Coach Chang Spoke About The Rainbow Warriors And How The Program Is Coming Along.

Timmy Chang was on 'call the coach' with Bobby Curran on ESPN. He gave some insight to what's going on with the University of Hawaii football team. Now before I get into what coach Chang had to say, I really have a problem with Hawaii media making it seem like the only criteria a coach needs is to be from Hawaii, or a former member of the program. It's like the media out there is saying knowledge and ability don't matter. That is a huge red flag for someone who wants the program to succeed.

Coach Chang talked about his offensive coordinator. Curran said that "Shoemaker has a whatever works offense." And Chang replied, "yeah, he has a unique style." Chang praised Shoemakers football IQ and admitted that he hired someone he didn't know, which should go to help dispel the notion that Chang was only hiring former teammates and ex-coworkers.

Chang would later talk about his staff, saying they're all "like minded." He said not all his staff was from or knowledge of the islands. And broke down the diversity he hired. This was good to hear because the media wasn't installing a lot of favor in the current staff for fans outside the islands. Chang mentioned the staff "having too much fun." Curran tried to give Chang a way out but instead Chang went into details about what he meant.

Chang mentioned that about half of the scholarships are gone and basically he hopes after spring ball to get high level talent to come to the islands. For them to use Hawaii as a stepping stone in their college career. I don't know that I like that because he's essentially describing Hawaii as a D2 school with D1 ranking. Chang mentioned that the roster building was more about "depth" than anything. 

Michigan got brought up and Chang mentioned about telling the students to play to get noticed at the NFL level.

Chang mentioned that being a coach is more than just football. That's something people forget. Chang talked about preparing them for not only life after they graduated but helping non Hawaiians assimilate to the lifestyle. And making them Hawaiian to avoid problems while there.

Chang went on to talk about the team is still trying to figure out it's identity and it's limitations. Acknowledging that the team can only do what the talent allows for, regardless of what they want to do. That spring practice will be "three times a week." He also mentioned that roster size is not really in his control.

Chang got asked about tailgating but said something interesting. On top of the stadium tickets, Chang wants to try to increase revenue by "having tickets for outside the stadium."  Chang mentioned an "outside viewing area." With how small the stadium is, the university needs to do whatever it can while the new stadium is being built. Maybe the stadium campus will become the spring ball campus.

The one thing that Chang seemed to stress throughout the interview was that he was not coaching with an iron first. That his staff and players would have input. Mainly the staff. He also mentioned learning from each other a few times. Although Chang is the head coach, it almost sounds like for now it's head coach by committee. That may change but that's how it sounded. I don't know if I like the sound of that but it's gotta be better than what Hawaii had under Todd Graham.