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The Hula Bowl is a post-season college football all-star game held annually, usually in January. From inception through the 2021 playing, it was held in Hawaii; since the 2022 edition, it has been played in Orange County, Florida near Orlando.
The game was first staged in 1947, between mainland collegiate players and local Hawaiian players; it has been played exclusively with collegiate players since 1960. The bowl was paused following its 2008 edition, then was revived in January 2020.
The game was originally held at Honolulu Stadium in Honolulu, then moved to Aloha Stadium in Halawa starting with the January 1976 edition. The game remained at Aloha Stadium through the 2021 edition, except for eight editions played at War Memorial Stadium on the island of Maui. The University of Central Florida (UCF) agreed to host the January 2022 playing of the game, due to Aloha Stadium being closed for repairs and upgrades.
The game was originally played in Honolulu Stadium in Honolulu through the January 1975 playing, then moved to Aloha Stadium in neighboring Halawa. In 1997, the then-mayor of Maui County, Linda Lingle, obtained authorization to spend $1.2 million to improve War Memorial Stadium in the town of Kahului on the island of Maui, which then hosted the game for the 1998 through 2005 playings. However, due to poor attendance and reduced revenue, the Hula Bowl returned to Oahu for its 2006 game and stayed at Aloha Stadium through the 2008 playing.
The game has predominantly been played in January as one of the final games of the college football postseason, allowing players who competed in bowl games with their collegiate teams to participate. The game has been held in early February twice, in 2002 and 2003.
For many years, the Hula Bowl was distinguished from a similar event, the Senior Bowl, by playing by collegiate rules rather than professional rules, and by remaining amateur (the Senior Bowl paid players through its 1988 edition). This was very important for those wishing to remain eligible to compete in other collegiate sports (such as college baseball) or otherwise retain amateur status. At one point the longest-running sporting event in Hawaii, it was considered a premier venue to launch professional careers in the NFL.
History
In late 1946, the first Hula Bowl was organized by Paul Stupin and Mackay Yanagisawa. When the inaugural game was played on January 5, 1947, the teams were composed of mainland college players (the "Southern California Rose Bowl Stars", led by UCLA quarterback Ernie Case) pitted against a local team of graduates of Leilehua (the "Lei alums"), a local high school in Wahiawa, Hawaii—the mainland team won, 34–7. The teams played a two-game series every January until 1951, when the format was changed to allow National Football League (NFL) players to join the Hawaiian all-stars, in an effort to create a more competitive environment. From 1960 onward, the game featured only collegiate players, and game results are listed in NCAA records. Players were historically rostered by college location; North vs. South or East vs. West. Since 2000, team names of Aina and Kai, the Hawaiian words for land and ocean, have been used multiple times.
Changing direction
On July 1, 2006, it was announced that the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) would end its ten-year relationship with the Hula Bowl due to "philosophical differences" over the future plans for the game, including proposed changes for the 2007 game — such as reintroducing the "Hawaiian Islands versus Mainland" matchup used from 1947 to 1959. University of Hawaii and former NFL head coach June Jones expressed a willingness to coach a potential Hawaiian Islands team, which would have a mix of Hawaiian and Polynesian players and, bowl organizers hoped, would draw more fans to the game. The Hula Bowl had also discussed the idea of allowing junior status players to participate in the game and bringing over college football players from Japan, something the game had done in the recent past. Game officials also discussed awarding a national "Hula Bowl Player of the Week" to college players during the regular season; the winning players would have been invited to play in the Hula Bowl and been able to direct a $1,000 donation to a charity in their state.
Dormancy
After the January 2008 playing, the bowl remained dormant. Organizers searched "for opportunities to reintroduce and reimagine the historic bowl game", and in November 2016, announced their intent to restart the game in North Carolina in January 2018. However, in March 2017, additional news reports indicated that a revival of the game was unlikely, as a key supporter of the proposal, North Carolina governor Pat McCrory, left office at the start of that year.
Revival
On October 29, 2019, it was announced that the Hula Bowl would be revived; the 2020 edition was played at Aloha Stadium on January 26, 2020. It featured "NCAA college football players from all divisions, along with international players". Aloha Stadium also hosted the 2021 edition, played on January 31, 2021, held without spectators after the facility was "deemed unsafe to hold crowds" in December 2020. In August 2021, with Aloha Stadium closed for repairs and upgrades, the University of Central Florida (UCF) agreed to host the 2022 playing—scheduled for January 15—at its home stadium, then known as FBC Mortgage Stadium and now as Acrisure Bounce House, near Orlando, Florida.
