Free time is over. Chow Time begins for real today

Hawaii football coach Norm Chow measures time in Saturdays.

Now that training camp is open, Chow figures he will not have a free Saturday until February.

Linebacker Brenden Daley keeps time the modern way.

Norm Chow:
New rules: No long
hair, beards or earrings

"I had the countdown (to the start of training camp) on my phone," said Daley, who spent six weeks training in California this summer. "It would keep me accountable while I was (in California)."

Free time expired on Wednesday, with 100 players checking into the dormitories and attending orientation sessions. The Warriors’ first training-camp practice is this afternoon.

"I’m excited," said Chow, who begins his 43rd training camp and first as the Warriors’ head coach. "The whole staff is excited."

Chow has learned that only part of his duties are on the field. Since being hired in December, he assembled a staff, dealt with such matters as fertilizer purchases for the practice field, and imposed a list of no-nos: No long hair, no beards, no earrings, no tardiness.

"Coach seems like a no-nonsense guy," said tight end Ryan Hall, who transferred from Duke after earning his bachelor’s degree this past semester. "I’m kind of used to that."

Daley said the rules are "stricter, but it’s better for us. It definitely has everyone in line. It definitely changes the demeanor on the team. It’s been all around good for us. I’m excited to see what they have in store for us."

The past six years, the Warriors stayed in the two dance studios at the athletic complex during training camp. This year, they will use the dormitories for the first half of training camp, then spend the next 10 days at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam.

Because of a recalculation of the value of a scholarship, the Warriors also will receive an increase in their monthly stipend.

"That’s nice," Daley said. "Coach Chow definitely reinvented the whole culture around here."

The UH coaches worked on finalizing the roster, which is expected to top out at 102 players. Defensive end Quenton Brown will not be in training camp. The Warriors still were awaiting word on whether cornerback Ronald Field of College of San Mateo met the requirements to play this season.

But it appears that cornerback Justin Turner, who was at Michigan as a freshman in 2010, will be allowed to join the Warriors. That gives the Warriors three cornerbacks who began their careers at BCS schools. Mike Edwards, who is beginning his second UH year, was at Tennessee in 2010. Tony Grimes, who transferred to UH in July, was at Mississippi.

The Warriors also added several walk-ons. Defensive end Dale Haretuku, 27, is a 2003 graduate of Tafuna High in American Samoa. He spent eight years in the Air Force, serving in South Korea, Texas and South Carolina. He chose to enroll at UH because his mother, who lives in American Samoa, works for an airline with weekly routes to Hawaii.

Haretuku has experienced a real boot camp. As for UH’s training camp, he said: "I think this will be pretty tough — mentally and physically, especially physically."