On football Saturdays, Nebraska fans paint the town red.

“Everything is red,” kicker Mauro Bondi said of Lincoln, Neb. “Everything is about red. The whole city revolves around the football team.”

On game day, 92,000-seat Memorial Stadium ranks third in the state in population.

“It’s always sold out,” Bondi said of the Cornhusker fans collectively known as the Red Sea. “Win or lose, they always come back.”

But last month, Bondi departed the Red Sea.

The Cornhuskers had changed the coaching staff. A new kicker was recruited. Bondi, whose role had diminished to kickoff specialist as a junior, sought a change.

“We had a great group of guys,” Bondi said of his Nebraska teammates. “The team was great. I wanted a new opportunity to do a little more than kickoffs. They were bringing in their own guy they liked. I didn’t see myself staying another year and just doing kickoffs.”

The Warriors, in turn, were in search of a successor to Tyler Hadden, who completed his UH eligibility at the end of the 2014 season. Jake Cookus, UH’s new special teams coordinator, heard about a wizard of ahs at One On One Kicking camps. Bondi already had requested — and received — a release from Nebraska.

“I liked Coach Cookus,” Bondi said. “I liked his enthusiasm. I liked how he told me I needed to come (to Hawaii), and I had a great opportunity in front of me. I can’t say enough about Coach (Norm) Chow. He has experience. He knows what he’s doing.”

Bondi earned a bachelor’s degree, enabling him to transfer without redshirting. He is pursuing a master’s degree at UH.

“You create a a bond with a lot of different guys, (and) having to leave sucks,” Bondi said. “But that’s life, and you move on. I’ve already created a lot of friendships here. I love it here.”

Bondi, who was raised in Boca Raton, Fla., returns to an oceanside city. In Nebraska, many teammates had never seen an ocean. He did not pack the sweaters, hoodies, sweatpants and boots he wore “six months out of the year.” He recalled a game in Wisconsin in which temperatures were in single digits.

“It’s hard when you kick in the cold,” he said. “You can’t feel your feet. The ball gets hard. But it’s good to have that experience. I feel I can kick in any kind of weather.”

Cookus said Bondi can “boom it. We’ll see what he does. He calls himself the ‘bomb squad’ when he comes in there because he’s dropping bombs.”

Bondi said he has a kicking routine that involves back-tracking his steps to the starting point. He also works on visualization techniques.

“If you prepare during the week, when the time comes on Saturday, you’re ready to make your kicks,” Bondi said.