Getting hired as athletic director at the highest level of college sports is as much about timing as it is ability, said a friend and former colleague of Craig Angelos.

Angelos, 61, has not been the top executive in an athletic department since 2012, and has stayed at four of the seven colleges he has worked at less than two years, according to his LinkedIn bio.

The University of Hawaii Board of Regents is scheduled to confirm or not confirm president David Lassner’s nomination of Angelos as the Manoa athletic director Thursday at the BOR’s meeting at Honolulu Community College.

“Timing? Absolutely. And connections,” Oregon athletic director Rob Mullens said in a phone interview with the Honolulu Star-Advertiser on Tuesday. “Do you have the skill set for what the needs are? It seems as though he does in this case.”

If approved, Angelos would replace David Matlin, who announced in January he would step down after this month after eight years as UH’s athletic director. Angelos is one of three to five recommended candidates given to Lassner by a screening/advisory committee.

Angelos and Mullens worked together at the University of Miami in the 1990s. Since then, Mullens’ career path took him to athletic director at Kentucky, and then to Eugene with the Ducks since 2010.

Angelos, meanwhile, has held titles of associate, deputy and/or assistant AD at six schools, including his post since last year as senior deputy director of athletics at Long Island University.

He was athletic director once, at Florida Atlantic University from 2002 to 2012. During his time in Boca Raton, FAU went from the infant stage of its football program to Division I FBS status and membership in the Sun Belt Conference. A 30,000-seat on-campus stadium was built on his watch.

After a change in presidents at FAU, Angelos’ contract was not renewed.

Since then, his longest stay was the one previous to Long Island. Angelos was deputy director of athletics at Temple from June 2015 to July 2022, according to his LinkedIn biography.

When athletic director Patrick Kraft left Temple for Boston College in July 2020, The Philadelphia Daily News reported Angelos was a “potential candidate” to replace him. But the AD position at Temple went to Arthur Johnson in October 2021.

Last September, Angelos was among three finalists for the AD job at Florida A&M, but that went to Tiffani-Dawn Sykes. In October, he was hired at Long Island.

After FAU and before Temple, Angelos held senior associate positions at Florida International (May 2014-June 2015) and South Florida (September 2012-May 2014). It was reported that Angelos was not retained at USF after a change in athletic directors.

His most prestigious No. 2 job was at Miami. Angelos, who holds a law degree from Creighton, started there as an assistant AD in 1994 after working three years as a legislative assistant at the NCAA.

As the program’s compliance officer, he led Miami’s self-investigation of NCAA violations before his arrival. The NCAA’s investigation led to football scholarship deductions and no postseason play for three years.

“I think he was hired for that purpose,” said Mullens, who joined him on the Hurricanes staff the same year before leaving for a position at Maryland in 1996.

Angelos ascended to senior associate athletic director at Miami before leaving for a similar position at Indiana in January 2001, where he remained until June 2002.

Mullens and Angelos were among six finalists for the AD opening at LSU in 2008.

Mullens said he was a reference for Angelos for the UH position and added that Angelos has not gone after every open athletic director job.

“One, he does have a broad set of experiences,” Mullens said. “You only pursue where the fit is right. These jobs, there aren’t very many of them. So there’s limited opportunities.”

Angelos has been advised not to speak to media until the BOR makes its decision. The regents, Lassner and other people involved in the process at UH have all also declined comment.

“He’s someone who is obviously an advocate for the student-athlete, considering he was one himself,” Mullens said of Angelos, who played first base on the BYU baseball team. “He’s dedicated his career to holding high value to higher education and the student-athlete experience. He has a unique set of experiences and is a student of the game.”

Mullens has been a regular vacationer to Maui since moving to Oregon. He said he thinks Angelos would fit well in Hawaii’s unique culture.

“Yes, and from what I’ve experienced with our student-athletes (from Hawaii) it’s a very close-knit family bond. And family is extremely important to (Angelos, a husband and father of six),” Mullens said. “He has a very high level of integrity, and understands that the visibility of college athletics can be a great rallying point for the whole community, while maintaining a high premium on education and the opportunities the athletic program can provide.”

Angelos’ experience as AD when a football program was built from scratch at FAU would help him at UH, Mullens said.

“Craig knows a thing or two about stadiums. He’ll be fantastic,” the Oregon athletic director said. “I’ll be rooting for him, except when they play us.”