On the football field, Hawaii running back Miles Reed seeks openings. Off the field, he is viewed as a closer.

Reed, a second-year freshman, is considered one of the Rainbow Warriors’ most influential recruiting hosts. He is credited with hosting five prospects who eventually signed with UH.

“He might be one of the smallest guys on the team,” Warriors coach Nick Rolovich said of the 5-foot-8, 185-pound Reed, “but he has a powerful personality that is full of leadership skills.”

Reed arrived in Honolulu 13 months ago following his graduation from Centennial High in Corona, Calif. But he quickly embraced Hawaii’s culture, an affinity he shares with prospects on their recruiting visits.

“I try to make this team better any way I can,” said Reed, who welcomed serving as a UH ambassador. “I just show the island, everything that’s good about it. I keep it real with them. I don’t tell them anything that’s out of proportion. I just let them know if they’re going to come here, they have to be ready to work. They’re playing for a nice state with a beautiful tradition and beautiful people.”

In assigning hosts, Rolovich does not avoid pairing people who play the same position.

“Everybody on this team knows I’m going to out-recruit them every year,” Rolovich said. “So as long as they know that, what are they scared of?”

Mike Bass, a former Warriors running back, helped Reed prepare for UH.

“He was the reason I’m here,” Reed said of Bass, a Centennial alumnus. “He was my running backs coach.”

This year, the Warriors are employing a one-back, four-wide system similar to the offense they ran during Bass’ UH tenure. Reed said Bass offered tips on pass protection, back-side blocking, and “being a more efficient running back.” Reed’s skill set matches the run-and-shoot concepts.

“It fits a guy like me, a smaller back who can get behind blocks, and catch the ball out of the backfield on screen passes, and make some plays,” Reed said.

Reed redshirted in 2017, a difficult semester personally. His grandmother, Carrie Houston, died, and his father, Larry, suffered a heart attack. Reed and Houston were close. “She lived me with me all my life,” Reed said. “It’s tragic when something like that happens.”

He said his father’s health has improved.

Reed returned to California twice last year to tend to family matters. Reed said Rolovich and Jason Cvercko, the recruiting coordinator, encouraged him to spend as much time as he wanted with his family. But Reed said his grandmother would have wanted him to return to UH quickly. He said his signing with UH “was one of her happiest moments, I can tell you that.”

“She would want me to stay inspired and do what I have to do while I’m here,” Reed said.

Reed is part of a large rotation at running back. He said he has studied videos of two former Warriors with similar compact builds — Michael Brewster and Diocemy Saint Juste. Reed said both backs excelled in pass protection.

“I try to mimic that a lot,” Reed said of Saint Juste’s blocking skills. “I try to imitate his aggressiveness in attacking defenders when they’re trying to come on a blitz or catch the offense off guard.”

Rolovich said Reed is a “very good runner for us. He’s been very productive this fall. He appreciates Hawaii. He appreciates everything this university has to offer him. And he appreciates his teammates. I think that mentality can be infectious, and it helps bring the locker room tighter and tighter. He’s one of those guys.”