Hawaii to take calculated approach to quarterback play in 2024

With an established starter and real depth behind him, the University of Hawaii football coaching staff feels secure about its quarterback situation heading into 2024.

Brayden Schager is the unquestioned starter and senior leader of the group, while redshirt freshman John-Keawe Sagapolutele will begin the year as his backup.

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University of Hawaii quarterback coach Dan Morrison has trained with Schager in the Dallas area even before he officially rejoined the UH staff. In Schager, he sees a confident upperclassman ready to leave his mark.

“What he’s doing what now is he’s refining his craft, he’s learning the finer details of being a quarterback, the direction of his ball, the trajectory of his ball, the way it’s coming out and where his eyes go and all the training aspects,” Morrison told KHON2 of Schager. “He’s really embraced that. He’s learning how to be a high-level quarterback. He’s got the arm for it. Now’s he’s got the other side to it and he’s really improved a lot. You’re not gonna find a whole lot of other quarterbacks in the country who have his arm strength. Given that he has the arm strength, now his focus is on accuracy, and he’s been working really hard all spring, all summer, to be extremely accurate. That’s the next step.”

As for Sagapolutele, who did not see the field in 2023, the backup role in 2024 was truly earned from the progress he made over the spring and the fall.

“With quarterbacks, it really comes down to two things: Good decisions and good throws. He has really improved with his decision-making, but his arm has gotten better,” Morrison said of Sagapolutele. “He’s worked on his feet, because the foundation of our quarterbacks is feet. He’s really worked on his footwork and getting the ball out quickly and on time. He has a strong enough arm that he’s made some really good throws on the field, really impressive throws. He’s had an opportunity to become that guy and he’s taken it and embraced it so we’re happy for him.”

“He’s done a great job and he’s a great quarterback,” added head coach Timmy Chang at the end of fall camp.

Just behind Schager and Sagapolutele is true freshman and early enrollee Micah Alejado, who led Bishop Gorman of Las Vegas to a high school national championship in 2023. The southpaw, who is originally from Ewa Beach, threw for 35 touchdowns without an interception, leading the Gaels to an unblemished 12-0 mark.

With Schager entrenched at QB1, the plan for Alejado is to play up to four regular season games, which would maintain a redshirt. A recent NCAA rule change does not count postseason games against a player’s redshirt. One example is five-star Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava, who played in four regular season games for the Volunteers as a true freshman in 2023 while leading the team to a bowl win over Iowa. Although he played in five total games, he enters 2024 as a redshirt freshman.

While Hawaii plans to take a measured approach with Alejado’s playing time in 2024, Rainbow Warrior coaches are bullish on what they have in him.

“Micah’s going to be really special. He really is,” Morrison said. “He and I have talked about how he’s going to be a very special quarterback here. It’s to bring him on and make that transition from high school to this level and he knows it and he’s done really well. We keep telling him to just work on the day-to-day thing, keep working on understanding the offense, understand where your eyes go and where your progression’s gonna go, and he’s learning it. He’s learning it really well. … We’re happy for him.”

Also in the quarterback room is Jake Farrell, the veteran of the group who has been with the team since 2020. Hawaii also trusts him to enter a game, which he did in 2023 as Schager’s backup in a game against San Jose State.

The ‘Bows began camp with four quarterbacks and added walk-on Caleb Freeman, a junior who began at Division III Mary Hardin-Baylor, to run the scout team.

“There was only four of them,” Morrison said. “Normally, there’s like six or seven in a group. There’s been a real focus and attention on all four moving forward and being part of this system, understanding this system, because we tend to not just have two quarterbacks ready to go, but three because we’re so quarterback-centric. Three have been ready to go. They’ve done really well. Very pleased with their progress and just keep them going in the same direction.”