HONOLULU — Amid the turbulence of a head coach hiring search and rampant negativity surrounding the University of Hawaii football program, remaining members of the team have taken it upon themselves to voice solidarity with the program.

About half of the Rainbow Warriors on the roster – some 35 players – have posted on social media with the same “Braddahhood” theme, a response to the many player defections and public scorn that took place during and following the 2021 season under coach Todd Graham.

What You Need To Know

  • While the University of Hawaii continues its hiring process for its next head football coach, members of the team have taken to social media to express solidarity for the program

  • The "Braddahhood" movement comes in the wake of a number of player defections and public scorn leading up to the resignation of Todd Graham

  • About half the remaining players and some members of the existing coaching staff, as well as alumni, have jumped on the social media movement

  • UH could make a head coaching announcement this weekend or early next week; former coach June Jones turned down UH's offer on Friday afternoon

Graham resigned suddenly a week ago and UH launched a coaching search that was believed to have been narrowed to former UH coach June Jones, former UH quarterback Timmy Chang and former UH center and Washington State offensive coordinator Brian Smith. However, Jones turned down UH's offer to return as coach on Friday afternoon.

The "Braddahhood" posts came out of a collaboration between a few players and the UH athletics sports media office. The snowballing participation and response exceeded what UH sophomore receiver Jonah Panoke expected when he helped get it rolling.

"A couple of my teammates and I, we thought it was a good thing to make a post for people to know that there are people on this team who were still excited to represent the University of Hawaii," Panoke told Spectrum News after a team training session on Friday.

"Everybody says brotherhood, and where we play and where we represent it’s unique, so we decided to correlate ‘Braddahhood,'" Panoke said. "That’s how we got that hashtag. With everything going on, with the coaches, with the incoming head coach, we thought this week would be a good week to get it out there, just to let people know that we’re excited for whoever it is."

Former UH backup quarterback Kamali‘i Akina, who finished his eligibility in 2021, is helping coordinate with the player quotes the accompany the posts, Panoke said.

Panoke’s post read, in part, “Hawaii is my home…. Come ride with us in 2022.”

The responses have been many and largely encouraging, he said.

Meanwhile, Jones formally interviewed for the job on Wednesday and all signs pointed to him as the frontrunner.

Official word from UH may not come until early next week. Jones is coaching in the 2022 Polynesian Bowl on Saturday at Kamehameha.

"We heard today at practice it’s either going to be today, sometime this weekend, and the latest would be Tuesday," Panoke said of the timing of the next coach's announcement. "But the (existing) coaching staff (of about 10 staff members), they’ve been super good. Everybody’s coming out to practice with energy, and just being stoked to be out there. You can tell there’s a lot of guys who want to step up now, especially during this time."

One player, defensive back Tiger Peterson, ostensibly endorsed Jones.

Here is a sampling of some of the other "#Braddahhood" posts, which came from local and Mainland-born players alike:

At least one member of the existing UH coaching staff, defensive ends coach Victor Santa Cruz, got in on it:

 

And alumni, like defensive back Ryan Mouton and slotback Davone Bess of the 2007 Sugar Bowl season, have gotten in on the act, as well: