Former Hawaii player paints bleak picture of situation with Todd Graham

Hawaii coach Todd Graham has come under fire lately amid accusations of verbal abuse and player departures. This week, things came to a head in a three-hour meeting with the state senate.

According to Chris Vannini of The Athletic, the Hawaii Senate’s Ways and Means and Higher Education Committee called a hearing after news broke of culture issues in the Rainbow Warriors program. Late last month, Hawaii and Graham put out interesting statements about the transfer portal after multiple players left the program.

Former Rainbow Warriors player Leonard Lee was removed from the team after speaking out earlier this year. He didn’t hold back when sharing his thoughts about his now former coach.

“He’s hands down the worst guy I’ve ever met in my life,” Lee said, via Vannini.

The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman also weighed in on the issue, citing conversations with other coaches. He shared a quote from one unnamed coach who backs up Lee’s claims.

“He’s a bad human being,” the unnamed coach told Feldman. “The truth is finally coming out on him.”

Hawaii AD, coach release odd dual statements on transfers

The University of Hawaii football team is dealing with a mini exodus. With a total of 12 Rainbow Warriors players opting to enter the transfer portal, athletics director David Matlin and head coach Todd Graham released  statements.

“As a staff, we realized that the transfer portal would bring challenges to our team,” Graham said. “We are disappointed to lose any member of our Warrior family to the transfer portal. We appreciate the contributions they have made to the team.

“Moving forward, we are continuing to listen, learn and improve daily. We are focused on developing the players on our 2022 squad and growing closer as a team. We want our fans, supporters, and the University of Hawaii family to know that we are working tirelessly to build a championship team that they can be proud of.”

Though the Hawaii program leaders are correct in the fact that the transfer portal is impacting every program nationwide, the exodus of Rainbow Warriors is not commonplace. Other bowl-eligible programs in the Mountain West are not having the same issues.

Hawaii was going to play in the Hawaii Bowl versus Memphis on Christmas Eve. However, COVID-19 issues, on top of injuries and transfers, stopped the game. Since then, star linebacker Darius Muasau opted to enter the portal on Tuesday. He entered with defensive starters Jonah Laulu and Justus Tavail on Tuesday, joining Dae Dae Hunter, and the many others.