Bright is back after finishing his work

Once again, Hawaii football player Darius Bright is starting over.

Bright rejoined the Warriors late Monday after missing six practices last week to finish school assignments.

"He got his academic stuff squared away," head coach Norm Chow said. "We welcomed him back. But he has a lot of things he needs to do before he can get going."

It was the latest setback for Bright, who joined the Warriors in 2010 as a highly regarded receiver from City College of San Francisco. At 6 feet 5, Bright had the build and quickness to create mismatches against cornerbacks.

Bright redshirted that year, then incurred a series of obstacles last year. Two weeks before the start of the 2011 training camp, he sprained the big toe on his right foot during a charity kickball tournament.

"A dude tackled me," Bright said. "I was running to the base, he clipped me and I fell over. We play bare-footed. I flipped. It wasn’t like a turf toe, it was like messing my toe up."

He was suspended for the 2011 opener because of an arrest stemming from his involvement in a nightclub fight.

Then midway through the season, he suffered three torn ligaments in his right arm.

"Pray for me, man," Bright said after recounting his problems.

When Chow implemented the pro-set offense this spring, he moved Bright from wideout to tight end.

There was optimism entering training camp. Bright, now 257 pounds, was listed on the depth chart as the second tight end.

Last month, Bright said he discovered that he misread his schedule and did not realize he had missed a week of summer session. He left training camp last week to finish incomplete assignments.

"It was crunch time, and I had to get it done," Bright said.

In the meantime, Craig Cofer was named the starting tight end. Ryan Hall is the top H-back. Harold Moleni is considered the No. 3 tight end.

"(Bright) is a very talented young man," Chow said. "He just has to learn responsibility and to do things the right way."

Bright said: "I’m trying to stay focused and get the work done. It’s always good to start from the bottom."

He also said he does not worry about whether he is fulfilling other people’s expectations.

"Some people have enough time on their hands to worry about other people," Bright said. "That’s what they do. I just worry about what’s in front of me. That’s what I do."