The Timmy Chang Chronicles Pt 10: A Year in Review
As Hawaii HC Timmy Chang and his staff embark on an offseason filled with anticipation and excitement, let’s take a look back at his first time around as a head coach. Coming into the 2021 season, Timmy Chang had already moved his family from Reno, Nevada to Colorado Springs, Colorado as a member of Jay Norvell’s staff at Colorado State when his alma mater came calling. The resignation of Todd Graham and the mass exodus of players from the program created an undesirable situation compounded by the lack of a stadium plan and proper funding. In this new era of NIL, Hawaii is much more behind the 8 ball in terms of recruiting.
Chang was awarded the job under poor circumstances. A controversial no deal-deal occurred between AD Matlin and former Hawaii HC June Jones propelled Chang from being a priority candidate to the man in the high chair. Now I expressed concern about this as Chang had no prior D1 coordinator experience compared to Jones and I personally held bitterness towards the hiring process due to my love of Jones. Chang himself was put in an even tougher position when Hawaii’s first game was nationally televised.
And it was a disaster. A blowout loss had many people questioning his game managment skills, his coordinator’s skill/ play calling decisions and how fundamentally sound was this team. A tough non-conference schedule including a trip to the Big House convinced many that this season would be a bust. The lingering thought of what if UH hired June Jones got stronger and stronger while the feelings of Braddahhood turned into “brah, what are we doing?” The defense, a former gauntlet in Todd Graham’s 3-3-5 defense suffered from both a lack of talent and constant penetration by opposing offenses. Jacob Yoro’s 4-3 came under fire when teams ran the ball which unfortunately set up the pass, exposing the DB room.
Offensively we were expecting Run N Shoot and we got Run N Shoot me in the head from OC Ian Shoemaker. A big helping of 11 personnel confused many who remember the Air excellence of Hawaii offenses in the past. The injuries to Zion Bowens and Jonah Panoke didn’t help either. When all seemed lost, Hawaii was granted a reprieve. A much needed BYE week energized the Bows to post a tremendous performance at SDSU. Big underdogs, the Bows lost on a last second field goal after taking the lead with a minute left. They would then beat Nevada at home to give Timmy Chang his first conference win as HC. Tough and close losses to Utah State, Colorado State and Wyoming inspired the idea of what could be but one game set the tone for the future. An upset win over UNLV on Senior night, letting the Seniors go out with a win, keeping the tradition that Hawaii on Senior night is an impenetrable fortress was amazing.
Hawaii would wrap up 2022 with a road loss to SJSU so now lets grade everyone.
Timmy Chang: A-
Many sports outlets put Hawaii’s pre-season win total around 3 and Chang matched it. Dealing with the noise from the transfers, media, the Jones debacle and on-field play is not easy but he held it together to make a competitive team out of spare parts. He greatly improved in both game planning and game managing after the BYE week and finally looks comfortable as a HC. Hawaii’s recruiting moves and the rumored attraction of DJ Uiagalelei proves Chang isn’t messing around and he’s coming for blood in 2023.
Ian Shoemaker: F
The Eastern Washington OC came to the islands with a lot of expectations in terms of scheme and production and failed at both. His consistant use of a Tight End instead of a 4th WR proved costly and his reliance on the run proved he doesn’t understand the strengths and weaknesses of the players he’s coaching. Whether Yellen, Schager or Cooper was in, the offense looked awful. He would consistently use 23 personell despite having an undersized offensive line and his use of Ilm Manning, Hawaii’s best offensive lineman was troubling. All around, it was bad.
Jacob Yoro: B+
The BYE week came as a reprieve for Yoro as well. The DC’s defense was firing off the line in conference play. His defense held conference opponents under 28 points in 6 of 8 conference games. They held conference opponents under 18 points on three of those occasions as well. They somehow became way better tacklers after the bye and the pursuit of the ball carrier improved as well. Looking forward to seeing how the defense performs with new talent and another year in the system in 2023.
Breakout Star: Tylan Hines
The Freshman Running Back from Texas can do it all. He can run and catch while being moved all over the field. A young stud with incredible potential, he had over 700 yards and 2 touchdowns on the season. Expect a big year from him.
Assistant Coach of the Year: Abe Elimimian
The legend put together another impressive campaign. The breakout of Virdel Edwards II is all the evidence I need for Elimimian’s candidacy.
Player of the Year: Matt Shipley. The kicker who won UH so much was 16-20 on the season with 100% accuracy inside 30 yards. With a long of 49, Shipley continues to climb UH’s scoring leaderboard.
Season Grade: B
Hawaii outperformed expectations but at the end of the day, a 3-10 record can not be rewarded. Massive improvement from week 0 to the SJSU game makes me excited for 2023 and the closeness of the conference games give me upmost confidence in Chang. I believe Hawaii will be bowling in 23 but until Summer turns to Fall, until the grass at T.C. Ching gets painted to start a new year, this is MST signing off with a final goodbye and forever, Go Bows!
