Craig Angelos out as Hawaii athletic director

HONOLULU – Hawaii athletics director Craig Angelos has been dismissed by University of Hawaii outgoing president David Lassner effective Dec. 1, the school confirmed on Tuesday.

The Action Network’s Brett McMurphy was the first to report the news on Tuesday morning and added, “No reasons were provided by Lassner, sources said. Angelos, who was at UH just 18 months, recently negotiated UH’s full membership into Mountain West, saving the school $1 million annually in travel subsidies.”

The school confirmed the move in an official statement sent to local media at 4:02 p.m. HT, half an hour after holding an all-staff meeting that Angelos spoke at and more than 12 hours after McMurphy originally broke the news. The statement cited performance as a critical factor in the decision by Lassner, reading:

“This is a confidential personnel matter. The University of Hawaiʻi confirms that Mr. Angelos’ final day as the UH Mānoa 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 Mānoa athletics, and wishes him the very best in the future.”

Associate Athletic Director Lois Manin, who has spent nearly 20 years with the school in a variety of roles over two different stints, will serve as the acting AD in the interim. The Honolulu native split her two UH stints up by leaving the department in 2007 to spend nearly nine years as the Deputy Stadium Manager for Aloha Stadium.

The move comes after after a year and a half on the job for Angelos, who was approved by the UH Board of Regents by way of an 8-2 vote in favor of an "at-will" appointment in May 2023. Since coming on, Angelos has helped the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa navigate the ever-changing dynamic environment of college athletics by exploring different routes for additional streams of revenue while improving many overall student-athlete experiences without the typical security many other Division I athletic directors have in multi-year contracts.

His list of accomplishments during the 18-month tenure leading the department includes helping Hawai'i secure a place for all non-Olympic sports programs within a well-known Mountain West Conference in 2026, eliminating travel subsidies that UH had to pay opponents for travel and finding a way to save more than $70,000 per football season for the school while chartering flights for the team during road trips instead of flying commercial. He had reportedly been in the process of finalizing a new apparel deal with Nike, a shift from current partnership in Adidas that would see an annual average value (AAV) increase around $450,000 even before adding the prospective volleyball value that would increase that number.

Hawai'i's value had become a consistent talking point in the second round of college realignment, seeing Angelos find new leverage and use the unique time zone and the explosion in sports gambling bringing more eyes than ever to the "late window" among the unique attractive assets the school could bring to the table in talks with the Pac-12 and Mountain West. Angelos had also explored expanding the Hawai'i brand into international waters, working on relations in Australia and Japan along with domestic projects for the school.

Angelos released a lengthy statement of his own, sharing on his personal X/Twitter account that reads:

“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!!!!”

In many ways, Angelos had exceeded expectations that local fans had in his first year and a half on the job. Rumors about his dismissal began swirling on message boards days before the news officially released, leading fans to vocalize support for Angelos on social media in the days prior to Tuesday's announcement.

Multiple University of Hawai'i student-athletes have come out in vocal opposition of the move, seeing men's volleyball junior middle blocker Kurt Nusterer start a petition in favor of retaining Angelos in his role as AD that had more than 1,700 signatures from fans, donors, student-athletes and others in the first nine hours after being posted. 

The petition created by Nusterer reads:

Craig Angelos is more than just an Athletic Director for us at the University of Hawaii. His dedication towards the well-being of our sportsmen and women has been a noteworthy aspect of his tenure. He has not merely held the role, he has embodied it with utmost respect and commitment.

The potential dismissal of such a dedicated Athletic Director is disheartening for us, the University of Hawaii community. While decision-makers might have their reasons, we consider retaining Craig Angelos as essential to continue the work he has begun. He's a symbol of dedication, determination, and care. For this reason, we implore you to reconsider any decision to displace him.

This is not just about an administrative office; it's about our family at UH and the leader who consistently cares for us. Let us ensure Craig Angelos continues to work by our side. Please, help us convey our support for him; sign this petition today.

Another of the student-athletes to voice support for Angelos was Hawai'i football cornerback Cam Stone, who simply stated "NO!"in response McMurphy's original report before quoting the statement from the AD and saying "You are one of the bright spots on this island, you have done so much for us athletes. Your unwavering support and constant determination to help better this experience for us athletes has not gone unnoticed by us or the people of Hawai'i! WE GETTING YOUR JOB BACK."

He was one of a multitude of Rainbow Warriors on the football team to chime in. Prized freshman quarterback Micah Alejado, who was the lone bright spot from UH's 55-10 loss at Utah State last Saturday after he completed 11-of-12 passes for 111 yards and a touchdown in the second half, quoted Angelos' statement as well and said "[Craig] has been the greatest guy to me ever since I stepped on campus. Much love!"

New defensive tackle Dion Washington, who joined the football program via the transfer portal from Nevada this past offseason, added to the list of current student-athletes to speak out on social media while longtime wide receiver and Saint Louis School alum Jonah Panoke voiced his frustration directly with UH President David Lassner's handling on his social media.

One of the biggest fallouts of the situation is the immediate suspension of financial support from the Rainbow Collective, the most prominent Name, Image and Likeness fundraising arm that facilitated deals as a third party for Hawai'i. The Rainbow Collective had raised over $1 million for UH athletes since its founding and had given full support to the vision from Angelos.

