Hawai'i football head coach Timmy Chang announced two additions to the coaching staff, welcoming Chad Kapanui as quarterbacks coach and Bobby Thomas as head strength and conditioning coach.

A Honolulu native and four-year letterwinner at linebacker and quarterback for the Warriors from 2000-04, Kapanui returns home after spending time as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at national powerhouse Bishop Gorman High School in Las Vegas.

While at Bishop Gorman, Kapanui coached current Hawai'i quarterback Micah Alejado, helping him earn Gatorade State Player of the Year honors in 2022. Under Kapanui's guidance, Alejado threw for 9,233 career yards and 125 touchdowns to just four interceptions, leading the Gaels to three consecutive Nevada state titles from 2021-23.

A graduate of Roosevelt High School, Kapanui appeared in 47 games over his Warrior career and totaled 102 career tackles while also tossing a pair of TD passes as a reserve quarterback. Kapanui joins three of his UH teammates on the coaching staff (Chang, Chris Brown, Derek Faavi) and is the fifth former Warrior on staff.

Thomas arrives in Mānoa with a decade of experience on strength and conditioning staffs in both the collegiate and NFL ranks. He most recently worked as the head strength and conditioning coach at Morehouse College after spending three seasons (2021-23) prior to that as the assistant strength and conditioning coach for the Atlanta Falcons.

Prior to working in the NFL, Thomas worked on the strength staff at Western Kentucky for three seasons and Fresno State for two years, helping the Bulldogs to a 2017 Mountain West title game appearance and Hawai'i Bowl victory. He began his collegiate coaching career with stops at NC State and Stanford after earning his master's degree from South Dakota in 2013.