wins and a bowl comeback nobody saw coming.

Read the full essay — 3 more paragraphs

Hawai'i is the only major-college program that an entire ocean of islands calls its own. The geography is the identity: a six-hour flight from the mainland, 80-degree humidity, a time-zone gauntlet that visiting teams never fully shake. June Jones arrived at a program coming off an 0-12 season, installed the Run-and-Shoot, and turned it into the 2007 BCS buster — 12-0 regular season behind Colt Brennan, a Sugar Bowl berth, and the most prolific aerial show the sport had seen. The 41-10 loss to Georgia on the nation's biggest stage is the wound that still gets cited; Warrior fans know the argument by heart and they're tired of it being the last thing anyone remembers.

Timmy Chang came home to coach the program he once quarterbacked to records. The all-time NCAA passing-yards leader who played in the same system is now running it — and in his fourth season, 2025, he delivered nine wins and the Hawai'i Bowl, erasing a 21-point deficit against California in one of the program's greatest comebacks. Chang was named AFCA Region 5 Coach of the Year and got an extension through 2026. The Imua — move forward — philosophy is not a slogan here; it's what the islands require every time they send a team six hours east to play someone who flew in fresh.

The 2026 question is whether Chang's rebuilt Warriors can chase the Mountain West title that has eluded the program since the league realigned. The bowl win proved the foundation is real. The conference championship would prove Hawai'i is a destination again, not just a road trip nobody wants to make.

On the field

Air it out — the Run-and-Shoot heritage runs through this program's institutional memory and Chang's offense carries the DNA: four- and five-wide sets, quick throws, a quarterback who distributes the ball fast enough to exploit the spacing the system creates before pass-rush pressure arrives. The weather and the travel are part of the scheme — home games at the Ching Athletics Complex in Honolulu are played in conditions that visiting defenses haven't practiced in. The identity is the island: you have to earn it to beat them.

program outlook · as of 2026-06-14

All-time record · Hawai'i

Hawai'i has won 47% of its games since 1921 — 55% at home, 30% on the road.

357-402-6 all-time · 97 seasons · 1921–2026

Home 258-210-2
Away 81-184-4
Neutral 18-8
45% 1920s
40% 1930s
18% 1940s
17% 1950s
10% 1960s
52% 1970s
59% 1980s
40% 1990s
61% 2000s
42% 2010s
45% 2020s

Coaching Era · Hawai'i

Timmy Chang

Timmy Chang has held the program for 5 seasons — the era is established.

Era Timmy Chang · 2022–presentPrev: Todd Graham (2020–2021)OC: Anthony ArceneauxPrev OC: co-Dan Morrison (2024)DC: Dennis ThurmanPrev DC: Jacob Yoro / co-Eti Ena (2023)
The full CFP-era story →The full coaching lineage →
5 years · era

Program memory

What this program never forgets

Most weeks vanish. These didn’t.

2007

Perfect regular season

12-0 and a BCS Sugar Bowl berth — the islands crash the party

2008

The Sugar Bowl loss

41-10 to Georgia on the sport's biggest stage

Wound

2025

Hawai'i Bowl comeback over Cal

Erases a 21-point deficit to win — tying the largest comeback in program history

More in this tab

Ladder finishHow far up the ladder this season got.

Season standing · 2026 · 1-2

Hawai'i is 1-2 in the season's first weeks.

An early losing record — too few games to call it more than that.

Sub-FBSBuildingBowlRankedContenderPlayoff
ConferenceWhere this team sits in this season's conference standings.

Mountain West standing · 2026

10th in the Mountain West

Hawai'i is 10th of 10 in the Mountain West at 0-1. The path to the title is steep — the focus is on bowl access and rivalry wins.

#ProgramRecord
1North Dakota State1-0
2UNLV1-0
–Nevada0-0
–New Mexico0-0
–Northern Illinois0-0
–San José State0-0
–UTEP0-0
–Wyoming0-0
9Air Force0-1
10Hawai'i0-1
Coaching historyEvery hire and departure on record, not just the current era.

Coaching history

  • Hired Timmy Chang2022
  • Todd Graham departs11-11, 2 seasons
  • Hired Todd Graham2020
  • Nick Rolovich departs28-27, 4 seasons
  • Hired Nick Rolovich2016
  • Hired Chris Naeole2015
  • Norm Chow departs10-36, 4 seasons
  • Chris Naeole departs1-3, 1 season
Coordinator lineageOffense and defense under each coordinator.

Unit lineage

Hawai'i’s offense and defense, by coordinator

FBS-relative efficiency percentile per season (2014–2026), same population as the Coordinator Mirror board. Dashed vertical lines mark a coordinator change.

Offense2014–2026
2014201620182020202220242026
2015 · Don Bailey2016 · Brian Smith2017–2019 · Brian Smith2020 · GJ Kinne / co-Tony Hull2021 · Bo Graham2022 · Ian Shoemaker2023 · Ian Shoemaker / co-Roman Sapolu2024 · co-Dan Morrison2025–2026 · Anthony Arceneaux
Defense2014–2026
2014201620182020202220242026
2014 · Kevin Clune2015 · Tom Mason (interim)2016 · Kevin Lempa2017 · Legi Suiaunoa2018–2019 · Corey Batoon2020 · co-Jacob Yoro / Victor Santa Cruz2021 · Trent Figg2022 · Jacob Yoro2023 · Jacob Yoro / co-Eti Ena2024–2026 · Dennis Thurman
Elite (≥70th pct)AveragePoor (≤30th pct)
Gameday customsThe gameday customs unique to this program.

Rituals

Three gameday rituals — the ones outsiders never quite catch.

2007 Sugar Bowl Run

since 2007

more

June Jones's 2007 12-1 + WAC championship + Sugar Bowl appearance + #10 final AP + Colt Brennan Heisman finalist (3rd) made Hawai'i the first non-BCS-conference team in the Sugar Bowl. The Sugar Bowl loss (Georgia 41-10) didn't dim the achievement; the 2007 run + Brennan's Heisman finish broke the G5-can't-reach-BCS-bowl ceiling first.

Run-and-Shoot Offense

since 1999

more

June Jones brought the Run-and-Shoot offense to Hawai'i in 1999 — the four-receiver no-tight-end-no-fullback scheme that produced massive passing statistics. Multiple NCAA passing records (Timmy Chang) + the 'Sky Hi' offensive identity + a Heisman finalist (Colt Brennan) made Hawai'i the Run-and-Shoot's modern home program.

Aloha Stadium / Ching Complex Transition

since 2020

more

Aloha Stadium (1975-2020) hosted Hawai'i home games for decades + the Pro Bowl + Hula Bowl. The 2020 closure for structural reasons forced Hawai'i to move to Ching Athletics Complex (10,000 capacity) — a dramatic downsizing. The temporary venue era + future planned stadium replacement define the 2020s competitive cycle.

Cultural identityWhat college football loses if this program didn't exist.
BowlsEvery bowl this program's played, and how it did.

Bowl / Postseason Ledger

Recent postseason (2016-2025): 4-1

Most recent: 2025 — win 35-31 (home). Last 5 postseason: 4-1.

20252020201920182016
Reddit blowupsThe plays that blew up on r/CFB.

r/cfb moments

203
[Postgame Thread] Hawai'i Defeats Delaware State 35-14
Aug 2024 · r/cfb

All-time top community posts · ranked by upvotes

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