Making safety a priority, the Hawaii football team secured a commitment from a graduate transfer from Brown University.

“When I got the opportunity from (safeties) Coach (Nick) Locher and the rest of the (UH) staff, it was a pretty easy decision to make,” Tim Malo said of choosing the Rainbow Warriors. “They play great ball out there in the Mountain West. (The Warriors are) definitely trending upward, and that’s something I want to be a part of. I felt this was the perfect time to hop on that train.”

Malo, who grew up in Bellingham, Wash., said he has relatives who live on Maui. “They’re always telling me how great the islands are,” said Malo, who has made several visits to the 50th state. “I’ve always wanted to come back.”

Malo, who is 6 feet and 200 pounds, led the Bears in tackles (68) and solo stops (40) in 10 games in 2024. He ranked ninth in the Ivy League with 6.8 tackles per game. He also had 4.5 tackles for loss and two interceptions.

The Ivy League limits student-athletes to four years to play four seasons. Because he appeared in only one game in 2021 and three in 2022, he has one season of NCAA eligibility remaining.

Malo entered the NCAA transfer portal in November, and earned a bachelor’s degree in business economics in December. He will begin UH classes next Monday, the first day of the spring semester, and participate in the conditioning program and spring training.

Brown’s base defense in the secondary was a four-across, match-up zone. “We also played a lot of cover-3, and I know that’s what Hawaii likes to run,” Malo said.

At Brown, Malo was positioned as the deep safety, in the box, playing man coverage in the slot, or as an edge blitzer. “I can be all over the place, if need be,” he said.

Malo was a football and baseball star at Sehome High. He received invitations to several football camps entering his senior year. But because of the pandemic, most of the camps were canceled. But he participated in an all-star game at the end of the season. Brown received video of that game, leading to Malo joining the Bears.

Malo admittedly faced a culture shock moving to Providence, R.I. But he quickly adjusted to balancing the academic demands of an Ivy League school with football training. Malo credits his on-field success largely to Tom Zbikowski, who was Brown’s safeties coach in 2023 and 2024. Zbikowski was an All-America defensive back at Notre Dame who played five NFL seasons. He also had a pro boxing career.

“He was able to teach me a lot of the ins and outs of how to play the game,” Malo said. “Not just what to do and how to play coverages, but how to play the game in certain situations, and techniques, and especially how to disguise coverages. That’s where I made a lot of my plays just based on alignment.”