Following the retirement of quarterbacks coach and co-offensive coordinator Dan Morrison after the 2024 season, University of Hawai‘i head coach Timmy Chang wanted continuity and a name he could trust as his new offensive coordinator.
He didn't have to look far or long to find the person that matched the criteria, promoting running backs coach Anthony Arceneaux to the title prior to the team's spring practice sessions earlier this month.
The Rainbow Warriors began spring ball on Feb. 3, becoming one of the first known teams in the country to do so. A big part of Chang's reasoning was to give the offense a head start on Arceneaux's imprint on the offense.
"It's a privilege, and it's something I don't take lightly," Arceneaux told Aloha State Daily following the conclusion of the first of three weeks of practices. "It's a responsibility, the same responsibility that coach Chang puts on himself and puts on his entire team. We represent this state, we represent the people that support us. We've got an obligation to put a good product on the field."
The Rainbow Warriors haven't had a full-time offensive coordinator since Chang's debut season in 2022, averaging 19.77 points per game under Ian Shoemaker. Chang took over play-calling duties full time prior to 2023 as the program shifted to the same run-and-shoot offense Chang set records with as a UH quarterback in the early 2000s.
Although Chang will continue to call the plays, a role head coaches are known to pass on to their offense coordinators, he believes the trust he has in Arceneaux will be paramount to the team's success.
"I think he's doing a great job of just of leading and also just gathering the guys and getting an expectation out of them," Chang said. "I think that's the biggest difference, is that they know what to expect and going out there and giving the effort and keeping them accountable. He brings a lot of value."
Chang and Arceneaux have been close friends ever since the pair met as middle schoolers at Saint Louis. Arceneaux went on to play collegiately at Utah, while his coaching career began at Saint Louis. His journey then took him to the Mainland, where he had stops at five different colleges, including Nevada, where he replaced Chang as the wide receivers coach in 2022.
It wasn't until 2024 that Arceneaux coached on the same staff as Chang, joining UH as the program's running backs coach.
"It's a blessing. It's awesome," Arceneaux said of his relationship with Chang. "It's a great honor and privilege to be able to help him build this program into what he envisions it to be, and what we all know it can be."
The early favorite to lead Hawai‘i's offense in 2025 is redshirt freshman quarterback Micah Alejado, who turned heads in limited action in 2024, throwing a total of six touchdown passes and 585 yards in four games while completing 70% of his passes with no interceptions. Despite the perception of Alejado as the program's quarterback of the future, Arceneaux says that hasn't stopped the other signal-callers behind him in Luke Weaver and JJ Nielsen from competing.
"It's always a competition," Arceneaux said of an intense first week of practices. "The reason why the good ones are good and the great ones are great is because they're never satisfied. They're constantly competing. They're constantly looking in their rear view mirror at what's behind them to make sure that they keep that space. And so I don't think it's any different with Micah's approach. He's our guy, but that doesn't mean the guys aren't working their (tails) off behind him, and aren't trying to be the guy as well. It's healthy to have competition on the football team."
The 'Bows had Monday off due to Chang's post-Super Bowl policy, but when they return to the field on Wednesday, spring ball will be far from a break.
"We're making some adjustments, and we're making some changes, and what we're looking to gain out of spring ball is just an identity of who we're going to be on the offensive side of the ball, and that's a more disciplined team, a more productive team, and a team that just wants it more than the other opponent," Arceneaux said.
"At the end of the day, it's about wins and losses, right? No matter how it gets done. You can win a game 52-7, or you can win 7-6 and at the end of the day, the win is what you're trying to accomplish as a team, and the offense is just trying to do their part when they're on the field."
Christian Shimabuku can be reached at christian@alohastatedaily.com.
