Page 14 - MidWeek - August 24, 2022

14 MIDWEEK AUGUST 24, 2022
The Timmy Chang era officially kicks off this weekend with the former Rainbow Warrior passing great poised to bring the magic back to Mānoa.
When new University of Hawai‘i football skipper Timmy Chang takes the field on Saturday for the team’s season-opener against Van- derbilt, it would not be surprising if he finds himself momentari- ly flashing back to his days as a record-setting Rainbow Warrior quarterback and reminiscing about how his journey to Mānoa all be- gan.
head coaching position earlier this year.
dium throwing confetti onto the field,” Chang fondly recalls. “So, I thought to myself, ‘Hey, I have a chance to play in a lot of cool plac- es, but there’s nothing like staying home and representing the state.’ ”
In recalling his reason for stay- ing home and playing for UH, Chang points to Jones’ wide-open offense and how his imagination as a young field general was captured by his former coach, who took a winless team in 1998 and turned it into a conference champion the following season.
Recapturing that glory of yes- teryear is what drives the Rainbow Warrior boss these days. It’s why he returned to the islands as the program’s 25th head coach after spending the last decade on the mainland as a collegiate assistant.
As many pigskin fans may remember, the former gunsling- er was not only the bee’s knees among prep quarterbacks in the late ’90s, but also one of the na- tion’s top high school recruits at his position. Yet despite having the option to play college football just about anywhere else in the coun- try, Chang chose to commit to UH and suit up for June Jones, the man whom he beat out for the vacant
That ability to miraculously right a team’s fortunes in a single year, and do it with pass-friendly prowess, was both inspirational and attractive to Chang. But what really sealed the deal for him was the opportunity to do it all in front of the home crowd.
And it’s why he’ll do just about anything to bring the magic back to Mānoa.
“I saw that excitement in the stands during my senior year at Saint Louis, and I saw the state rally around that team. I even saw 40,000 people at Aloha Sta-
To accomplish that, Chang knows he’s going to have to make smart calls moving forward. He also understands that he needs to be a figure in whom the players can trust and believe in — and some- one whose winning ways as a for-
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