The University of Hawai‘i football team's 2026 season doesn't officially begin until a road tilt at Stanford on Aug. 29, but the national buzz surrounding the Rainbow Warriors has already begun.
An early projection by ESPN's Bill Connelly placed the 'Bows in next season's 12-team College Football Playoff as the Group of Five conference representative. The nod made the Rainbow Warriors a trending topic on X on Thursday, capturing the imagination of national pundits and fans alike. Hawai‘i has never reached the College Football Playoff. Its most prominent offseason appearance was a bid in the 2008 Sugar Bowl, back when UH was ranked 10th nationally in the now-defunct BCS rankings.
All indications within the program suggest the Rainbow Warriors had a successful NCAA transfer portal period. Players had from Jan. 2-16 to officially enter the transfer portal, with the exception of players from Indiana and Miami, the two teams who competed in Monday's national championship game (Jan. 19-24).
Fourteen members of UH's 2025 team entered the transfer portal. Departures included leading receiver Jackson Harris, who landed at LSU on a lucrative NIL package, as well as starting punter Billy Gowers, who will join national champion Indiana. Additionally, backup quarterback Luke Weaver, who threw the winning touchdown in the 2025 Hawai‘i Bowl, signed with San Jose State, where he will compete for the starting job.
The Rainbow Warriors have added over a dozen players from the transfer portal. Highlights from the portal class include a handful of signees who prepped at Bishop Gorman in Las Vegas, the national prep powerhouse that already had a major presence on the Hawai‘i roster. In 2025, the Rainbow Warriors had six Bishop Gorman alums on the roster, led by star quarterback Micah Alejado. Additionally, associate head coach Chris Brown and quarterbacks coach Chad Kapanui previously coached at Gorman before joining Timmy Chang's staff.
Bishop Gorman alumni joining the Rainbow Warriors in 2026 include former Washington wide receiver Audric Harris, former Michigan State quarterback Jeremiah Hughes, former Oregon and UNLV safety Kodi DeCambra, former Kansas State running back DeVon Rice and former Washington State and Wake Forest cornerback Jaylon Edmond. DeCambra, like Alejado, is an O'ahu native, while Rice originally committed to UH out of high school before flipping to the Wildcats.
Other portal additions include cornerback Caleb "CBo" Brown, who transferred from Hawai‘i to Virginia Tech ahead of the 2025 season before making his way back to Mānoa for his final season of college football. The 'Bows also beefed up their offensive line with Denaris DeRosa Jr. (San Jose State), Khalil Walker (South Florida) and Lipe Moala (Oregon).
No position group for the Rainbow Warriors added more players than its receiver group. After losing Harris, Joey Farthing and Brandon White to the portal, the Rainbow Warriors added Devin Alves (Virginia Tech), Carson Brown (Iowa State), 'Tre Griffiths (Oklahoma State) and Diezel Kamoku (Utah), a Kahuku alumnus. The Bows are also set to add Robert Haynes, a high schooler from Missouri City, Texas, that was originally committed to Arkansas.
Spring practices for the Rainbow Warriors will begin in the coming weeks, followed by the team's offseason strength and conditioning program, spearheaded by head strength and conditioning coach Bobby Thomas.
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Christian Shimabuku can be reached at christian@alohastatedaily.com.
