Tulimasealii ready to show off after dinged last season

The silver lining of an untimely injury? You get to meet new people.

After going down with a partially torn right MCL close to this time last year, Hawaii defensive end Kennedy Tulimasealii was bothered by the ailment most of UH’s 2013 season.

A year removed, the sophomore from Waianae feels like a new man, and has something to smile about in this fall camp.

"Yeah, I feel 100 percent right now. Good to go," Tulimasealii said on Tuesday. "The trainers, the rehabilitation people, they did what they needed to do … I made new friends, and I’m 100 percent right now, ready to go to start this season off well and with a bang."

Tulimasealii is aligned at starting left end in UH’s new 3-4 base scheme, but he also has a part to play up front in alternative packages with four or two D-linemen.

The 6-foot-1, 280-pound Tulimasealii, a three-time Honolulu Star-Advertiser All-State first-team pick, has been one of the biggest recruiting gets of coach Norm Chow’s three-year tenure. He justifiably began his career with plenty of hype. Before his injury while practicing at Joint Base Pearl Harbor Hickam in 2013, he was slated to start — adding to the disappointment when he went down following a one-on-one drill.

"Most definitely," he said. "I remember just getting hurt and finally just opening my eyes, seeing most of the coaches coming (over). Everybody around me was, like, quiet, you know? Like nothing I’d experienced. But I guess you can say that the bond with me and everybody else was so strong that when I got hurt … (I could see it was) sad that it happened."

He wound up missing only three games as a freshman despite the setback, and capped off the season strong with four solo tackles against Army, UH’s only win of the season.

"I think the injury stayed with him most of the year," defensive line coach Lewis Powell said. "And then when he’s finally healthy, last couple games of the year, he ended up starting and ended up doing really well, and showed up and was the regular Kennedy, smiling and having fun out on the field.

"You could tell he was kind of dinged up, he wasn’t going all out and wasn’t having fun. But now he’s out here having fun, he’s in it, and just have to keep continuing to push forward."

That has held true through the added challenge of a new base scheme, first implemented in the spring under new defensive coordinator Kevin Clune.

The new calls, in particular, for blitzes and other movements have been an area of strong improvement in the mind of the youngest starter on the line.

At Powell’s urging, it involves reps, reps and more reps, so the mind is conditioned to trigger action without a second thought.

"Main challenge is, I think it’s mental," Tulimasealii said. "Not physical or anything. We got physical. It’s just the mental reps that is needed. That’s basically it. Just the mental and just knowing where we have to go and where we have to be. A lot of running and a lot of movement in the front, but nothing we can’t do, you know."

Powell is eager to see what one of his best prospects can do with a clean slate. Observing Tulimasealii show some maturity and leadership at a young stage has only reinforced Powell’s confidence in him.

"He has a very high ceiling," Powell said. "He has a lot of ability and he’s going to continue to strive as one of our starters, and we can’t wait and I’m excited to see him play against Washington."