The 1917 Hawaii Deans football team represented the College of Hawaiʻi—now known as the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa—as an independent during the 1917 college football season. In their first season under head coach David L. Crawford, the Deans compiled a 4–0–1 record. Lionel Brash was the team captain. The first fatality in Hawaii football history occurred on November 4 when Mariuchi Kuwamoto of the Deans, who was 28 years old, died from a body collision in a game against Kamehameha High School that caused a concussion of the brain.