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For the season opener, Stanford football will be celebrating Pacific Islander heritage against Hawaii, and given his own Samoan-American heritage and this being his first game as head coach of the Cardinal, Tavita Pritchard was asked about the personal importance of this game.

"This game does give you a little bit of extra juice in the lead-up and the preparation for it," Pritchard said. "But when the whistle blows and the ball is snapped, it's going to be football, and that's how we're going to approach it."

Pritchard also detailed his own connection to the University of Hawaii, where he was once recruited. During his junior season of high school he went out on a visit to watch a game, and current Hawaii head coach Timmy Chang was the team's quarterback in his senior season for the Rainbow Warriors.

Hawaii was facing Michigan State, and Chang threw for 416 yards and four touchdowns, leading a comeback win over the Spartans and ending the regular season with a win for the seniors. 

"I got a ton of respect for him through his playing and coaching career," Pritchard said. 

Challenges Facing Hawaii

Even though Stanford opened its season against Hawaii last year, that matchup may not be quite as informative as some of the program's late-season tape, as the Rainbow Warriors continued to evolve over the course of the season. The same goes the other direction, too, as the Cardinal have an entirely new coaching staff, quarterback, and wide receiver group. 

The expectation for Saturday is that Hawaii will look to spread out the Stanford defense and use those formations to move the ball both through the air and on the ground.

"I think our challenge is going to be the ability to play in space, the ability to constrict the pocket, constrict the ball carrier, constrict those throwing lanes," Pritchard said. "[Defensively] they play extremely hard and they play physically, and that's something that we're going to have to match and meet and exceed that that physicality and intensity."

Coach Pritchard also mentioned that there are more games that are lost than won in the first week, so the focus will be on playing a sound game of football in all three phases. 

Learning on the Job

When former Athletics catcher Stephen Vogt took over the managerial job with the Cleveland Guardians, his first regular season game in that role came at the Oakland Coliseum, where he mentioned that part of the trick to the first year is that he doesn't know what he doesn't know yet.

During this week's media call, Stanford Roundtable asked coach Pritchard what things he's learned on the job already.

"Oh man, I've learned a ton," Pritchard said. "I hope to be a lifelong learner. We're always works in progress, and so I certainly hope to be a better head coach today than I was yesterday, and tomorrow than I was today."

Pritchard also added that his learning process has centered on understanding staff and player dynamics, and establishing the vision, culture, and expectations.

"I'm humbled and I'm grateful to be here, and I'm just excited to attack this first game week with this group."

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