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The University of Hawaii finds itself in a sticky situation following the controversial firing of athletic director Craig Angelos. The surprising move was made official on Tuesday according to reports from college football insider Brett McMurphy.
Angelos has served as the Rainbow Warriors’ AD for just 18 months after being introduce in May of 2023. Less than two years in, his tenure is soon to be over.
Hawaii AD Craig Angelos has been dismissed by UH outgoing president David Lassner effective Dec. 1, sources told @ActionNetworkHQ. No reasons were provided by Lassner, sources said. Angelos, who was at UH just 18 months, recently negotiated UH’s full membership into Mountain…
— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) November 19, 2024
The move came as a bit of a surprise to many around the department, though whispers of a potential breakup surfaced earlier this week. With Angelos out, Associate AD Lois Manin will take over in an interim role effective December 2nd.
Details of that firing have been unclear. The university released a statement on the move Tuesday.
This is a confidential personnel matter. The University of Hawaiʻi confirms that Mr. Angelos’ final day as the UH Mānoa athletic director is December 1. Effective December 2, Associate Athletic Director Lois Manin will serve as the acting athletic director. An announcement about a future search will be made by incoming UH President Wendy Hensel after the new year.
President David Lassner met regularly with AD Angelos since he was hired, as he does with all his direct reports. Lassner made the decision to part ways with Angelos based on performance. This action is taking place now following the completion of the search for the new UH president.
Lassner is appreciative that Angelos is remaining through December 1 to assist with the transition. The University remains grateful for his efforts and his dedication to UH Mānoa athletics, and wishes him the very best in the future.
The University of Hawaiʻi
“Performance” was cited as reasoning for the split. Some around the school don’t believe that reasoning to be enough.
Craig Angelos took over a program facing numerous issues, one of which related to a mass college football transfer exodus following mistreatment accusations surrounding former head coach Todd Graham. Despite the negative headlines, Angelos was able to secure full Mountain West membership while pushing to cut travel subsidies, saving the department millions.
It wasn’t good enough! He will be out the door come December 1st. Was there something else at play?
Did Hawaii have other motive to fire its AD?
SFGATE’s Marc Delucchi broke down the move in a recent story. He turned to a few sources which he claims have inside information on the divorce.
One source within the program, who was granted anonymity in accordance with Hearst’s ethics policy, told SFGATE that the firing raised serious concerns about the program’s future. When SFGATE reached out to another prominent member of Hawaii’s athletic department for comment on the news, the person replied with a link to a message board posting on Hawaii’s 247Sports forum.
The post — titled “THIS IS WHY AD ANGELOS IS BEING FIRED **PLEASE READ**” — describes an internal power struggle between longtime University of Hawaii administrators and more prominent athletics officials, including Angelos and notable coaches. Moreover, it calls upon program supporters to pressure the university’s board of regents to reverse course. The board is scheduled to have its final meeting of the year on Thursday.
The anonymous poster, who said they work “very close” to the athletic department, accuses [President David] Lassner of long hoping to make a friend of his, Manin, the head of the department.
The sources suggest that the university president fired Angelos to hire his friend, Lois Manin. That speculation seems farfetched at this level of college athletics, but whether true or not, the controversy surrounding the dismissal has already led to fallout!
Hawaii’s top donor and NIL collective head has cut his monetary support.
Hawaii’s top booster, Mike Kawazoe—head of the Rainbow Warriors NIL Collective—announces he’s pulling all funding effective immediately following controversial firing of AD Craig Angelos after only 18 months by the outgoing university president: https://t.co/qSZq1lC1Lt pic.twitter.com/iMonOn9Jbr
— RedditCFB (@RedditCFB) November 20, 2024
Mike Kawazoe is a local entrepreneur who started an NIL push when NCAA legislation changed. He’s since helped raise hundreds of thousands in support of Hawaii players as head of the Rainbow Warriors Collective.
“Effective immediately, I’m taking down all of my banners with my companies from UH, and cutting off all money going towards athletics,” Kawazoe said after news of the firing broke. “He was the right man for the job and I believed in the vision. Now I don’t know what the vision is. I don’t know where UH is headed and sometimes in life, you gotta recognize a bad investment when you see it, and this looks like a bad investment.”
While he emphatically stated his position on NIL funding, he refused to buy into the rumor mill surrounding Craig Angelos’s firing. With that being said, he’s not happy about the decision.
“Not everyone has all the facts and we don’t know, but on its surface, lack of response, I’m gonna have to go with what I’ve seen and smelled that’s Craig’s doing a good job,” said Kawazoe. “Maybe ruffled some feathers in the way that he did that, but was it so egregious to terminate? I don’t think so.”
It’s an interesting situation unfolding at Hawaii. Many seem upset with the move considering the progress Angelos was able to make in a relatively short time on campus. For now, it certainly looks like a step backwards for the department.