Mike Kawazoe, the head of the Rainbow Collective and one of the biggest boosters supporting UH athletics, vocalized his frustration with the process and demanded transparency from the school in an interview with KHON2. He also announced that he would be cutting off his financial support of the programs and requested the removal of his sponsor banners from on-campus facilities from the school.

"I will be taking down all of my banners with my companies from UH and I am cutting off all money towards athletics immediately," Kawazoe said in the interview with Stephen Florino and KHON2 on Tuesday. "Not everyone has all the facts and we don't know, but on the surface, lack of response [by school] ... Craig is doing a good job. I would be stunned for [UH] to give us an answer as to why he was terminated, I think they're just going to say hey, we let him go. I deserve an answer. I pour a lot of money into [Hawai'i athletics], I want an answer."

Multiple sources have stated Kawazoe and the Rainbow Collective are not the only financial hits expected to come from the move. Other donors have quietly expressed similar sentiments to Kawazoe behind the scenes while fans have taken to social media in an attempt to save Angelos' job before December 1.

Lassner, the outgoing UH president, is set to retire on December 31. He did not speak to the media following the announcement and was not in attendance for the all-staff meeting when Angelos officially confirmed his dismissal to those within the Hawai'i athletic programs.

UPDATE (Nov. 20, 11:30 p.m. HT): University of Hawai'i associate athletic director Lois Manin released a lengthy statement on Wednesday afternoon after the school announced the longtime athletic department veteran would take over as the acting AD after Angelos' dismissal. Among the most notable parts of her statement included her stating an intention to NOT apply for the full-time role in the upcoming cycle while calling on fans and the school community at large to come together in support of the student-athletes at this time.

The full statement reads:

The last 24 hours has been a challenging and emotional time for everyone within the UH Athletics ‘ohana including coaches, student-athletes, staff, fans, supporters and especially Craig Angelos. I’ve been assigned the responsibility to serve as Acting Athletics Director and my goal is to do everything I can to help in this transition and continue the momentum that Craig and the team has created during his time here. It is important that we keep our focus on supporting our student-athletes.
 
There has been a lot of chatter regarding my employment at UH Athletics. I would like to set the record straight with facts and not conjecture. 
First of all, let me be very clear. I will not be applying for the permanent position.
 
I applied for the UH Athletics Director job when David Matlin retired. I was a finalist. When David Lassner called to tell me that I did not get the job, I thanked him for the opportunity.  I was disappointed that I was not chosen, but not surprised. Later that day the announcement was made that Craig Angelos was hired. I called every person on the search advisory committee to thank them for their service. Within the first 30 seconds of meeting Craig, I told him that I wanted him to hear from me and not anyone else that I had applied for the job and that I was prepared to support him fully. I remained in my current job as Associate Athletics Director for Internal Operations and supported Craig as best I could with what knowledge I gained in my 25 years in collegiate athletics administration at UH. 
 
I have worked in different roles for many different leaders in my career and have always taken the same approach, whether the athletics director was Stan Sheriff, Hugh Yoshida, Herman Frazier, David Matlin or Craig Angelos. I fully understood that I take direction from my supervisor as we both work for the University, the Athletics Department, the student-athletes and the people of Hawaiʻi.
 
I have been both a union employee and an at-will employee. My effort does not change in any capacity or for any leader. It has always been my best effort. I have worked countless hours of nights, weekends and holidays for the department alongside so many others who love the program, our student-athletes, our coaches and our fans. 
 
I decided not long after I was not hired as Athletics Director last year, that I would not take another shot at the top job. I would end my athletics career in the second chair if allowed to do so. I have been asked to serve as Acting Athletics Director when Craig departs and until the next leader is chosen. I do not know the timeline and do not intend to apply for the job when it opens up. I view my role as getting the department through the transition. 
 
I do not intend to lead a department that is static or mediocre during this transition. Intercollegiate athletics nationally and our program are in the midst of a seismic shift and I will do everything possible to lead us with optimism and boldness as we continue to advance every aspect of the program into the new era of college athletics. My hope is that everyone can put personal feelings aside and work together for the greater good of our student-athletes, coaches, fans, and the staff behind the scenes who help make it all work.   
 
Go Bows!
 
Respectfully,
Lois Manin

The school has multiple important home games upcoming for various programs, such as the women's basketball home opener on Friday morning and the men's basketball marquee matchup on national television against No. 10 North Carolina later that night. The football team will celebrate a mass group of seniors on November 30 following the season finale against New Mexico, another key event that has been tossed by the wayside as the school attempts to navigate the media mess left in the wake of the move.

Certain fans noted it as curious that Manin referenced "continuing the momentum" of Angelos' time with the department after the school cited performance as a key reason to the termination of his employment. Others pleaded for the community to give Manin an opportunity to steady the ship after being thrust into the position after the action of UH president David Lassner.

There is a Board of Regents meeting scheduled for Thursday, November 21 at 9 a.m. HT. where multiple University of Hawai'i student-athletes are expected to show up, led by men's volleyball middle blocker Kurt Nusterer and women's track & field jumper/thrower Jessica Mackenzie. Nusterer created a petition calling on UH to reverse course and reinstate Angelos in his position as athletic director for the school that had reached over 2,750 signatures by Wednesday night.

Note: This story will be updated further.