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Timmy Chang: Ten Moments

It’s going to be a strange sight seeing Timmy Chang on the opposing sideline this Saturday. One of the most revered figures in Hawaii football history, Chang is currently the tight ends coach for the Nevada Wolf Pack, who arrive in Honolulu with a 5-0 record. Here are ten key moments in the football career of Timmy Chang:

♦ Dec. 4, 1999: Chang passes for 88 yards and 3 TDs, leading Saint Louis School to a 19-0 victory over Kahuku in the inaugural Hawaii High School Football State Championship. (Chang previously won two Prep Bowl titles with the Crusaders.) The state title caps off Chang’s remarkable senior season, in which he threw 64 TDs and was named a high school All-American by numerous major organizations and publications.

♦Feb. 2, 2000: Chang officially signs his Letter of Intent to play football for the University of Hawaii. He is a centerpiece of what UH head coach June Jones calls the school’s “best recruiting class ever.” The signing class also includes Abraham Elimimian, Leonard Peters, Nick Rolovich, Houston Ala, Chad Kapanui and Justin Ah Yat.

♦ Sept. 23, 2000: Chang makes his Rainbow Warrior debut, replacing a battered and ineffective Rolovich at the start of the second half in a road game at UTEP. The true freshman goes 9 for 22 for 130 yards, no TDs and 2 INTs. Hawaii falls to the Miners, 39-7. Chang would end up starting nine games that season and led the WAC in passing yards (3,041) and total offense (299.8 yards per game). For his efforts, he is named “WAC Freshman of the Year.”

♦ Nov. 6, 2004: In the first quarter against Louisiana Tech, Chang throws a 7-yard TD to Jason Rivers to set a new NCAA record for career passing yards, breaking Ty Detmer’s 13-year-old mark. In the same game, Chang also broke Kliff Kingsbury’s record for most career completions. (Kingsbury is now the head coach of the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals.) Chang would finish his collegiate career with 17,072 total passing yards. The record would stand until 2011, when Houston’s Case Keenum surpassed it.

♦ 2003 and 2004: Chang passes for a combined 880 yards and 9 TDs in thrilling Hawaii Bowl victories over Houston and Alabama-Birmingham. On Christmas Day 2003, Hawaii outlasted the Cougars, 54-48, in three overtimes. On Christmas Eve 2004, the Rainbow Warriors beat UAB, 59-40. Chang was named the Hawaii MVP on both occasions (sharing the award with Chad Owens in the 2004 game).

♦ 2005: Chang goes undrafted in the NFL Draft, but signs a free agent deal with the Arizona Cardinals. After being waived, he lands tryouts with the Detroit Lions and Philadelphia Eagles before being allocated to the Rhein Fire of NFL Europe. Chang would play in Europe and in the Canadian Football League before retiring from the game in 2009.

♦ 2012: Chang is reunited with his old college coach, June Jones, after Jones adds him to the SMU coaching staff as a graduate assistant. He would serve on the staff for two seasons.

♦ 2014: Chang lands his first full-time college coaching job when he is hired as the offensive coordinator at Jackson State (Jackson, Mississippi). In Chang’s two seasons with the program, the Tigers led the Southwestern Athletic Conference in several offensive categories and were nationally ranked in passing yardage, completions, completion percentage and total offense.

♦ 2016: Chang becomes the offensive coordinator at Emory & Henry College, a Division III school in Virginia. In his single season with the Wasps, Chang helps the program finish third in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference in several offensive categories, including points per game (33.0) and offensive yards (463.5 yards per game).

♦ 2017: Nevada head coach Jay Norvell adds Chang to his coaching staff, hiring him to work with the team’s inside receivers. The following season, Chang switches to overseeing the team’s tight ends unit. Chang is now in his fourth season with the Wolf Pack.

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