Chow instills discipline at UH

LAST IN A SERIES

What came first — the chicken or the Hawaii football team?

When it comes to wake-up calls, the Warriors have been early risers since the start of the conditioning program in January.

When some players had difficulty fitting the workouts with morning classes, first-year head coach Norm Chow came up with a workable solution. He moved up the start of the drills, to pre-dawn.

Miss a class? Report to school at 5 a.m. the next day — and then hold a textbook over your head for half an hour.

When a player missed some meetings, he was cut. After an emphatic appeal, he was reinstated, but put on probationary status for the rest of the semester.

This isn’t your father’s football team anymore. On second thought, maybe it is.

Chow was raised to be responsible, and he made sure the same expectations were placed on his children and players.

"You’re taught that your whole life, to be accountable for your actions," Chow said.

It was why the Warriors were instructed to keep their lockers in a specific order, even though the locker room is restricted to players, coaches and football-related staff members. There are random inspections, with violations printed on cards placed in a player’s locker.

Chow demands the same discipline of himself and his coaches.

While the strict standards appear to have little to do with football, Chow insisted they have everything to do with building a winning program.

"It’s all about responsibility, accountability and trusting one another," Chow said. "When it’s the third quarter, I have to trust you to make sure you do the right thing. And you have to trust that I’ll do the right thing. Everything matters."

The practice is not unique on Manoa’s lower campus. Fred vonAppen used to scold players for littering in the locker room or stepping on the athletic complex’s grass areas to bypass walkways.

June Jones would send home players for missing curfews on the road. Greg McMackin implemented a no-hazing policy by pairing freshmen with seniors.

"It’s our job to set a good example," Chow said.

This past Saturday, the players and coaches sanded and cleaned the football locker room ahead of the painting project during the upcoming spring break.

"It was a chance to bond as a team," Chow said. "We wanted to help make sure we have a nice place to call home."

Spring training opens this week with practices on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.