Hawaii defensive back Michael Graham, who entered the transfer portal Thursday, has some interesting bloodlines.
Michael Graham is the son of Rainbow Warriors head coach Todd Graham, and the younger brother of Hawaii offensive coordinator Bo Graham.
Michael Graham had two tackles in nine games this season as a freshman.
The Rainbow Warriors have had a reported 14 players enter the transfer portal, and the list includes starting quarterback Chevan Cordeiro and standout linebacker Darius Muasau. Cordeiro is headed to fellow Mountain West school San Jose State while Muasau hasn’t yet picked a new school.
Hawaii athletic director David Matlin released a statement after several departures earlier this week.
“The amount of transfers is disappointing, however not unusual compared to many other schools around the country, and even within our own conference,” Matlin said in a statement. “We can’t ignore that there are areas we need to improve on. Coach Graham and I are in constant contact and are always looking for ways to make the program better.”
Hawaii is 11-11 in Todd Graham’s two seasons as coach. The Rainbow Warriors went 6-7 this season and were slated to play Memphis in the Hawaii Bowl before COVID-19 issues within the program caused the school to pull out of the game.
Todd Graham said he recognizes the situation calls for some changes in his approach as well as the coaching staff.
“As a staff, we realized the transfer portal would bring challenges to our team,” Todd Graham said in a statement. “The portal has been a challenge to many teams this season. We are disappointed to lose any member of our Warrior family to the transfer portal. … Moving forward, we are continuing to listen, learn and improve daily. We are focused on developing the players on our 2022 squad.”