Game results
+ Key West win South win Kai win Tie
The Hula Bowl has used four different pairs of team designations. Before 2000, teams were rostered as either North vs. South or East vs. West, with the exception of the 1994 game, which was College Stars vs. Hawaii Ponoʻi ("Hawaii's own"). Since 2000, the matchup has been Aina vs. Kai, except for 2005 and 2006, which reverted to East vs. West. Past NCAA records have substituted North or West in place of Kai ("ocean"), and South or East in place of Aina ("land").
23,000 17,017 20,598 20,000 18,177 22,100 25,000 23,500 21,000 23,000 25,000 23,500 23,000 23,000 23,000 22,000 45,458 45,579 48,197 49,132 47,096 39,010 43,002 39,456 34,216 30,767 29,564 17,775
MVPs
1947–2008
1947 John Johnson UCLA 1948 Dick Hagen Washington 1949 Jerry Williams Washington State 1950 Dick Kempthorn Michigan 1951 Sonny Grandelius Michigan State 1952 Vic Janowicz
Don ColemanOhio State
Michigan State1953 Tom Stolhandske Texas 1954 Bobby Garrett Stanford 1955 Carroll Hardy Colorado 1956 Bob Davenport UCLA 1957 Paul Hornung Notre Dame 1958 John David Crow
Lou MichaelsTexas A&M
Kentucky1959 Bob Ptacek
Sam WilliamsMichigan
Michigan State1960 Richie Lucas
Larry GranthamPenn State
Ole Miss1961 Fran Tarkenton
Mike DitkaGeorgia
Pittsburgh1962 Lance Alworth
Merlin OlsenArkansas
Utah State1963 Kermit Alexander
Dave WatsonUCLA
Georgia Tech1964 Peter Liske
Dave WilcoxPenn State
Oregon1965 Larry Elkins
Jeff JordanBaylor
Tulsa1966 Steve Juday
Carl McAdamsMichigan State
Oklahoma1967 Charlie Brown
Dave WilliamsMissouri
Washington1968 Larry Csonka
Harry GunnerSyracuse
Oregon State1969 Bill Enyart
Tim BuchananOregon State
Hawaii1970 Bobby Anderson
Floyd ReeseColorado
UCLA1971 Jim Plunkett
Jack HamStanford
Penn State1972 Jerry Tagge
Walt PatulskiNebraska
Notre Dame1973 Greg Pruitt
Jim MerloOklahoma
Stanford1974 Norris Weese
Lucious SelmonOle Miss
Oklahoma1975 Condredge Holloway
Rubin CarterTennessee
Miami (FL)1976 Cornelius Greene
Lee Roy SelmonOhio State
Oklahoma1977 Tony Dorsett
Ron CrosbyPittsburgh
Penn State1978 Dave Turner
Ricky OdomSan Diego State
USC1979 Rick Leach
Ted BrownMichigan
NC State1980 Billy Sims
Steve McMichaelOklahoma
Texas1981 Samoa Samoa
Kenny Easley
Blane GaisonWashington State
UCLA
Hawaii1982 Walter Abercrombie
Leo WisniewskiBaylor
Penn State1983 Dan Marino
Paul SoaresPittsburgh
Navy1984 Jim Sandusky
Freddie GilbertSan Diego State
Georgia1985 Al Toon
Freddie Joe NunnWisconsin
Ole Miss1986 Doug Gaynor
Rogers AlexanderLong Beach State
Penn State1987 Chris Miller
Louis BrockOregon
USC1988 Aaron Cox
Dennis PriceArizona State
UCLA1989 Anthony Dilweg
Deion SandersDuke University
Florida State1990 Cary Conklin
James FrancisWashington
Baylor1991 John Langeloh
Derrick BrownlowMichigan State
Illinois1992 Derrick Moore
Steve IsraelNortheastern State
Pittsburgh1993 Lamar Thomas
Ron CarpenterMiami (FL)
Miami University1994 Andre Coleman
Chris MaumalangaKansas State
Kansas1995 Kordell Stewart
Robert BaldwinColorado
Duke University1996 Winslow Oliver
Regan UpshawNew Mexico
California1997 Archie Amerson
Andy RussNorthern Arizona
Mississippi State1998 Chris Howard
Eric OgboguMichigan
Maryland1999 Kevin Daft
Ricky Williams
Brad ScioliUC Davis
Texas
Penn State2000 Bashir Yamini
Todd Husak
Brian YoungIowa
Stanford
UTEP2001 Jonathan Beasley
Reggie GermanyKansas State
Ohio State2002 Nick Rolovich
Chester TaylorHawaii
Toledo2003 David Kircus
