2007
Perfect regular season
12-0 and a BCS Sugar Bowl berth — the islands crash the party
Program outlook
Program outlook
Hawai'i went 12-0 in the 2007 regular season, crashed the BCS Sugar Bowl, and lost 41-10 to Georgia. The program's own all-time passing leader just coached the Warriors back to nine wins and a bowl comeback nobody saw coming.
Since Jun 14: L 16-20 vs San José State; L 12-30 at Arizona State; L 10-21 vs New Mexico; W 56-21 at Northern Illinois. 2-6 this season.
Read the full essay — 3 more paragraphs
Hawai'i is the only major-college program that an entire ocean of islands calls its own. The geography is the identity: a six-hour flight from the mainland, 80-degree humidity, a time-zone gauntlet that visiting teams never fully shake. June Jones arrived at a program coming off an 0-12 season, installed the Run-and-Shoot, and turned it into the 2007 BCS buster — 12-0 regular season behind Colt Brennan, a Sugar Bowl berth, and the most prolific aerial show the sport had seen. The 41-10 loss to Georgia on the nation's biggest stage is the wound that still gets cited; Warrior fans know the argument by heart and they're tired of it being the last thing anyone remembers.
Timmy Chang came home to coach the program he once quarterbacked to records. The all-time NCAA passing-yards leader who played in the same system is now running it — and in his fourth season, 2025, he delivered nine wins and the Hawai'i Bowl, erasing a 21-point deficit against California in one of the program's greatest comebacks. Chang was named AFCA Region 5 Coach of the Year and got an extension through 2026. The Imua — move forward — philosophy is not a slogan here; it's what the islands require every time they send a team six hours east to play someone who flew in fresh.
The 2026 question is whether Chang's rebuilt Warriors can chase the Mountain West title that has eluded the program since the league realigned. The bowl win proved the foundation is real. The conference championship would prove Hawai'i is a destination again, not just a road trip nobody wants to make.
On the field
Air it out — the Run-and-Shoot heritage runs through this program's institutional memory and Chang's offense carries the DNA: four- and five-wide sets, quick throws, a quarterback who distributes the ball fast enough to exploit the spacing the system creates before pass-rush pressure arrives. The weather and the travel are part of the scheme — home games at the Ching Athletics Complex in Honolulu are played in conditions that visiting defenses haven't practiced in. The identity is the island: you have to earn it to beat them.
Hawai’i has won 46% of its games since 1921 — 55% at home, 30% on the road.
358-406-6 all-time · 97 seasons · 1921–2026
Home
258-212-2
Away
82-186-4
Neutral
18-8
45%
1920s
40%
1930s
18%
1940s
17%
1950s
10%
1960s
52%
1970s
59%
1980s
40%
1990s
61%
2000s
42%
2010s
43%
2020s
The CFP era
13 seasons inside the CFP era, no bids yet — the era the program is still trying to break into.
Trajectory · quality-score line · AP rank dotted · CFP bids marked · coach regimes ribboned
Program quality
AP rank (inverted)
CFP appearance
Swipe left for earlier seasons
Hawai'i’s 2014–2026 record is 70-92.
Timmy Chang
Timmy Chang has held the program for 5 seasons — the era is established.
Era Timmy Chang · 2022–presentPrev: Todd Graham (2020–2021)OC: Anthony ArceneauxPrev OC: Dan Morrison (co) (2024)DC: Dennis ThurmanPrev DC: Jacob Yoro / Eti Ena (co) (2023)
5
years · era
Hawai'i and UNLV, meeting by meeting
UNLV leads the series 17-16-0 (since 1974); in the last 10 meetings, Hawai’i is 4-6
2026: UNLV won 21-6. After this game, UNLV led 17-16-0.
Last 25 meetings: ▲ Hawai'i won, ▼ UNLV won, by how much
Each step is one meeting: up when Hawai'i wins, down when UNLV wins, flat for a tie. Counts every game in our records since 1974. Tap the line for any season.
Moments in Hawai’i history
- Hawai'i 34, Air Force 27Oct 22, 2016
- Hawai'i 31, San Diego State 30Nov 24, 2018
- Hawai'i 27, Air Force 13Nov 11, 2023
What this program never forgets
Most weeks vanish. These didn’t.
