Hawaii Rainbow Warriors Roster 2019 Warriors Roster

Head Coach: Nick Rolovich        2017 Salary: $402,102        Offensive Coordinator: Brian Smith       Defensive Coordinator: Corey Batoon         

Stadium: Aloha Stadium       Surface: Turf        City: Honolulu        State: Hawaii

The Hawaii Rainbow Warriors always traditionally enjoy one of college football’s better home-field advantages due to the travel necessary to reach the Islands. However, the flip side of this is that Hawaii often has difficult road schedules as well and this year is no exception. After struggling badly en route to a 3-9 season in 2017, Hawaii will have to replace major losses on both sides of the ball. Coach Nick Rolovich’s recruiting has been good, but perhaps not good enough to overcome all of these losses.

Quarterback is an open competition going into the year, with sophomore Cole McDonald in the driver’s seat to start. He will be getting slot receiver John Ursua back after missing much of last season with a torn ACL. Ursua has the potential to be among the leaders in catches in FBS. Hawaii plans to open up the offense a bit this season which may be difficult without the personnel to do so. Much depends on how well the offensive line can coalesce after coming apart last season due to a rash of injuries.

Hawaii’s pass defense was a disaster last season. Opposing passers completed roughly 70 percent of their passes against Hawaii last season. Corey Batoon, a local guy made good, comes in as Rolovich’s new defensive coordinator in an attempt to right the ship. Hawaii is experienced at linebacker and some of the secondary returns a year older and more experienced. The question is how well Batoon can meld the pieces of the defense together as a whole.