Former Pitt, Arizona State HC Todd Graham Hired as Hawaii’s New Head Coach

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The University of Hawaii announced Tuesday that Todd Graham will be its next head football coach.

Stephen Tsai of the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported that Hawaii will hold a press conference Wednesday afternoon to officially introduce Graham.

Graham will replace Nick Rolovich, who left the Rainbow Warriors to lead Washington State. The WSU job opened up after Mike Leach left to coach Mississippi State.

The 55-year-old has been the head coach at Rice (2006), Tulsa (2007-2010), Pitt (2011) and Arizona State (2012-2017). He has a lifetime 95-61 record and has led his teams to 10 bowl games (five wins).

The new Rainbow Warriors coach is no stranger to success, having found some level of it in each of his four college football stops. Five of his teams won 10 of more games, and three of them finished in the Top 25 of the Associated Press poll.

Graham's best season arguably came in 2014, when he led ASU to a 10-3 record, a Sun Bowl win and a No. 12 finish in the AP rankings. He also took ASU to the 2013 Pac-12 title game.

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However, his final three seasons in ASU did not fare as well, with the Sun Devils going a combined 18-20 under his watch. The two sides parted ways after the year.

Graham takes over a Hawaii team that went 10-5 last year, including a Hawaii Bowl win. The Rainbow Warriors made the Mountain West Conference championship game but lost to Boise State.

Hawaii's first game under Graham will be against a team its new coach knows well: the Arizona Wildcats. That one will take place on Saturday, Aug. 29.

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