This summer, Hawaii football player Dee Maggitt worked on his flexibility.
He remains inflexible in being pushed aside.
The Warriors spent the past eight months seeking to add competition at cornerback. In the end, Maggitt, who will be a third-year sophomore, remained in the rotation.
"He’s the fourth corner," UH coach Norm Chow said. "He’s had a really nice camp."
Maggitt, who backs up Mike Edwards on the left side, received a check list during his exit interview in the spring.
"They wanted me to come back heavier, more physical, arrogant," Maggitt said. "As a corner, that’s a good thing. I wouldn’t say I was too nice, but if you look at Mike Edwards’ style and my style, they were different. I took from that. I wanted to be more aggressive, like Mike Edwards."
Maggitt said he spent a month this summer in Washington state, where he trained with UH safety Bubba Poueu-Luna. He worked on weight-training, speed drills and flexibility. Both bought yoga mats.
When Maggitt returned to Hawaii, he practiced tai chi.
"Coach TK wanted me to work on my man coverage, shuffling and not opening up," Maggitt said of instructions from defensive coordinator Thom Kaumeyer. "I wanted to get my hips more flexible so I could play in this system."
Maggitt said the slow movements of tai chi are more difficult to perform than they appear.
"It’s about balance," Maggitt said, "and getting your mind and hips in the same line."
Daronte’ Jones, who coaches the secondary, said Maggitt has fulfilled the requests.
"He took our exit interview to heart," Jones said. "He definitely improved from the spring. He came back a little thicker. He hit the weights. He came back ready to play."
Maggitt said: "Coach TK told us, straight up, the best players are going to play. It doesn’t matter who recruited them. I took it as a challenge."
