Hawaii running back Joey Iosefa can sprint 40 yards in 4.6 seconds, throw a football half the length of a field while on the move, and bench press more than 425 pounds.

On Friday, Iosefa showed he also can be a vocal leader.

As the Rainbow Warriors prepared for an 11-on-11 session, Iosefa gathered the offense and then, in NC-17 language, delivered the sort of speech found in Al Pacino football movies.

"We’re not, by nature, a loud team," coach Norm Chow said, "and he knew we needed that leadership."

Iosefa was particularly miffed about the offense’s inconsistency. The offense struggled in a full-pads scrimmage on Wednesday, rebounded in team drills on Thursday, then appeared to be sluggish through the first three-quarters of Friday’s practice.

The Warriors were in shells — shoulder pads and helmets as the only protective equipment — on Friday.

"We should be excited coming out to practice, even if we don’t have (full) pads," Iosefa said. "That’s why we’re here. We’re here to play football. We should be excited to play football. That’s why I got mad."

Iosefa, a fifth-year senior from American Samoa, said he wants to erase the memory of last season’s 1-11 record.

"It starts in practice," Iosefa said. "Practice is not hard. Losing almost every game is hard."

In the two-minute drill, Iosefa powered his way for a long run. While running back to the sideline, Iosefa yelled: "Keep giving me the ball."

"That’s my mind-set and attitude," Iosefa said. "When things go rough, I want to step up. That’s what leaders do. They want the challenge. I want them to give me the ball. I’ll let everybody feed off my attitude."

Iosefa usually displays an upbeat personality with an easy smile. Iosefa and Beau Yap, who also rarely raises his voice, represented the Warriors at the Mountain West Conference’s football media days in Las Vegas last month.

"It was non-stop interviews that brought it out of him," Yap said of Iosefa’s new-found extroverted personality.

Iosefa said: "I learned from a few years beIng here, being a veteran, sometimes you have to see who the young guys are going to listen to. As a team leader, you have to be vocal. You have to set a good example. The attitude I have is when things are tough, that’s when leaders step up. I want to be a leader."

Chow agreed, noting: "He knows this is his last go-around. He wants to help this team."