UPDATE >> Hawaii has announced this hire
The Hawaii saga apparently is coming to an end.
Sources tell FootballScoop Saturday evening that former Hawaii star player Timmy Chang is accepting the program’s head football coaching position and will be the program’s replacement for Todd Graham, barring any unforeseen snags in what has been a wild couple of weeks for the program.
Graham resigned amidst much public scrutiny, and former Hawaii great June Jones publicly stumped for the job – only to turn down the opportunity when Hawaii official presented Jones with what the veteran coach termed was an untenable contract proposal.
Per sources, that contract proposal would have seen Jones lead the program for a couple of years and then give way to Chang, a Hawaii native who starred for his home-state college and threw for nearly 120 career touchdown passes.
After a pro football career, Chang has steadily climbed through the coaching ranks. He worked at Nevada for the previous five seasons before he recently joined the new Colorado State staff of Jay Norvell, for whom Chang had worked at Nevada.
Norvell was hired atop the Rams’ program after the school dismissed former coach Steve Addazio.
For Hawaii, the impending move to Chang would be a significant one. The program has languished with both fiscal problems and a lack of resources. While the Warriors had 17 players enter the NCAA Transfer Portal after mid-November, and Graham was more or less ushered out, the veteran coach Graham also had told confidantes that he had footed some expenses for the Hawaii program out of pocket.
Chang is an exciting, offensive-minded coach who presents an opportunity for Hawaii to rally its base and bring home a native son in the process.