Two mornings ago, the Hawaii football team reached the expiration date on its offseason.

“When I left the house,” UH coach Nick Rolovich said of the Rainbow Warriors’ opening of training camp, “I hugged my wife and said, ‘I’ll see you at Christmas.’ ”

The Warriors reported to camp on Thursday, a day involving medical exams, orientation sessions and team meetings. The first practice was Friday morning at the grass field. Quarterback Cole McDonald conceded to restless anticipation leading to the two-hour workout.

“I was excited,” said McDonald, who entered atop the depth chart. “Stayed up late, didn’t go to bed.”

This is the fourth camp for McDonald, a junior who redshirted in 2016. Back then, McDonald said, “I remembered being a wide-eyed freshman all nervous for my first college snap. A lot has changed for me. Now, it’s back to business and how much we can escalate our game even further.”

The passing drills were divided into two groups. McDonald was the lead quarterback for one group. Quarterback Chevan Cordeiro, who maintained his freshman status after playing in only four games last season, directed the other squad.

“I spent most of my time with Chevan,” Rolovich said. “I didn’t get to see Cole’s reps because we did that two-spot deal. Not many mistakes with Chevan. He had a younger group, and I thought there were some throws that taught lessons to the younger receivers. He’s very strong in not getting frustrated.”

Cordeiro welcomed the mentorship role. “I had to coach more,” he said. “It was good for me to work on my leadership skills. We have to get on the same page as the young guys.”

The Warriors are seeking successors to slotback John Ursua, now with the Seattle Seahawks, and wideout Marcus Armstrong-Brown, who completed his UH eligibility.

Wideout Jared Smart, who has the edge at left wideout, and slotbacks Melquise Stovall and James Phillips participated in spring training after transferring from junior colleges in January. Rolovich said freshman receivers Lincoln Victor, Mekel Ealy and Chance Beyer were impressive in their debuts. ”There’s great effort coming from these guys,” said Rolovich, who also expects production from wideouts Jonah Panoke and Nick Mardner.

The passing game appeared to be crisp, due in part to the work from this summer’s player-run practices. “They threw a lot,” center Kohl Levao said of the quarterbacks. “I got my snaps in.”

Levao joined the Warriors in July 2018 after transferring from City College of San Francisco. He started at right tackle for the first 10 games. After a bye, he moved to center for the final two games of the regular season and the SoFi Hawaii Bowl. At center, Levao helps control the Warriors’ inside attack, particularly against odd-man fronts. Levao, who is 6-6, has lost more than 20 pounds and now weighs 330.

“I had to put in some work this summer,” Levao said. “It was time to get right with the season.”

This will be a comeback of sorts for linebacker Jeremiah Pritchard, who redshirted as a junior in 2018. Despite sitting out the regular season, he played in the Hawaii Bowl while maintaining his redshirt season. Pritchard can align at several inside-linebacker spots in the Warriors’ 4-2-5 scheme.

“I had a couple bumps in the road last year, and I had to redshirt,” Pritchard said. “I’m feeling healthy. I’m feeling good about this defense, good about this team, good about this season.”

As a redshirt, Pritchard filled several roles in practice, from aligning as a linebacker against the starting offense, or setting up as a running back or fullback in scrimmage-like sessions.

“It was all fun for me,” Pritchard said. “Football is fun for me.”

Rolovich said Pritchard is comparable to former Warriors linebacker Pisa Tinoisamoa in personality.

“Jeremiah is outgoing, he’s able to talk to anybody,” Rolovich said. “That is one of the tools that I think can be very valuable to him as a leader.”

After the final post-practice sprint, several players, including McDonald, stayed to work on extra throws. Cordeiro skipped the training-table meal to shower and head to his morning class … in yoga. “I’ll do anything that helps,” Cordeiro said.