HONOLULU — The University of Hawaii made the firing of Manoa Athletic Director Craig Angelos official on Tuesday afternoon, sending out a statement that was light on reasoning but included the wording, “based on performance.”
UH termed it a “confidential personnel matter” and said that UH President David Lassner made the decision after regular meetings with Angelos, a career athletics administrator whom he hired in May 2023 to succeed David Matlin with approval by the UH Board of Regents.
UH confirmed that Angelos’ last day will be Dec. 1 and that associate athletic director Lois Manin will be elevated to interim athletic director starting Dec. 2.
Angelos posted a lengthy statement on X, formerly known as Twitter, about an hour after UH's statement Tuesday afternoon.
In it, he said he was "blindsided" by the move and tried to assure UH fans that "there is no 'smoking gun' here..." He went on to list some of the accomplishments of his tenure, including UH's move to become a full-time member of the Mountain West in 2026, the elimination of future travel subsidies for opponents, and a new department apparel deal with Nike.
He indicated he will pursue another athletics administration job elsewhere. (Note: See below for Angelos' full statement).
Manin, UH’s Senior Woman Administrator, will serve in the position at the very least through a future search conducted by incoming UH President Wendy Hensel sometime in 2025. Hensel is due to take over the top position in the UH System once Lassner steps down at the end of the year.
Manin was formerly the head of UH Media Relations, then served as Aloha Stadium's deputy stadium manager for nine years before returning to UH as Director of Football Operations in 2016. She joined the overall athletic department administration soon afterward.
Angelos led an all-hands athletic department meeting Tuesday afternoon at the Manoa Lower Campus that lasted roughly 10 minutes, about an hour prior to the release of UH’s statement. Attendees described it as matter-of-fact conversation. Angelos was said to have thanked staff members for their time together.
Manin attended the meeting but did not speak, according to a person who was present. Lassner was not seen.
Upon leaving the athletics lecture hall where the meeting was held, Angelos informed media members that he was told his dismissal was final.
“They told me it’s official,” said Angelos, who, unlike his predecessors, was an at-will hire without a contract, meaning he could be let go at any time without a financial penalty for UH.
Most of UH's head coaches were seen entering the lecture hall for the afternoon meeting. They also gathered Tuesday morning for a previously arranged coaches meeting which Angelos also attended.
The coaches were not aware of a specific reason or reasons why Angelos was being terminated, according to a person familiar with their thinking.
After the afternoon meeting, one head coach circulated a letter of support for Angelos with a list of his accomplishments and sought signatures from other head coaches for solidarity to get UH to forestall the termination until Hensel took over, the person said. The coaches were apparently split on whether to sign it; some did and some did not.
It was unclear how much of Angelos' leadership style — unconventional for Hawaii and at times remarkably open to the media and public — played into UH's decision. Angelos arrived solo from Long Island University, without support staff, and assumed supervision of many longtime UH employees, some of whom were said to chafe at his methods. It was his first job heading up an athletic department since he was fired from Florida Atlantic University, where he was the AD from 2003 to 2012.
UH coaches who attended the afternoon meeting did not speak to the media, though a couple of student-athletes did. Men’s volleyball middle Kurt Nusterer expressed frustration at the firing, saying Angelos had invested time to get to know players on a person-to-person basis.
"He really was an advocate for every single sports team, and all of the athletes on those teams, and he worked hard to develop an individual relationship with all the teams," Nusterer told Spectrum News. "He was great about remembering little details and just being friendly and humble, and he’s one of the hardest-working people I’ve ever met."
As to whether Nusterer was told why Angelos was being let go, he replied, "Because he came in and wanted to increase accountability, based on what we’ve heard."
A person identifying as Kurt Nusterer started a petition to reinstate Angelos at Change.org. As of late Tuesday night, it had garnered 1,700 signatures.
Larry Beil, a UH alumnus and supporter who is a sports anchor at KGO-TV in San Francisco, told Spectrum News he was skeptical of Angelos at the time of his hire but met him on multiple occasions and grew to like him.
