Leadership from its players key for Hawaii football’s success in 2025

In his fourth year as head coach for the University of Hawai’i football team, Timmy Chang is ready to see a return on investment — not in the stock market, but in players that have grown in the program during his tenure.

Leadership from his players was a key point Chang emphasized when talking about heading into his fourth year as head coach during Mountain West Media Days last week at Circa Resort and Casino in Las Vegas.

“I think the difference now is that you have leaders,” Chang said. “What coaches would love is a player-led team and that’s where we’re starting to move to.”

When Chang took over as head man at his alma mater in 2022, the program was on its knees with multiple starters departing the program via the transfer portal. The Rainbow Warriors netted just three runs in Chang’s first season before putting together back-to-back five-win seasons with the 2023 and 2024 recruiting classes.

Those recruits are now seasoned veterans in the program that are foundational pieces for the 2025 season.

“There’s guys within our system, and I look back and now they’ve been with us going on four years, three years,” said Chang.

“We built this program from the ground up, taking younger guys and developing them into leaders.”

Having a “player-ran team” was something Chang alluded to as being a difference in year No. 4 when he sat down with Tim Murray and Matt Youmans on the show Money Moves last week. The Rainbow Warriors were close to winning a number of close games that would have made them bowl eligible last year, but there were also multiple times when a staggering amount of penalties derailed their chances at victory.

“The offseason since January, the mindset moving forward is where do we close the gap in those one to two plays a game that really make the difference? And all the details and all the (little) things, and so when you have (your) guys thinking that way, you have a player-ran team,” Chang said.

One of the players that is stepping into that role is junior linebacker Jamih Otis, who was a part of the 2023 recruiting class after prepping at Bishop Gorman. He credited watching the ups and downs of older players like Isaiah Tufaga, Logan Taylor, Noah Kema and Nalu Emerson to help prepare him for the expanded role.

“It’s been a long time coming for sure, a lot of hard work, just staying down learning from the guys above me in (the linebacker) room,” Otis said.

Linebacker Jamih Otis drops back into coverage during a 7-on-7 drill in spring camp earlier this year. | Photo Credit: Michael Lasquero

“I feel like that shaped me to be the best leader I can be today. I’m just ready to take on the accountability of just leading the Hawai’i defense and the Hawai’i team as a whole into another bowl game.”

Other players on the defensive side of the ball that is expected to be in leadership roles are senior safety Peter Manuma, junior nickelback Elijah Palmer and senior cornerback Virdell Edwards, who was granted another year of eligibility due to a medical hardship in 2024.

Edwards noticed the leadership difference on the first day of spring training earlier this year.

“I’ve seen a lot of unselfishness from this team,” Edwards said back in February. “I’ve seen a lot of commitment from the older guys, but also commitment with an urgency from the younger guys, which is great because the leaders, they lead, and the followers which are the younger guys, follow us.

“Ultimately we have to do our job so we can help them see the pace of what we’re trying to move because we’re trying to hoist the Mountain West Championship.”

Of the younger guys stepping up, the one that is hard to miss is redshirt freshman quarterback Micah Alejado. He dazzled in his first-ever career start with 469 passing yards and five touchdowns while leading the team in rushing in a 38-30 win over New Mexico in the 2024 season finale.

“He’s taking control and it all came because of that last game,” Chang said. “Micah now, because of that game, is given a platform and a base to now step into that leadership position to be very vocal, be demanding, but also be a leader and show what a leader looks like.”

With the hosts of Money Moves, Chang said that Alejado “continues to make great decisions” and that the former Bishop Gorman QB has what it takes to lead the team.

“I think one of the biggest intangibles he has though is just leadership, leading a Bishop Gorman program out here to a national title. He’s playing with a lot of great players on that team, but he’s the guy that they go through. It’s the same way in the University of Hawai’i, where he’s the guy that we lean on and everything goes through him.”

Captains for the upcoming season have not been named yet. Manuma is the only captain from the 2024 season that is still on the roster. The players have voted for their team captains in the previous three seasons. The lone exception was when QB Brayden Schager was named a co-captain by Chang for the final three games last season after co-captain Koali Nishigaya was removed from the team.