This time, the head coach was not attired as Monopoly’s Rich Uncle Pennybags.
The scrimmage rules were not usual.
Despite food booths, music and a crowd of more than 1,000, the Hawaii football team’s 15th — and final — practice of spring training did not feel like a farewell party.
Then again, the afternoon event at the Ching Athletic Complex was not a pause in the Rainbow Warriors’ development.
“They’ve come a pretty good ways,” said coach Nick Rolovich, who, unlike last year’s spring game, wore a black windbreaker and shorts. “There’s not really an ending to this journey.”
The Warriors entered spring training with six new assistant coaches, a resurrected run-and-shoot offense, and a remodeled defensive scheme. They also had to find a successor to quarterback Dru Brown, who is transferring to Oklahoma State this summer, and rebuild an offensive line that lost four first-stringers to graduation and medical retirement.
Following Saturday’s practice, which featured several varieties of situational scrimmages, Rolovich declared: “We have a long way to go. But we’ll continue to compete every day. I’ll go to battle with this group.”
Cole McDonald appears to be the leader of the four-quarterback group. He demonstrated arm strength and field awareness (twice resetting the sticks with third-and-long scrambles) during the scrimmage-like sessions. McDonald and freshman Jeremy Moussa also found connections with slotbacks Cedric Byrd, Jason-Matthew Sharsh, Tristin Kamaka, Kumoku Noa and Dakota Torres. The past three seasons, Torres was an on-line tight end, a position that no longer exists in the Warriors’ new four-wide offense. But Torres made four catches in the full-contact session, including a 9-yarder for a touchdown.
“It was a learning experience,” McDonald said of spring training. “It was a new offense, a new defense, I thought we learned a lot. We became acclimated to the system, and it was really nice. Today, it was a good competition between the offense and defense. There were a lot of rivalries, a lot of friendships. It was nice to sling the ball around with live looks.”
The Warriors also have cobbled together an offensive line under Mark Weber, who was hired in January.
“He did a really good job throughout spring ball,” guard J.R. Hensley said. “It was tough. A new coach. A new way of doing things. Everybody has to adjust. … He was patient with us. I think our guys really responded to that. … Relationships don’t happen overnight. Rome wasn’t built in a day. There were things we had to do, an adjustment period. But by the end of it, we all came together.”
Corey Batoon, who was hired as defensive coordinator in December, implemented a multi-look approach that includes odd and even fronts, and sub-packages involving rovers or nickelbacks. The defense made several big plays on Saturday. Power back Kaiwi Chung was stopped on a fourth-and-1 rush. Defensive lineman Zeno Choi and linebacker Penei Pavihi made sacks. And Kalen Hicks, who made the move from rover to safety, intercepted a McDonald pass and delivered two big hits.
“It was a good day,” Choi said. “We adjusted to this defense very well, especially with all the fronts and movements we have. I can’t wait until what’s next in store for us.”
Hicks has made a full recovery from an ACL injury he suffered in high school and then aggravated as a UH freshman in 2016. Hicks has practiced with the first-team defense this spring. Two weeks ago, without fanfare or an elaborate presentation, Hicks was awarded a football scholarship.
“I finally got what I came for,” Hicks said. “There’s still a lot of work to do. I can’t get complacent.”