David Graves is certain of this much: He’ll be back with the University of Hawaii football team next season.

Everything else, for the moment, is hazy at best.

With the announcement of head coach Greg McMackin’s retirement on Monday, the future of the program was thrown into flux, leaving the returnees to contemplate what might come next.

"It’s really out of my control," said Graves, a sophomore quarterback who will enter 2012 as the incumbent to lead the offense after starting the last two games of the just-completed season.

Following a press conference formally announcing McMackin’s departure after four seasons as head coach, Graves huddled with offensive coordinator Nick Rolovich and a few teammates outside the auditorium where they’d been informed of the day’s developments. The theme of the conversation was simple.

"We’re going to work hard and stick together, so no matter who comes in we want them to come in to a tight-knit group, ready to work, ready to get better, ready to win games," Graves said.

"This is an opportunity to mesh. In the uncertainty, we’re going to have to come together. We’re going to have some leaders emerge and we’re going to really work hard this offseason in our 7-on-7s, hitting it in the weight room, running. Just get bigger, faster, stronger and get ready to compete."

The players were told of the impending coaching change in a 3 p.m. team meeting.

They emerged a little more than 10 minutes later and many headed over to the Stan Sheriff Center to attend the press conference.

The announcement caught some Warriors by surprise.

"I didn’t think it was going to happen. It was kind of shocking to everybody," freshman wide receiver Trevor Davis said. "I’m going to miss Coach Mack. We appreciate Coach Mack and what he did for us. He’s a good coach and a good person, so that’s really tough."

Davis said he initially thought the team meeting would address the Warriors’ offseason program. Instead, it began an offseason of uncertainty for everyone connected with the program.

"I don’t know what’s going to happen," Davis said. "All I know is I hope the coaching staff gets to stay, that’s the main thing. Coach Rolo and the whole coaching staff, I think they’re all great coaches and I don’t want them to leave."

While associate coach Rich Miano was named interim head coach, a search for a full-time replacement is set to begin and a change in leadership could mean a shift in the program’s offensive and defensive philosophies.

"This is one of the best offenses for a quarterback, so hopefully we’re going to run something similar," Graves said of UH’s run-and-shoot system. "But it’s another thing that’s out of my control."

The Warriors completed a 6-7 season with a 41-20 loss to Brigham Young last Saturday, finishing one win short of a berth in the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl for the second time in three years.

The loss to BYU closed the careers of 26 seniors, including safety Richard Torres, a former walk-on who was named to the All-Western Athletic Conference second team on Monday. Torres said the last few days have been "overwhelming a little bit."

"Coach Mack’s such a great person, a great coach, he’s done so much for me and my family," Torres said. "He gave me a scholarship, gave me an opportunity and allowed me to be the person I am today. So I’m in great debt to Coach Mack.

"It’s just so heartbreaking to see this."