Hawaii’s kickoff coverage team has been good enough to merit its own theme song

Things are going so well the Hawaii football team’s kickoff unit has its own theme song.

In regular-season practices this year, players begin jumping as the chant of “whoa oh-oh-oh-oh, whoa oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh …” blares from a portable speaker. “Kernkraft 400” signals the start of the Rainbow Warriors’ kickoff session.

The same techno song is played before the Warriors kick off at Aloha Stadium.

“It was something (the players) decided they wanted to play,” special teams coordinator Michael Ghobrial said. “One of the things we pride ourselves on is not doing anything different in the game and just trusting your preparation.”

Ghobrial noted a preparation routine — video reviews, scouting reports, field work and, yes, even lead-in music — “really does ring a bell and triggers your mind to be ready to go collision and make tackles.”

Ghobrial said he gave his players a list of musical choices.

“They liked the instrumental part of it,” Ghobrial said of the Zombie Nation song that originally was released in 1999. “They could really make their own words to it, if they wanted.”

Kalen Hicks, who has made five tackles on kickoff coverage, said the song “brings you back to the practice mode. Everything you do in practice, you have to translate to the game. It’s like simulation, really.”

Linebacker Paul Scott added: “It definitely motivates us. It fires us up.”

In the past two games, the Warriors have contained opponents to an average of 21.0 yards per kickoff return.

“Kickoff is my favorite,” said Scott, who plays on four special-team units. “It’s an opportunity to be physical. It’s will versus will. It’s an opportunity to really go down there and show your power.”

At the team’s awards banquet, Scott was named the top specialist.

Scott, a second-year freshman, has volunteered for kickoff units dating to his years as a standout linebacker at McClymonds High in Oakland, Calif.

“It’s fun,” Scott said. “You gotta love it.”

Ghobrial said special-teams play is an extension of offensive and defensive concepts.

“Now, obviously, there are different situations from special teams to offense or defense,” Ghobrial said. “But the familiarity with the verbiage in which we tackle … and the block recognition is pretty consistent. The guys are able to get better at those tools throughout practice even when it’s not a special-teams period.”

Hicks is a safety on both defense and kickoffs. His interchangeable skills helped him make a breakaway-saving tackle on a UNLV returner.

“It was a middle return,” Hicks recalled. “He shot through the gap. I was the safety. I was the last resort. I had to make the open-field tackle, and I got him down. It was a big play, and it gave us some momentum.”

This season, 21 players have made tackles on kickoff coverage. Each is entered in the contest for the “Golden Gloves” that are awarded to the top specialist after a game that UH wins. The winner then signs the gloves. The gold-colored fighting gloves can be tied together and draped around the winner’s neck. After a week, the gloves are presented to the next winner.

“We were on that four-game losing streak, and nobody had the gloves for a while,” safety Ikem Okeke said. “It was a weird feeling.”

The victory over UNLV ended the losing streak, and Okeke was presented with the gloves for the second time this season.

“Coach Ghobi brings a lot of energy,” Okeke said. “Our special teams meetings are something special.”