Trent Figg focuses on details for University of Hawaii football coaching staff

It could be next week, next month or any day in November.

Trent Figg has a plan for that day.

“We have the entire year planned out, basically every single day for the whole year,” said Figg, the Hawaii football team’s chief of staff.

As the point of contact for head coach Todd Graham, Figg recently typed the itinerary for every practice of training camp, which is projected to open on July 31. Figg said recruiting trips for recruits are set through next April.

“I have a very detailed schedule every day that has what I need to get done and what (Graham) needs to get done,” Figg said.

Their cell-phone calendars are synchronized. “Whether it’s recruiting calls or meetings, if something needs to be added, it updates as soon as I put it on my phone and then goes to his phone,” Figg said.

During this pandemic, situations change constantly.

“Sometimes our schedule for the next day will change,” Figg said. “If we find a better way to do something, we’re going to do it better. (Graham) is very innovative. He’s always staying on top of ‘how can we be better with what we’re doing?’ ”

Figg has kept pace with Graham during marathon days when they ride to work together at about 6:30 a.m. and depart the football offices at 7 in the evening. Both have full workloads. Figg serves as Graham’s liaison to school, academic and compliance officials. He oversees recruiting and personnel, assists in managing the budget, helps coordinate travel, and is the pro-football liaison, among other duties.

“Anything that touches our program, I’m the first point of contact to get it to Coach Graham,” Figg said.

This is Figg’s second stint working under Graham. At the recommendation of his William Jewell College roommate, Dan Lanning (now Georgia’s defensive coordinator), Figg joined Graham’s Arizona State staff as a graduate assistant in 2013.

After that, Figg worked as defensive coordinator at William Jewell and Southern Arkansas, and as special teams coordinator/running backs coach at Missouri State. Soon after Graham was hired as UH’s head coach in January, Figg was offered the job as chief of staff. NCAA rules restrict a chief of staff from on-field coaching.

“I love everything I’m doing right now, but the thing I miss the most is the one-on-one contact with my position players,” Figg said. “The good thing here is I’m still involved with our players. I’m involved with the day-to-day stuff helping those guys, whether it’s with their stipend checks or housing or just anything that comes through the program.”

But Figg has kept busy in the non-coaching aspect of the program. Because the pandemic led to the cancellation of spring training, Graham and Figg reviewed each player’s videos, from high school games to UH practices.

“Any information we can find, we’re going to use,” Figg said.

The same diligence is applied to recruiting. Graham and Figg will review videos of every prospect, takes notes and make evaluations, then pass the information to the assistant coaches to continue the recruiting process.

Graham also has invited Figg to attend defensive meetings. “I can’t coach in this role, but Coach has kept me involved in the football side,” Figg said. “I do a lot with him on the defensive side of the ball right now. … It allows me to get my football fix in.”

Figg said arranging travel has been challenging during the pandemic. “There hasn’t been anything we haven’t been able to do, but some things are harder than others,” Figg said.

Figg said he finds inspiration from Graham. “He’s going to push me to be better every single day,” Figg said. “He’s going to push me to the limit in a way that’s very positive. There’s a reason I wanted to come back and work for him again. He’s great to me. He’s great to my family. He’s always going to expect your best, and then expect a little bit better than that. He sets a very high expectation.”

Figg’s family life fits to a T. His grandparents are Tom and Theresa. His dad is Troy, his mother is Teri. His siblings are Travis, Ty and Taryn.”And I married Tori,” said Figg, whose wife is a former All-America volleyball player at William Jewell. “I told her when she got pregnant with our first one, ‘look, we don’t have to do the T thing.’ She said, ‘oh, yeah, we do.’ ”

Their children are Titus, Thomas and Tobias. “We can’t have any more because we’re officially out of names,” Figg mused.