Warriors take the lead in summer football workouts

On a rainy, windy and miserable day, the University of Hawaii football players worked on their future.

It was a PRP — player-run practice — and the Rainbow Warriors worked out without coaching supervision at the Ching Athletic Complex.

On this day, attendance was nearly perfect. The exception was quarterback Jeremy Moussa, who enrolled at UH in January after fulfilling requirements for a high school diploma. Moussa was excused to travel to California to participate in today’s Eleanor Roosevelt High graduation ceremony. He will be back at UH this weekend.

Other than graduation or a family emergency, the Warriors have committed to the extracurricular work in advance of the July 26 opening of training camp.

“We have to work every day,” slotback Cedric Byrd said. “It doesn’t stop.”

The players worked on routes, coverages and, mostly, being in sync. Quarterback Chevan Cordeiro, who graduated from Saint Louis School on Saturday, was part of the rotation in 7-on-7 drills during Tuesday’s PRP.

“I got to learn new things with new people,” said Cordeiro, who was the state’s offensive player of the year last season. “I got to bond with them.”

Cole McDonald, who took the No. 1 reps in spring training, has offered tips to Cordeiro and Moussa. “I want to help them,” said McDonald, who will be a third-year sophomore in the fall. “I was once there. I know how it feels.”

McDonald recalled his adjustment to Division I football.

“It’s faster,” McDonald said. “It’s different coverages. It’s a big learning curve. Just the speed of the game. In high school, it’s more like, ‘how athletic are you?’ College is strategic. It’s adapting to it.”

The Warriors resurrected the run-and-shoot offense this spring after employing hybrid schemes the previous two years. Cordeiro flourished in Saint Louis’ version of the run-and-shoot in 2017. To prepare for college competition, Cordeiro gained about 20 pounds and now weighs 190 on a 6-foot-plus frame.

“I got way stronger from last year,” Cordeiro said. “I got faster, too.”

McDonald also has embraced the run-and-shoot, which will allow him to utilize his passing skills. And while the Warriors made progress in the spring, according to McDonald, they are thirsting for more.

“We’re bringing the juice,” McDonald said of the player-run practices. “We’re excited to be out here. But we’re going with the mentality we haven’t arrived. The effort we put in last year got us to 3-9. We’re going to have to take it to the next level. … Until you win games, it means nothing.”

The workouts appear to have helped the passing game, particularly the way the quarterbacks and receivers are reading and then attacking coverages.

“This is going to help us in the long run,” McDonald said. “The more you can get out here and throw, the better it’s going to be.”

Of the workouts, Byrd said: “It’s really what the people don’t see. They don’t see the grind. Rainy days, ugly days. It’s what you do when people aren’t looking. That’s what counts.”