Job status of Hawaii-Manoa Athletic Director Craig Angelos in question

The status of Craig Angelos as University of Hawaii at Manoa athletic director is expected to be discussed at an athletic department-wide meeting on Tuesday afternoon, Spectrum News has learned.

Angelos’ job security has been the subject of intense speculation at UH Lower Campus and online in the last 48 hours.

The usually responsive Angelos, who accompanied the UH football team to Logan, Utah, over the weekend for its 55-10 loss to Utah State, has not returned messages from Spectrum News seeking comment since his return to Honolulu. However, he has continued to post updates on matters like UH fundraising on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Athletic department employees received an email Monday notifying them of a 3 p.m. meeting the next day, sources said. In addition, there is a 10 a.m. head coaches meeting that was scheduled months in advance. The UH Board of Regents, meanwhile, was already set to hold a meeting Wednesday morning.

UH President David Lassner chose Angelos in May 2023 to succeed David Matlin, who stepped down that June to complete an eight-year tenure. Lassner is due to exit his position by the end of the year.

Unlike his predecessors in his position, Angelos has operated without a contract as an at-will employee of UH, meaning he can be let go at any time.

Angelos, a native of Salt Lake City and former baseball player at BYU, came to UH from Long Island University where he served as a senior deputy AD — one of several stops on the East Coast for the career athletics administrator. He was formerly the athletic director of Florida Atlantic University.

For better or worse, Angelos has been viewed as an outsider with his own style as he has overseen a staff that remained almost completely intact from the Matlin era.

Angelos recently stewarded UH’s move to leave the Big West Conference in favor of full membership in the Mountain West at a time of significant conference realignment. He has also explored various ways to try to increase department revenue, like changes in travel for UH football and expanded courtside seating in the Stan Sheriff Center. He hired third-party specialists to promote the UH brand.

He has held a semi-regular question-and-answer show on ESPN Honolulu, a norm for head coaches in sports like football, basketball and volleyball, but a first for a UH AD.

In his roughly 18 months on the job, he’s hired three new head coaches: James Robinson (women’s water polo); Steve Allnutt (men’s and women’s swimming and diving); and Hendrik Bode (men’s tennis).

Brian McInnis covers the state’s sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.