LAS VEGAS — Timmy Chang breezed through his obligatory appearances as the University of Hawai‘i's head football coach at Mountain West media days. One by one, Chang completed sit-downs with the CW Network, CBS Sports and Fox Sports, walking inside one closed room to another at the Palms Casino Resort.
During his five minutes in the NCAA photo room, one of the official photographers told Chang he had the most natural smile of all the head coaches, a compliment that was not empty considering Chang was the penultimate of the 10 to get his headshot taken.
By now, Chang is used to all that comes with being a head coach. Next Wednesday, the Rainbow Warriors will open fall camp for Chang's fifth season at the helm of his alma mater. Of the 10 Mountain West head coaches, Chang is the second-longest tenured and is behind only Air Force's Troy Calhoun, who began his role in the 2007 season.
A record-setting quarterback for Hawai‘i from 2000 to 2004, Chang's playing career ended in 2009 after brief NFL preseason stints, followed by two seasons in the CFL. His coaching career began in the spring of 2012 as Mililani High School's offensive coordinator. That fall, he departed to become a graduate assistant at SMU to work for his college head coach, June Jones.
After stops at Jackson State, Emory & Henry and Nevada, Chang became the head coach for the first time when he landed the Hawai‘i job in January 2022.
Chang had never coached at UH prior to 2022. Had it not been for a fateful decision two years earlier, that wouldn't have been the case.
On Jan. 13, 2020, former Hawai‘i head coach Nick Rolovich departed the Islands to take the Washington State vacancy. Eight days later, embattled former Arizona State coach Todd Graham was named the new head coach at UH.
When putting together his first coaching staff for the Rainbow Warriors, Graham offered Chang a position, which entailed coaching receivers and adding co-offensive coordinator to the title.
At the time, Chang was at Nevada, coaching tight ends under Jay Norvell, who he still considers a mentor. To Chang, it didn't feel quite right at the time to leave what Norvell was building with the Wolf Pack. Chang and his family were happy in Reno, and they didn't believe it was time to go just yet.
Timmy Chang speaks during his slot in the Mountain West live show on July 16, 2026 in Las Vegas. Photo by Christian Shimabuku (Aloha State Daily Staff) 
Timmy Chang fields questions during 2026 Mountain West media days in Las Vegas. Photo by Christian Shimabuku (Aloha State Daily Staff)
"I'm really fond of coach Jay Norvell, and very grateful to have him and be a part of his programs," Chang recently recalled to Aloha State Daily. "I wanted to stay with coach Norvell, and I ended up staying with coach."
Graham's coaching tree has been known to be robust, and his time with the 'Bows was no different. His initial staff featured current Texas State head coach GJ Kinne as his offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, as well as receivers coach Brennan Marion, who went on to become Sacramento State's head coach, then Colorado's offensive coordinator. After Chang said thanks but no thanks to Graham's offer, Tony Hull was named the co-offensive coordinator and inside receivers coach. Hull is now the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Alabama State.
"There was Brennan Marion on staff as well as GJ, and I was like, man, what if all three of us were on staff? How cool would that have been? But that says a lot about coach Graham and his eye for bringing in coaches and then developing coaches to be head coaches," Chang said.
Graham went 11-11 in his two seasons in Mānoa, resigning in the wake of an explosive senate hearing targeted towards him following a mass exodus of UH players via the NCAA transfer portal. Meanwhile, Chang initially followed Norvell to Colorado State following the 2021 season. But when his alma mater came calling, Norvell encouraged Chang to take the leap despite the circumstances. Chang went 3-10 in his first season in 2022, his staff forced to restock the initial roster with 53 newcomers.
Chang and the Rainbow Warriors broke through with a 9-4 campaign in 2025, capped off by a comeback victory over California in the Hawai‘i Bowl. Since then, Chang and UH athletics director Matt Elliott agreed in principle to a contract extension that will keep him in Mānoa for years to come, as well as an increased salary pool for his assistant coaches. As part of the negotiations, Chang wanted to see the contract length in multiple assistant coaches go from one year to two.
"That contract was was was about was about a couple things: I wanted to take care of our coaches and our staff because they and our players are the lifeline to this program, and so I wanted to make sure that they were taken care of," Chang said. "I wanted to make sure that we had stability, it was consistent, and that there's something that we can continue to build on and build something special that we could build for years to come. I just look at our program not just right now, but for the future of college football. We want to set ourselves up where we're constantly competing for conference championships."
As Chang settles into his seat for the long haul, perhaps it's a seat he wouldn't be in had things gone differently six and a half years ago.
"Maybe I wouldn't have gotten this opportunity to be a (head) coach if I did take it," Chang said of Grahm's offer. "I don't know. Or, maybe it could have helped. But things happen for a reason, and we're very blessed and grateful."
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Christian Shimabuku can be reached at christian@alohastatedaily.com.
