The 2012 season will be one of giant change for the Warriors.  Not only are they bringing in a new coach, native-born Norm Chow, but joining a new league (MWC) and scraping the old Run ‘n’ Shoot offense for one with more running and usage of a tight end.

Offense: Under Chow, Hawaii will go back to a traditional two-receiver set, so that leaves a lot of players with starting experience at receiver vying for two starting spots.  Six players started at least four games last year, led by Billy Ray Stutzman, who caught 78 balls for 910 yards and four touchdowns.  Trevor Davis, Miah Ostrowski, Justin Clapp and Scott Harding will compete for the other starting spot and backup roles.  Because the tight end will be back in play, Hawaii brought in three TE recruits and may look at others for help at the position.

David Graves, who started the final two games of 2011, returns as the starting quarterback and is backed up by players who haven’t seen any playing time at Hawaii, so the job is his to lose.  He threw for 768 yards and five touchdowns last season.

There will be a two-headed monster in the backfield led by fullback Joey Iosefa and either redshirt freshman Will Gregory or freshman Steven Lakalaka at the running back position.  Iosefa ran for 548 yards and seven touchdowns on 110 carries last year.

Defense: The defense might be called upon to lead the way, especially early, but it looks like it can be up to the task.  Despite bringing back only four starters, all four are upperclassmen and have game experience.

Strongside linebacker Art Laurel led the team with nine sacks and 14.5 tackles for loss.  He had 61 tackles on the year.

Paipai Falemalu had 50 stops and four and a half sacks from one defensive end position.  Next to him will be Geordon Hanohano and Haku Correa, who missed most of last season with a wrist injury.

Both corners, Mike Edwards and John Hardy-Tuliau, return and have what has been described as “big-game ability.”  Edwards ended up with 43 tackles and 11 passes broken up last season, while Hardy-Tuliau was third on the team with 73 tackles and tied for a team-high three interceptions.  He also blocked four kicks.

Recruiting: The Warriors brought in 18 recruits in this year’s class, led by Lakalaka.  The diminutive running back was named Hawaii’s Gatorade Player of the Year after rushing for 1,154 yards and 12 scores as a senior.  Clark Evans is the top tight end recruit and he comes in after a two-year stint at a community college.  He finished last season with 31 catches for 444 yards and a team-high nine touchdowns.

Schedule: Moving to the Mountain West didn’t help the Warriors any here as their MWC slate is tougher than one they would have faced in the WAC.  Chow’s first season starts off with games at USC, Nevada, at BYU and at San Diego State in four of the season’s first five weeks.  They close the season with UNLV and South Alabama. So figuring they beat Lamar and New Mexico, Hawaii would need to surprise a couple teams to qualify for a bowl.