HONOLULU — Athletic Director David Matlin on Tuesday apologized for last week’s controversial University of Hawaii football coach hiring process and acknowledged that he considered submitting his resignation over the course of a difficult month for his department.

Timmy Chang was announced as the program’s 25^th head coach on Saturday, but not until after UH's two-day back-and-forth with former coach June Jones, who was ostensibly in contention to become the Rainbow Warriors’ program leader once again. Contract negotiations between Jones and UH broke down as Jones balked at terms like Matlin’s proposed succession plan of Chang and a two-year (later three) contract offer.

Jones went public with his disagreements Friday night after UH announced publicly that he broke off negotiations after only about 30 minutes; UH then called a Saturday press conference in which it disparaged Jones’ character for lobbying for the job in the media, as well as his actions during and following his time as UH coach in the 2000s.

UH has looked to move forward with its “Braddahhood” campaign under the 40-year-old Chang, who received a four-year contract with a possibility of a fifth if he makes a bowl game in either of his first two years. In contract terms released Tuesday, the first-time head coach will make a base salary just over $500,000 in his first season, with increases of $100,000 in Years 2 and 3 and hikes of another $50,000 in Years 4 and 5, ending at $800,000. That final sum is what ex-head coach Todd Graham opened with as his base salary at UH – still comparatively low to peer institutions in the Mountain West.

Matlin, the seventh-year athletic director, was available for media questions for the first time since Graham resigned as coach amid his own controversies on Jan. 14.

During the 45-minute session, Matlin maintained an even tone as he expressed contrition for how things were handled in some areas and stuck to his position on others – like his proposed succession plan for Jones and whether hiring Graham in 2020 was a good idea. Throughout, he thanked media members for their questions and acknowledged he could've been more accessible during the process.

“First, I want to apologize for the way things played out,” Matlin read from a prepared statement in his opening. “I really wish things had gone differently. I know that June bleeds green, and he only wants to see great success for the UH football program. I hope we can find a way where he can continue to be part of the program.

“I believe there will be healing. I promise to be an active participant in this healing.” The Hawaii-born Chang, he said, will be instrumental in that process.

But he allowed that heavy public criticism, including some petitions to have him removed, have weighed on him over the last month-plus, which included a scathing state Senate hearing about Graham and the athletic department on Jan. 7. National media outlets have tracked the weekly self-inflicted troubles from the Islands, going back to UH backing out of the EasyPost Hawaii Bowl on Dec. 23 while citing a lack of player availability.

There had been quiet speculation that Matlin had submitted an offer to resign to his boss, UH President David Lassner. That, he denied in reply to a question.

“I have not offered my resignation,” Matlin said. “Have I pondered it with what’s gone on in the last few weeks? Yes. But I serve at the pleasure of the university, and as long as I serve I’m going to get up every day and do my best to make things better. That’s just how I am and what I owe my employer and really the whole state.

“(The public calls to resign), it hurts,” he added. “I heard that there’s a couple things out there for my resignation. That’s not a good place to be at. But that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a majority of people. A lot of times, we have the vocal minority. Either way, it’s about me wanting to continue to build this program.”

He faced several questions about the timeline of Chang and Jones as candidates for the football job.

Soon after Graham's resignation, Matlin said, Chang became a frontrunner over that weekend based on feedback given from one of Chang’s mentors, and Chang's performance in a subsequent interview. Chang was among eight to 12 people that Matlin encouraged to apply, he said.

Once Jones applied on his own initiative on Monday, Matlin underscored that the succession plan for Jones and Chang became his top choice, and denied that his ultimate plan was to negotiate in bad faith with Jones so that he could give the job to Chang. He said the succession idea came from Jones himself in 2015 from a discussion with Matlin about grooming Nick Rolovich.

He said he'd blocked off three hours to talk to Jones and that UH President David Lassner was on standby to join the meeting with Jones to finalize an agreement. UH associate athletic director Lois Manin, media relations director Derek Inouchi and Aloha Stadium Manager Scott Chan were also part of interviews, Matlin said.

“(Hiring Chang alone) was Plan B, so once (negotiations with Jones) broke off, then I went immediately to that, and within an hour we started (talking),” Matlin said. “The whole thing was about getting a coach on board for our student-athletes, and so we could move forward.”

Matlin said Jones and Rich Miano, the former UH associate head coach who was ruled out by Matlin as being part of Jones’ staff during negotiations, can still be considered for spots on Chang’s staff. Matlin said he felt Miano was a no-go for Jones’ staff because Miano, who had previously said he was interested in the head job, would be problematic to the succession plan for the younger Chang.

Matlin maintained his role in the approval of assistant coaches is normal for his entire athletic department and that he is intimately involved in Chang’s staff recruitment process daily to help build it out prior to national signing day for recruits on Feb. 2. So far, holdover assistant coaches Jacob Yoro and Abraham Elimimian have been reported by the Honolulu Star-Advertiser as staying on under Chang.

Who’s joining the BRADDAHHOOD?!?! https://t.co/5g95l4ICzJ

— Timmy Chang (@Coach_TChang) January 25, 2022

Spectrum News asked Matlin if he’s had any changes in his thinking on the hire of Graham, which has become roundly criticized in the wake of Graham’s alleged mistreatment of multiple players. Matlin has largely defended Graham’s record, including at and after the Jan. 7 Senate hearing.

“No, my thoughts haven’t changed,” Matlin said. “I think Todd’s a good coach. I think something I could’ve done better at was helping transition him to Hawaii, and I got to own that on behalf of the student-athletes and Todd. I had a plan for it. I can’t use COVID as a total excuse, but that kind of slowed down the assimilation process. But really, my comments haven’t really changed on that.”

But UH System head spokesman Dan Meisenzahl, who was also on Tuesday’s media call, expressed some regret about the Saturday press conference in which he attacked Jones repeatedly, including saying that Jones had "zero integrity" during the hiring process. Meisenzahl said the conference was his idea to provide context to rebut public and social media comments. Matlin, for his part, denied more than once that he was part of it or put Meisenzahl up to it. 

“If I could have a do-over, I’m sure there’s a lot of things I would have said and done differently, especially with the benefit of hindsight,” Meisenzahl said. “Definitely meant no disrespect to Coach Jones or anybody involved in the process, and (I) take full responsibility for that press conference.”

Matlin, in response to a media question, said that his apology to open the press conference did, in fact, extend to Jones.

"I would say yes. My intentions in this process … are to get better," Matlin said. "June is a legendary coach here. He’s a big part of the program."