Some of the best uniforms in college football
The Lede
In the BCS era, only five programs from the non-automatic bid conferences made it into a big bowl game – Utah and TCU each made it twice and are now in Power 5 conferences, Boise State also played in two BCS (and one New Year’s Six) games and usually is one of the best mid-major teams, and NIU, with one BCS bowl appearance, has won its division in the MAC seven straight times. And then there’s Hawaii. After Greg McMackin left the program amid controversy relating to a homophobic slur McMackin used in an interview, Hawaii hired Norm Chow, who proceeded to go a combined 10-36 from 2012 until most of the way through 2015 – he was fired before the season ended by a new athletic director.
Hawaii reached its apex with that undefeated regular season and Sugar Bowl appearance* back in 2007, but the Rainbow Warriors have largely struggled since and are on their third crack at replacing June Jones, who left after that year to coach SMU. That 2007 team was amazing (and has a really well-detailed Wikipedia page, which is something I’m sure Michigan fans can appreciate): UH didn’t play the toughest schedule, but they won six(!) one-score games en route to a 12-win season behind Colt Brennan and Jones’s wide-open Run-and-Shoot offense. Unfortunately, Hawaii is far removed from those days, which seem like a distant memory.
Of course, the recent losing amplifies the underlying existential uncertainty that seems to follow Hawaii around. Their football program was rescued by the Mountain West after the WAC fell apart, but supposedly the unique (mostly financial) challenges of college football’s most remote outpost generate an undercurrent of rumors about the solvency of the program. There haven’t been any indications that the Rainbow Warriors won’t be playing football in the future, though attendance issues and extreme travel costs are cause for concern. Since the program has been around since five decades before Hawaii became a state, it seems unlikely that the program would ever be forced to drop down a division or quit football entirely – but I guess you never know.
*Georgia destroyed them, but still.
[After the JUMP, the scoop on UH]
Left – former Hawaii QB and current coach Nick Rolovich / Right – June Jones.
So This New Coach?
Apparently hiring alumni starting quarterbacks is all the rage these days (it’s worked out all right for us so far), because Hawaii decided to give its head coaching job to Nick Rolovich, a former Rainbow Warrior who once threw for eight touchdowns in an upset against a then-undefeated BYU team in a season finale. Though Rolovich’s pedigree might suggest an attempt to return to the Jones-style pass-happy offense that saw so much success at Hawaii, Rolovich spent the last four years as the offensive coordinator at Nevada, a program synonymous with the Pistol offense, which was invented by former long-time coach Chris Ault.
After a brief career in European and Arena League football, Rolovich made his way up the coaching ladder at Hawaii: his first full-time coaching job was with Jones’s successor McMackin as the quarterbacks coach, and he was eventually promoted to offensive coordinator. He landed at Nevada in the aftermath of the McMackin resignation, and did well there with Colin Kaepernick’s successor, Cody Fajardo. Still, that his offense worsened every year (according to Bill Connoly’s S&P+) is a bit alarming.
Ultimately, Rolovich should – and likely will – have plenty of time to succeed. He’s inheriting a team that went 3-10 last year and finished 120th out of 128 FBS programs, and former coach Norm Chow didn’t seem to leave much that would indicate hope in the short-term. While Rolovich is a young, unproven commodity as a head coach, he definitely has the knowledge of how Hawaii operates as a program, which is crucial given its recruiting dynamics. His motto is “Live Aloha and Play Warrior” which seems pretty chill and is extremely on-brand.
Any Chance Against Michigan?
Nope.
We all have the associated fear that comes along with having once suffered a historic upset in the season opener, but there’s not much about this Hawaii team that would lead to concern. First and foremost, the game will be played at 6:00 A.M. Hawaiian time, a week after the Rainbow Warriors play a game in Australia(?) against Cal to open the college football season. The scheduling gods gifted Harbaugh four straight non-conference noon home games against teams located across the West to start his tenure at Michigan; as anyone who watched Stanford derp around and lose to Northwestern in a 9:00 A.M. PST clunker can attest, the much-famed “body-clock” is a real thing. Playing a Harbaugh team at six in the morning just sounds horrible, and when you consider that Hawaii is just starting a massive rebuild, this game has all the ingredients for a blowout.
The Rainbow Warriors were slated to return First-Team All-MWC defensive end Kennedy Tulimasealii, and he potentially would have been a great test for an inexperienced player in Grant Newsome, but he was suspended after being arrested twice this spring and there’s a pretty good chance he won’t play for Hawaii ever again (related: Hawaii is fifth in the Fulmer Cup standings right now). He would have been the player to watch in this game – now it’s probably running back Paul Harris, who will be facing a tough day against a ferocious Michigan defensive line.
Even though they may not be great on the field this year, the Rainbow Warriors always have at least one thing going for them (in addition to those awesome, throwback-inspired uniforms that debuted last season): their names. Hawaii is always in the elite tier of player names, and this year is no exception. So…
Best Names:
10. Malachi Mageo (LB)
9. Manly Williams (DL)
8. Keoki Kaiahua (K)
7. Ikaika Woolsey (QB)
6. Penitito Faalologo (DL)
5. Tumua Tuinei (LB)
4. Meffy Koloamangi (DL)*
3. Davasyia Hagger (TE)
2. Rojesterman Farris II (DB)
1. Makani Kema-Kaleiwahea (DL)
As I’m sure you can guess, there were some very tough omissions. Of course, this list is very deliberate and the process of choosing the names was very stressful.
*Meffy’s brother Leo is also on the team
Seriously, these uniforms are so clean
Last season, Michigan had to open the season on the road against a quality opponent in Utah. Surely it wasn’t a gentle way to break in a new quarterback, and Michigan wound up losing. This year’s opener couldn’t be much more different. As far as FBS programs go, Hawaii is one of the easiest possible draws on the schedule – and those kids are going to have to play an East Coast nooner seven days after playing another Power 5 opponent in AUSTRALIA. I sincerely hope that the Rolovich era goes well because he’s definitely a “Hawaii Man” (if such a thing exists) and it’s a very fun program during the good times. Whether it works out or not, it might take quite a while to find out, as this might be a de facto mulligan year for the Bows.