Rigo Sanchez does field goals, extra points and punts and kicks off for the University of Hawaii.

What he doesn’t do is take it easy.

Forget what you might have heard about the leisurely, laid-back life of a kicker, Sanchez isn’t that guy. And doesn’t want to be.

Last season he was one of five players in the 127-member Division I of the NCAA to do all the kicking chores for his team.

So, this spring the new UH coaching staff, mindful of the 74 times he punted last season and NFL aspirations, asked him if he’d like to yield some of the workload and rest his leg his senior year. Sanchez not only declined with thanks, he came back this summer determined to do it all again, only better.

Which would be saying something for somebody who averaged 45.1 yards per punt, second best in the past 18 years at UH, made good on eight of 11 field-goal attempts (including four of 47 yards or more), converted 23 of 24 extra-point attempts and had 14 touchbacks.

“He is very competitive, very determined, very dedicated to what he is doing,”said Abel Hernandez, who has coached him since his sophomore year of high school in Hamilton, Calif.

That combination might have made Sanchez the most valuable gift Norm Chow bequeathed his successor, Nick Rolovich. “At first, I definitely didn’t know how good of a kid he was or how special of a human being he is,” Rolovich said. “But when you are around him, you see he really works at his craft. Every day he is trying to do something that makes himself better. He always wants to learn something. He is very sponge-like.”

When Sanchez first turned out for football in high school he was a soccer player turned receiver and defensive back. At least until the kickers, soccer friends, invited him to join them. When Hernandez glimpsed Sanchez kicking, “That was it,” Hernandez said.”I told him, ‘You’re our kicker now.’ He didn’t know what he was doing, but he has such power in his leg that he was kicking 40-yard (field goals).”

The next season he took up punting and would, in time, become accomplished at that as well. Throughout, Sanchez has attacked the facets of the kicking game with a relentless drive for improvement, even in the sweltering 100-plus-degree summers of the sugar-beet town of Hamilton. “He is out running, kicking, working out when nobody wants to be outside,” Hernandez said.

Sanchez has spent one-on-one time with former NFL kicker Michael Husted in San Diego in preparation for this season, with special attention to keeping his leg strong and fresh. “He’s a great kid who has really developed,” Husted said. “I’m really excited for him this season.”

Rolovich said, “You’d like to be able to find a way to save his leg somewhere. But he’s pretty special at punting, field goals and PATs. We’re kind of looking to see if we can’t bring another leg along to be the kickoff guy, because we’d like to have him strong the whole year. He’s a pretty special weapon.”

Sanchez said, “The coaches have talked to me about saving my leg, but I’m definitely looking forward to doing all (four facets) again. I like doing them all because it helps me stay warm throughout the game. I’ll do whatever I can to help the team.”

But, Sanchez said, “If it is up to me, I’d like to do all of it.”

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.