’The kid is stone cold’: Ex-Gorman star thriving as Hawaii’s quarterback
He stopped worrying about what others said long ago. Stopped caring that they kept knocking his size as a quarterback. Stopped being concerned when they questioned whether he could make it at college football’s highest level.
Micah Alejado has in fact made it.
And he is thriving.
The former Bishop Gorman star is now directing a run-and-shoot offense at Hawaii that has put up plenty of points and yards this season.
For their next challenge, Alejado and the Rainbow Warriors (7-3, 4-2 Mountain West) will meet UNLV (8-2, 4-2) at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Allegiant Stadium.
“He’s very accurate and understands their system very well,” UNLV coach Dan Mullen said. “Gets rid of the ball quickly, can make a lot of the throws, can throw it from sideline-to-sideline and across the middle. He does a really good job.”
His stature
Alejado, a freshman, is listed at 5-foot-10 and 180 pounds. Several colleges passed on the left-hander coming out of Gorman because of his stature. They just didn’t believe he could make much of a difference.
They thought that even though he threw four interceptions in four years as the Gaels’ starter, led Gorman to the 2023 mythical national championship and finished his prep career with 9,233 passing yards, 125 touchdowns and a 74.8 completion percentage.
Alejado still has the chip on his shoulder from being overlooked.
Nobody could knock it off. Not even now.
“It will always be there,” Alejado said. “Not just for me but our entire team. We’re about hard work and sacrifice and know the odds are against us. That allows us to go out and play with that chip. I think it’s mandatory for all of us to have one.”
Hawaii is scoring 36 points per game in Mountain West play, second behind only the Rebels (36.5).
The Rainbow Warriors’ offense is powered by their passing attack. Alejado is first in the league in total yards (343.5) and passing yards (333.5) per game in conference play. His 16 passing touchdowns also rank first.
None of it comes as a surprise to Bishop Gorman coach Brent Browner.
“Especially in that offense,” Browner said. “Talk about something that was built for him. He knew what he could do. He’s prepared for all of it. There’s no second-guessing with him. He’s a super smart player and a competitor — that’s a dangerous combination.
“We knew he could play at the next level. We had coaches from big schools come in and say, ‘We love him but we can’t offer him because if it doesn’t work out, we’ll get fired.’ They’d rather have the 6-5 kid who can’t throw or do anything else. Hawaii got a diamond steal with Micah.”
Alejado’s only goals are team-oriented, like winning a Mountain West championship.
He’s still made massive strides this year in terms of pocket presence and game management. He was injured in Hawaii’s opener, missed the next two games and threw three interceptions in a loss to Fresno State his first game back.
He took off from there.
“I don’t think about the future,” Alejado said. “Vegas is a big-time game for us with Mountain West championship implications. I try not to let games get too big and just focus on my job and what I have to do to help this offense and team win.”
Just like Tua
It’s the sort of mindset and discipline he learned at Gorman, which prepares players for the next level as well as any high school program in the country.
Hawaii associate head coach/linebackers coach Chris Brown knows all about that.
The former Gaels assistant head coach created a pipeline of Gorman players to Hawaii. Six former Gaels now dot the Rainbow Warriors’ roster and four are starters.
Brown, a Hawaii graduate, first saw Alejado as a teenager and was taken with him from the first throw.
“He reminded me immediately of Tua (Tagovailoa), who I coached in high school (in Hawaii),” Brown said. “Just the accuracy of the ball, putting it in places nobody could, how the ball spun. There’s something so special about this kid. His vision. His ability to let go of the ball. How he commands an offense.
“Micah has ice in his veins, man. The kid is stone cold when it comes to ball. He sees things in a split second.”
Browner sure seems correct in that Hawaii is the perfect spot for Alejado. He was born in Honolulu and has a host of family and friends who can watch his games in person.
And the offense isn’t so bad, either.
“I was able to build a relationship early with coach (Timmy) Chang,” Alejado said. “They had a tough couple of first few years, but he was trying to build the culture. That’s what we have now. I knew this was a place I could showcase my arm in the run-and-shoot. We might throw it 40 times a game. I like throwing the ball a lot.
“My transition from high school to college was really easy and I credit coach Browner and everybody else at Bishop Gorman for that. The schedule you keep, the sacrifices you make to be a football player there, it gets you ready for all of this.”
He has proven to be more than ready.
No matter his size.
Contact Ed Graney at egraney@reviewjournal.com. Follow @edgraney on X.
