The Hawaii football team has re-armed with the addition of quarterback Jake Farrell.
Farrell, who is 6 feet 41⁄2 and 215 pounds, told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser he is set to join the Rainbow Warriors in June for UH’s two-course bridge session for incoming freshmen.
“I’m super pumped up about it,” said Farrell, whose family took an unofficial visit to UH a week ago. “I love the campus. I love the culture there. It’s really awesome. I can’t wait to be a part of it.”
Farrell is a 2019 graduate of Notre Dame Prep, which went 13-1 during his senior year and reached the Arizona state title game. He spent last fall at East Coast Prep, a post-graduate school in Great Barrington, Mass.
“I took this year (at East Coast) to get bigger, faster and stronger in the weight room,” Farrell said. “Just to get a little more game experience. It led me to this point.”
Farrell would join a unit that lost primary starter Cole McDonald, who opted to forgo his senior season and apply for the 2020 NFL Draft, but returns Chevan Cordeiro, Justin Uahinui, Kamali‘i Akiuna, Boone Abbott and Zach Daniel.
“I’m excited to come in and compete and see what happens,” Farrell said. “I want to support all the other quarterbacks, and try to get them better, and try to see where it takes us.”
Farrell, who was born and reared in Arizona, has been a quarterback since the eighth grade. He learned the grip and spiral from playing catch in the backyard with his father. Later, friends helped arrange a meeting with Dan Manucci, who played two stints with the Buffalo Bills, serves as co-host of the “Roc and Manuch” radio show in Phoenix, and tutors quarterbacks.
“He really got me to where my game is today,” Farrell said of Manucci, who has emphasized mechanics and positioning on throws.
It was early in his junior season in 2017 when Farrell received interest from Arizona State. That was Todd Graham’s last season as ASU’s head coach. Soon after Graham was hired at UH, he contacted Farrell.
“I always wanted to play for him because we have similar values,” Farrell said.
Farrell also will have familiarity with the Warriors’ attack. Farrell said East Coast has a scheme “very similar to the offense Coach Graham runs at Hawaii. There’s a lot of throwing the ball downfield, a lot of Air Raid stuff. It’s good. It’s what I like.”
Playing that system at East Coast, Farrell said, gave “me a lot more experience of what’s to come.”
In eight games, Farrell completed 67.1% of his passes. He is capable of running 40 yards in 4.7 seconds. Farrell, who has a 3.94 grade-point average, aspires to study business at UH.
