Was it two months ago when doom and gloom were set to meet in Manoa?
After an 18-month tenure, Craig Angelos was not retained as the University of Hawaii’s athletic director.
Nineteen UH football players had entered the NCAA transfer portal.
And an independent auditing firm went through the UH athletic department’s self-submitted budget for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2024, and determined — for the umpteenth consecutive year — the numbers in red ink were larger than the ones in black ink.
And then … nothing.
The worst-case scenario was a no-show.
Life went on in Manoa, as usual as the daily mist.
Acting athletic director Lois Manin added a year to football head coach Timmy Chang’s four-year contract that was set to expire at the end of the 2025 season. An apparel deal with BSN Sports, a distributor of Nike products, is close to being finalized. Talks are renewed for the naming rights to the newly installed artificial surface at Les Murakami Stadium. After months of the urinal in the athletic department’s men’s room being blocked from use with a plastic garbage bag, the situation has been repaired and open for business.
The big-dawg donors — the banks, Outrigger Resorts &Hotels, Hawaiian Airlines — did not waver in their support.
In the aftermath of Angelos’ dismissal, hotelier Michael Kawazoe initially said he would withdraw support and take down his signs from SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center. Since then, Kawazoe clarified he would “pause” personal donations until seeing the next direction of the athletic department. But he remains an instrumental fundraiser for UH’s name, image, likeness collective, and an avid and generous supporter of UH athletics. One of his other company’s signs has replaced the signs that were taken down.
The football Warriors appeared to have reorganized seamlessly after general manager Keiki Misipeka joined the University of Miami’s staff and quarterbacks coach Dan Morrison retired. Matt Chon, who served as chief of staff for three years, is expected to have a larger role overseeing football operations, from personnel to NILs. Quarterback savant Cade Socha, an analyst the past three seasons, is expected to have a greater role in the offense.
The transfer-portal total included players seeking other opportunities or mutually agreeing to depart. The Warriors were hit hard with several receivers and defensive linemen in the portal. But leading receiver Nick Cenacle opted to withdraw from the portal and play his senior year with the Warriors. Proving the portal works two ways, the Warriors signed wideouts Jackson Harris of Stanford and Brandon White of Kentucky. Kainoa “KaiKai” Carvalho, the 2021 All-State Offensive Player of the Year, withdrew a commitment with Utah to sign with the Warriors.
On Sunday, the Warriors secured commitments from three defensive linemen, two of whom began their NCAA careers with Power 4 schools.
They also used a junior college exemption to bring back cornerback Caleb Brown. Brown will be paired with cornerback Virdel Edwards, who was a medical redshirt in 2024. A clarification of the junior college rule might allow linebacker/co-captain Logan Taylor to return to the Warriors.
It should not be a surprise that UH has survived another leadership change. UH was left adrift when its best AD, Stan Sheriff, died in January 1993. Hugh Yoshida struggled early as Sheriff’s successor, then mastered the position in his final five years as AD. Since then, UH has overcome “Wonder Blunder,” the defections following Todd Graham’s second season as football coach, the pandemic, and the shuttering of Aloha Stadium to spectator-attended events.
UH is hampered by the Ching Complex as a venue for home football games. The university again will be called on to subsidize budget shortfalls. And UH is being lapped in the NIL race.
But Manin, who is not seeking the permanent AD job, is a competent, diligent and trusted leader. She handled much of the day-to-day work the past couple of years. When Colt Brennan was invited to New York as a Heisman Trophy finalist in 2007, he was allowed 10 guests. Manin made the list even though she left UH as media relations director six months earlier. In 2016, then head coach Nick Rolovich hired Manin as director of football operations.
And while the portal has had an impact on rosters, UH leaders know there are always more available players than scholarships. The pool should increase this year as football rosters will be capped at 105, meaning at least 10 players from each FBS program will become free agents.
The ohana culture and climate also are attractions. Describing recent conditions in Minnesota, where he left to enter the transfer portal, defensive tackle Luther McCoy said: “snow, ice and everything that’s not nice.” McCoy signed with UH this past weekend.