Lassner's decision to fire him with just a handful of weeks left in his term as president "does not add up here," Beil said.
"Unless they have some person, some candidate, who has access to some billionaire like Phil Knight at Oregon, with Nike," he said. "Unless that person exists out there and they need that athletic director to deal with that person, then I don’t understand what we’re doing."
Beil brought up the vague wording of the firing in UH's statement.
"What I would love to know is, what performance standard was not met?" he said. "To me that is the ultimate question. What are we talking about? Is it grade-point average? Is it money raised? Supporting the coaches. Facility upgrades? How do we base performance? And where did we supposedly fall short? Tell me that and I will understand."
UH fans who posted on message boards and on social media appeared to be upset and overwhelmingly behind Angelos. Theories and accusations abounded in the absence of information from the university for much of the day Tuesday; some accused the Matlin-era staff of orchestrating a coup to depose him.
At least one prominent UH booster pledged to pull his funding from UH programs, KHON reported.
The UH Board of Regents is set to hold its next meeting at Bachman Hall at 9 a.m. on Thursday.
Angelos has not returned messages from media members since he returned from a trip to Logan, Utah, with the UH football team last weekend. The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported that Angelos was first informed of his dismissal prior to leaving on the trip.
Word of his dismissal was first reported Tuesday morning.
The complete statement from UH:
“This is a confidential personnel matter. The University of Hawaii confirms that Mr. Angelos' final day as the UH Manoa athletic director is December 1. Effective December 2, Associate Athletic Director Lois Manin will serve as the acting athletic director. An announcement about a future search will be made by incoming UH President Wendy Hensel after the new year.
“President David Lassner met regularly with AD Angelos since he was hired, as he does with all his direct reports. Lassner made the decision to part ways with Angelos based on performance. This action is taking place now following the completion of the search for the new UH president.
“Lassner is appreciative that Angelos is remaining through December 1 to assist with the transition. The University remains grateful for his efforts and his dedication to UH Manoa athletics, and wishes him the very best in the future.”
The complete statement from Craig Angelos:
"When I said it would be a dream to serve as the Athletics Director at the University of Hawai'i—I truly meant it. I thoroughly enjoyed my time here, I loved the people and this community. That’s why I was completely blindsided when I learned of the outgoing President's decision to part ways. When I asked for the reason, he cited my performance—a response that absolutely shocked me because I thought things had been going pretty well for our athletics department.
"In a short amount of time, I believe we accomplished so much like creating new revenue streams, hiring a ticket sales team, revamping fundraising efforts, focusing on NIL initiatives, navigating the effects of the NCAA House settlement, securing a place in the Mountain West Conference while eliminating travel subsidies, arranging charter flights for the football team, negotiating a record-breaking apparel deal, developing a facilities master plan, collaborating with the stadium authority on the new Aloha Stadium project, and balancing the budget for the past two years.
"There is still much more to be done, but I thought we were on the right track. I understand some may wonder if there were other factors contributing to the separation, especially if my performance seemed to be going well. I want to assure everyone that there is no “smoking gun” here—no hint of impropriety or malfeasance, either personally or professionally. I have always treated people with kindness and respect and have done what is best for the athletic department at all times.
"While my record speaks for itself, I remain grateful to the President for hiring me and giving me the opportunity to serve as the Athletic Director at the University of Hawai'i. It was truly an honor.
"As I move forward, I want to sincerely thank everyone for their support. I am especially grateful to the student-athletes, head and assistant coaches, staff, tremendous donors, the Board of Regents, legislators, and all the friends of the program. Throughout my time here, I always felt a tremendous amount of support from them.
"I loved being here and am truly saddened to be leaving. Nevertheless, I depart with my head held high, grateful for the opportunity to have been part of this community. I take pride in knowing we did things the right way and achieved meaningful results. Now, it's time to move forward and seek the next great opportunity in intercollegiate athletics—a career I have loved for 30 years.
"So for the last time….Go Bows!!!!"
Note: This story has been updated with interviews and details.
Brian McInnis covers the state’s sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.