The University of Hawaii football team is set to add a hybrid defender and several more on-field coaches.
Haydon Caston of Iowa Colony High in the Houston area said he has accepted a 2025 scholarship from the Rainbow Warriors. He will put his commitment in writing on Dec. 4, the first day of the early-signing period for football prospects.
“Playing in paradise,” Caston said of choosing UH after drawing interest from Oregon State, Tulsa, North Texas and Arkansas State. “And also playing in a good conference in football. And the great fans.”
Caston, who is 6 feet 1 and 190 pounds, is capable of running 100 meters in 10.8 seconds and 40 yards in 4.5 seconds. He was used as a safety, nickleback and edge blitzer for Iowa Colony. Last season, Caston amassed 113 tackles, including four sacks, and scored on two fumble returns. Dave Campbell’s Texas Football magazine listed Caston on the All-Texas second team.
Caston has a split academic schedule. His first two classes are at a Texas College and Career Readiness School, where he studies law enforcement. The rest of his classes are at Iowa Colony.
The Rainbow Warriors will be getting more coaching help. This week, the NCAA Division I Council announced the approval of a measure to permit staff members of FBS and FCS schools to “provide technical and tactical instruction to student-athletes.” In the past, only full-time coaches and graduate assistants were allowed to coach during practices and games.
The ruling frees analysts, player-personnel directors, recruiting coordinators, and quality-control coaches to work with players on the field.
“The more help, the better for us,” UH associate head coach Chris Brown said. “We’re limited through resources. Having more guys out there helping, hands on and giving knowledge — reiterating and teaching things that are said from the top — only helps.”
Analysts PJ Minaya (defense), Cade Socha (offense) and Jack Ray (special teams) will have expanded roles. “The scary thing is PJ is such a good coach, it’s going to be hard to hold on to him,” Brown said. “Cade and Jack are really good coaches.”
The rule still limits a team to 11 coaches who can be on the road recruiter. But with more on-field coaches, a team can designate a non-coach as one of the 11 recruiters. This past spring, Keiki Misipeka moved from running backs coach to general manager, where he works in player development and recruiting. In his new role, Misipeka was not allowed to recruit on the road. Now he has the option of helping running backs coach Anthony Arceneaux or recruiting.