Kassim OsgoodGrand Valley State
San Diego State2004 Wes Welker
Fred Russell
Colby BockwoldtTexas Tech
Iowa
Brigham Young2005 Ronald Stanley
Derrick WimbushMichigan State
Fort Valley State2006 Brent Hawkins
Brad SmithIllinois State
Missouri2007 Will Proctor
Chad NkangClemson
Elon University2008 Bernard Morris
Angelo CraigMarshall
Cincinnati
2020–present
2020 Reggie Walker
Niko LalosKansas State
Dartmouth2021 Mekhi Sargent
Carlo Kemp
C.J. Marable
Nick McCloudIowa
Michigan
Coastal Carolina
Notre Dame2022 2023 2024 2025 2026
Coaches
Coaches for the first Hula Bowl played exclusively with college players, in January 1960, were Bud Wilkinson of Oklahoma and Paul Dietzel of LSU. Dietzel's East squad defeated Wilkinson's West team, 34–8. Multiple inductees of the College Football Hall of Fame have coached in the Hula Bowl, including: Bobby Bowden, Terry Donahue, Johnny Majors, Ara Parseghian, Bo Schembechler, and Barry Switzer. Larry Price coached in eight Hula Bowls (1969–1976) while Dick Tomey coached in seven Hula Bowls (1978–1979, 1981, 1983, 1985–1986, 1991); both while they were coaching with Hawaii. For coaches from the mainland, Lou Holtz has the most appearances, with five (1979, 1989–1990, 1993, 1997). These totals include both head coach and assistant coaching appearances.
Hall of fame
In 2019, the Hula Bowl announced the creation of a hall of fame. The hall's inductees are:
Head coach appearances in the Hula Bowl are listed in parentheses in the College column.
+Hula Bowl Hall of Fame CFL (1972–1981), Canadian Football Hall of Fame NFL (1983–1993), 6× Pro Bowl, Pro Football Hall of Fame, College Football Hall of Fame NFL (1988–1997), 5× Pro Bowl as player: Cal (1955–1957)
as head coach: Cal (1972–1977), Illinois (1980–1987), Oakland Raiders (1995–1996)Hula Bowl executive director; NFL (1985–1989; 1991–1995) NFL (2001–2020), 13× Pro Bowl NFL (1988–2004), 9× Pro Bowl, Pro Football Hall of Fame, 1987 Heisman Trophy, College Football Hall of Fame NFL (1983–1997), 2× Pro Bowl as player: Florida (1964–1966), 1966 Heisman Trophy, College Football Hall of Fame, NFL (1967–1976)
as head coach: Duke (1987–1989), Florida (1990–2001), Washington Redskins (2002–2003), South Carolina (2005–2015)Hula Bowl ambassador to the armed forces NFL (1975–1986), 2× Pro Bowl, College Football Hall of Fame NFL (2006–2018), 6× Pro Bowl NFL (1993–2005), 11× Pro Bowl, Pro Football Hall of Fame, College Football Hall of Fame CFL (1981), USFL (1983–1983), College Football Hall of Fame NFL (1993–1996), 2× Pro Bowl, College Football Hall of Fame USFL (1984–1985), NFL (1985–1998; 2000), 13× Pro Bowl, Pro Football Hall of Fame, College Football Hall of Fame as player: Alabama (1948), Howard (1949–1952)
as coach: Howard (1959–1962), West Virginia (1970–1975), Florida State (1976–2009)
In popular culture
In 1997, a storyline in the comic strip Funky Winkerbean had Harry Dinkle and the Scapegoats marching band preparing to perform at the Hula Bowl.
See also
Footnotes
External links
Categories: Www.hulabowl.com Official Website, American Football In Hawaii, College Sports In Hawaii, College Football All-star Games, 1947 Establishments In Hawaii, 2008 Disestablishments In Hawaii, 2020 Establishments In Hawaii, Recurring Sporting Events Established In 1947, Recurring Sporting Events Disestablished In 2008, Recurring Sporting Events Established In 2020
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