2008
The Sugar Bowl loss
41-10 to Georgia on the sport's biggest stage
Wound
2025
Hawai’i Bowl comeback over Cal
Erases a 21-point deficit to win — tying the largest comeback in program history
Moment of the year · 2026
Won 56-21 at Northern Illinois
Week 8 of 2026. A statement margin. Recruiting boards re-rendered overnight.
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Ladder finish
Season standing · 2026 · 2-6
Season standing · 2026 · 2-6Hawai’i is 2-6 — below .500 in FBS.
Below .500 in FBS play. The rebuild bar.
FBS sub-.500
Sub-FBSBuildingBowlRankedContenderPlayoff
Conference
Mountain West standing · 2026
8th in the Mountain West
Hawai'i is 8th of 10 in the Mountain West at 1-4. The path to the title is steep — the focus is on bowl access and rivalry wins.
| # | Program | Record |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | New Mexico | 4-0 |
| 2 | Wyoming | 4-1 |
| 3 | North Dakota State | 4-2 |
| 4 | UNLV | 3-1 |
| 5 | Air Force | 3-2 |
| 6 | Nevada | 2-2 |
| 7 | San José State | 2-3 |
| 8 | Hawai'i | 1-4 |
| 9 | Northern Illinois | 0-4 |
| 10 | UTEP | 0-4 |
Coaching history
Coaching history
- Hired Timmy Chang
- Todd Graham departs
- Hired Todd Graham
- Nick Rolovich departs
- Hired Nick Rolovich
- Hired Chris Naeole
- Norm Chow departs
- Chris Naeole departs
Coordinator lineage
Hawai’i’s offense and defense, by coordinator
FBS-relative efficiency percentile per season (2014–2026), same population as the Coordinator Mirror board. Dashed vertical lines mark a coordinator change.
Offense2014–2026
2015 · Don Bailey2016 · Brian Smith2017–2019 · Brian Smith2020 · GJ Kinne / Tony Hull (co)2021 · Bo Graham2022 · Ian Shoemaker2023 · Ian Shoemaker / Roman Sapolu (co)2024 · Dan Morrison (co)2025–2026 · Anthony Arceneaux
Defense2014–2026
2014 · Kevin Clune2015 · Tom Mason (interim)2016 · Kevin Lempa2017 · Legi Suiaunoa2018–2019 · Corey Batoon2020 · Jacob Yoro (co) / Victor Santa Cruz2021 · Trent Figg2022 · Jacob Yoro2023 · Jacob Yoro / Eti Ena (co)2024–2026 · Dennis Thurman
Elite (≥70th pct)AveragePoor (≤30th pct)
Gameday customs
Rituals
Three gameday rituals — the ones outsiders never quite catch.
2007 Sugar Bowl Run
since 2007
more
June Jones's 2007 12-1 + WAC championship + Sugar Bowl appearance + #10 final AP + Colt Brennan Heisman finalist (3rd) made Hawai'i the first non-BCS-conference team in the Sugar Bowl. The Sugar Bowl loss (Georgia 41-10) didn't dim the achievement; the 2007 run + Brennan's Heisman finish broke the G5-can't-reach-BCS-bowl ceiling first.
Run-and-Shoot Offense
since 1999
more
June Jones brought the Run-and-Shoot offense to Hawai'i in 1999 — the four-receiver no-tight-end-no-fullback scheme that produced massive passing statistics. Multiple NCAA passing records (Timmy Chang) + the 'Sky Hi' offensive identity + a Heisman finalist (Colt Brennan) made Hawai'i the Run-and-Shoot's modern home program.
Aloha Stadium / Ching Complex Transition
since 2020
more
Aloha Stadium (1975-2020) hosted Hawai'i home games for decades + the Pro Bowl + Hula Bowl. The 2020 closure for structural reasons forced Hawai'i to move to Ching Athletics Complex (10,000 capacity) — a dramatic downsizing. The temporary venue era + future planned stadium replacement define the 2020s competitive cycle.
Cultural identity
2025 W
2020 W
2019 W
2018 L
2016 WReddit blowups
r/CFB moments
203
[Postgame Thread] Hawai'i Defeats Delaware State 35-14
All-time top community posts
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