WACO, Texas – University of Hawai'i football coach Timmy Chang was selected as the American Football Coaches Association's Region 5 Coach of the Year after guiding the Rainbow Warriors to bowl eligibility for the first time since 2019.
 
Chang was one of five regional winners in FBS along with Georgia Tech's Brent Key, Vanderbilt's Clark Lea, Indiana's Curt Cignetti, and Texas Tech's Joey McGuire. The five regional winners are now finalists for AFCA National Coach of the Year, which will be announced December 15.
 
In his fourth season as head coach of his alma mater, Chang led UH to its best start through eight games (6-2) since 2018. The Rainbow Warriors, who are 7-4 heading into Saturday's regular season finale, were in contention for a Mountain West championship through the penultimate week of the season.
 
Among his notable wins in 2025 was a season-opening victory over Stanford, his first over an Autonomous Four conference team. UH also handed Mountain West-leader San Diego State its only conference loss of the season and secured road wins over Air Force and Colorado State.
 
As the offensive playcaller, he helped UH become one of the nation's top passing offenses, led by quarterback Micah Alejado, who leads the Mountain West in passing yards per game (282.6 ypg). The Warriors scored 30+ points in five straight games, their longest such streak since 2011.