Hawaii Football: A new coaching staff offers new hope in 2020

Todd Graham takes over for the departed Nick Rolovich. After winning the division in 2019, can Hawaii football maintain its position atop the MWC West?

Last year Hawaii had a roller-coaster season that opened with a 2-1 record against Pac-12 opponents and ended with a trip to the Mountain West championship game. Over the course of the campaign, the Rainbow Warriors won 10 games for the first time since 2010 but also dropped five contests along the way to fall out of Group of Five contention for a New Year’s Six bid.

When they lost to Boise State in the MWC title game, it officially eliminated a Hawaii team from New Year’s Six consideration that was already mathematically out of the picture. That does not mean the season was a bust in Honolulu, but maintaining that level of success will come down to some major adjustments.

After the 10-win campaign, the musical chairs of the coaching carousel led Nick Rolovich to take the head coaching gig at Washington State. Taking his place is Todd Graham, the former head coach at Rice, Tulsa, Pitt, and Arizona State with a 95-61 record over 12 seasons leading programs. The Rainbow Warriors lucked into an experienced coach with a proven track record to replace the departed Rolovich.

But even with an experienced coaching staff in place, transitions are never easy. That is doubly true in the midst of the novel coronavirus pandemic, which eliminated spring practice opportunities and put even more pressure on the team to adjust rapidly on the fly.

Can Hawaii overcome these potential setbacks to remain atop the MWC West and return to the conference championship game? Let’s dive in to look at the offense and defense at Hawaii before breaking down the 2020 Rainbow Warriors schedule and making some predictions on how the next campaign will play out.