SALT LAKE CITY >> It did not matter that the mercury was in the mid-50s or that the University of Hawaii football team had arrived only hours earlier in the Beehive State.
It was Thursday, and that meant the Rainbow Warriors would undergo a routine walk-through session. The 90-minute workout on East High’s artificial surface also was not a reprieve from offensive line coach Mark Weber’s technique-based guidance.
“That’s what we have to coach every day, every time,” said Weber, whose Warriors play Brigham Young in a nonconference game Saturday at LaVell Edwards Stadium. “A walk-through is not just alignment, assignment. We also can get some technique work out of it.”
It is the attention to detail, fundamentals and emotion that have contributed to the offensive line’s improved discipline, behavior and success.
Through the first seven games last year, the offensive line committed 24 penalties, including eight holding penalties and six 15-yard violations. This season, the unit has been penalized 12 times, including five for holding. They have not been assessed a personal foul or unsportsmanlike penalty.
“It’s discipline,” center Taaga Tuulima said. “Coach (Rolovich) always preaches putting the mission first. We really took that to heart. It’s all about winning. Penalties don’t help.”
J.R. Hensley, the starting left guard and co-captain, said: “We’ve got guys who are locked in and know those personal fouls can hurt us exponentially, so we’re trying as hard as we can to stay locked in all four quarters or more.”
Early last season, the UH blockers too often were caught holding or placing their hands improperly on a defender’s face or helmet.
Weber and offensive coordinator Brian Smith have stressed better footwork as the foundation for proper blocking.
“If you block with your feet, you’re not going to get holding penalties,” Weber said. “If they reach and they’re leaving their feet behind, they’re going to have a chance to get holding penalties. One reason they’re executing at a high level is they’re very fundamentally sound. And that also eliminates penalties.”
Weber, who was hired in January, has coached at several places during a three-decade career. At each new stop, he did not bring along a rear-view mirror.
“I didn’t even talk about last year,” Weber said of his orientation meeting with the UH linemen. “I don’t really know. I wasn’t here. It’s not fair to talk about it. It’s not fair for me to put that on those kids. It’s just come out and do my thing as it fits into the program, into the scheme of things that (Smith) and Rolo want.”
Weber has modified his approach to match the Warriors’ hybrid offense that meshes the run-and-shoot and run-pass option.
“There are a lot of ways to skin a cat,” Weber said. “If you can get 10 line coaches out here, they’ll all do things differently. But it’s what you believe in, and what shows up on film, then you know if the drills are good or bad. It took a lot of reps for the guys who had been here to try to get them going toward the direction we wanted to go with it. Then you get the new guys, and they’re all a clean slate. It’s a really good mixture, to be honest.”
Weber said the two freshman starters — left tackle Ilm Manning and right guard Solo Vaipulu — and right tackle Kohl Levao, who transferred from City College of San Francisco in July, are “football junkies.” Weber praised Hensley, who played in 17 games the previous two seasons, for adjusting to the new style.
“Whatever we did last year is erased,” Hensley said. “We don’t talk about it. We miss the guys who were involved. But other than that, it is what it is. We don’t look back at the past. This is a different team full of different things we’re shooting for — different goals — so one of them is fewer penalties.”
