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A dramatic — and sometimes contemptuous — hiring process concluded Saturday with Timmy Chang’s selection as the University of Hawaii football team’s head coach.
“The legend comes home,” the Rainbow Warriors’ official account tweeted of the former record-setting quarterback’s return to the Manoa campus. BRADDAHHOOD — the hashtag that has become the rallying cry for a recently scarred football program — accompanied additional tweets.
“I’m back, I’m home and, in my heart, I never left,” said Chang, a Saint Louis School alumnus who grew up in Waipahu. “Like I’ve done always for this state, I’m just ready to give my all. The highest privilege in our profession is to be the head coach. This is beyond incredible for me and my family. I get to do it right here in Hawaii, where I was born and raised.”
Chang, who once held the NCAA record for most passing yards in a career, was offered the position on Saturday afternoon. After consulting with his family — he is married with six children — Chang signed a promissory major-terms agreement in which he will receive a four-year contract, with a fifth year added if the Rainbow Warriors qualify for a bowl game in 2022 or 2023. A UH official said financial terms will be announced during Chang’s introductory news conference this week.
Chang succeeds Todd Graham, who resigned last week after two seasons. Graham’s tenure ended in turmoil, with several players voicing criticism of his leadership during a Twitter Space forum that received national attention and sparked a state Senate hearing.
>> RELATED: Coaching transition proves turbulent for Hawaii football team
Chang’s hiring also was made under controversial circumstances. On Friday, former UH head coach June Jones turned down the school’s offer to be coach. During the 30-minute meeting, athletic director David Matlin made a proposal that included a succession plan and veto power over the hiring of assistant coaches. According to agent Leigh Steinberg, the succession plan called for Jones to serve as mentor to Chang for two years, then turn over the job. Jones balked at the offer, insisting two years would not be long enough to turn the program around and secure long-term commitments from recruits.
“About four pages in,” Jones recalled, “I said, ‘Dave, we can stop right here. I’m not taking that deal.’ ”
Jones said he was told: “It’s going to be a two-year contract. You can’t hire this guy. You have to hire this guy. And it has to be a succession plan. Who came up with that?”
On Saturday, UH spokesman Dan Meisenzahl told reporters that the two-year offer was a starting point in negotiations, and that a third year was offered before Jones departed the meeting.
Meisenzahl indicated the 68-year-old Jones fit the intent of serving as a mentor to a future coach, but a succession plan would not be needed for a candidate who was in the earlier stages of his coaching career. Meisenzahl also was critical of Jones for what was perceived as publicly campaigning for the job and attempting to expand his role beyond coaching, particularly marketing. Jones and Steinberg said they did not orchestrate any media blitz.
Both sides accused the other of leaking to the media the breakdown of Friday’s talks to influence public opinion.
Don Murphy — a restaurateur, booster and UH Circle of Honor inductee — expressed “disappointment (Jones and Matlin) couldn’t work something out. I think (Jones) was the absolute best fit we had possible. It’s really disappointing. I would have liked to have seen June in there.”
Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi said it was a “major leadership failure on multiple levels” that UH officials were not able to hire Jones. Blangiardi said he was speaking not as the mayor but “as somebody who played there, coached there, announced there, and had a life-long association with UH football.”
Blangiardi said Jones “is uniquely qualified for this job. His coaching pedigree, and his cachet with this community, is exactly what is needed at this moment in time. There are many circumstances to consider, not the least of which is the uncertainty of our stadium, the number of players who have left in the transfer portal and the deficit that creates for this football team, the recruiting challenges we have locally and nationally right now, especially with the fact this story has gone national, not in the best eye. At the end of the day, you’ve got a bewildered statewide community — at one time avid UH football fans — that have, quite honestly, been very disillusioned. In my opinion, not putting June in this position — and understanding these circumstances — is a major failure of leadership on multiple levels.”
After Chang was offered the job — and accepted — Jones was quick to offer praise of and support for his former quarterback.
“I always root for my guys, and Timmy Chang, I’ll be rooting for him to get it turned around,” Jones said.
Chang said he expects to reach out to Jones, whom he considers to be a mentor.
In 2000, Chang was among 14 players from Hawaii high schools to sign with the Warriors.
“The thing about Coach Jones is I committed to him, and made the commitment to play for this state,” Chang said. “And I committed to him personally to play for him. I’m June Jones through and through, and I’m proud to say that. I look at him as a mentor. … A lot of the values that I have coaching come from him.”
Chang thrived in Jones’ run-and-shoot offense, a scheme similar to the four-wide attack Saint Louis ran successfully for decades. Chang developed into a prolific passer under Jones, who also coached Warren Moon and Jim Kelly in the pros and Nick Rolovich and Heisman Trophy finalist Colt Brennan at UH. When Chang set the passing record in 2004, he trotted to the sideline and handed the milestone football to his father. Levi Chang was the Red Hat who served as timeout coordinator for football telecasts.
After four years in pro ball, notably with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League, Chang joined Jones’ SMU coaching staff as a graduate assistant in 2012. Chang was offensive coordinator at Jackson State and Emory & Henry before coaching five seasons at Nevada. When Wolf Pack head coach Jay Norvell took a similar job at Colorado State in December, Chang also went there as receivers coach. Then Chang was encouraged to apply at his alma mater.
Chang already has had preliminary discussions about potential candidates for his coaching staff.
Chang has met with several team leaders in Zoom calls.
Of the discontent that led to several players transferring and Graham’s resignation, Chang said, “what happened to them is unfortunate. … We’re going to chalk that up as an experience. We’re going to close the chapter in the book.”
Chang said he followed the drama of the past six months at UH. “There needs to be some healing,” Chang said. “There also needs to be some understanding about where the direction is going and what we need to do. The best thing we can do is put a product on the field that’s going to win. I think this state’s at its best when we’re winning football games.”
Chang said he plans to re-install a variation of the run-and-shoot offense. He said he will decide whether he will be the offensive play-caller after assembling a coaching staff.
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UH COACHING DRAMA
Here is a timeline of the saga surrounding the next coach of the University of Hawaii football team.
JAN. 14
>> Todd Graham resigns after two seasons as head coach in the wake of accusations of fostering a toxic environment.
TUESDAY
>> June Jones publicly lobbies for the UH opening, saying he would implement an improved version of the run-and-shoot. Rich Miano, a former UH player and assistant, withdraws his name and endorses Jones.
FRIDAY • 4:07 P.M.
>> June Jones declines offer of a two-year contract with no final say on assistants during a meeting with AD David Matlin.
SATURDAY • 11:30 A.M.
>> Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi tells Star-Advertiser reporter Stephen Tsai that it was a “major leadership failure on multiple levels” that University of Hawaii officials were not able to hire June Jones as the Rainbow Warriors’ next head football coach.
SATURDAY • NOON
>> The University of Hawaii calls a Zoom meeting attended by more than 25 media members and addresses public complaints from June Jones on the Hawaii football coaching search. “Jones “showed zero integrity in this process,” UH spokesman Dan Meisenzahl says. “Coach Jones left in 2008 and it was a different time back then and though there were record (of) successes on the field, there were also concerns with priorities and student-athletes and acting as a de facto athletic director and chancellor. He often demonstrated little interest in being accountable to his supervisor.”
SATURDAY • 4 P.M.
>> Tim Chang named as UH head coach. “I’m back. I’m home … I’m ready to give it my all. … beyond incredible,” Chang said.
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