This coming football season, the Hawaii football team is expected to be the NCAA’s most frequent flier, with five road trips totaling 28,102 miles.

The Rainbow Warriors also might be the preseason mileage leader after conducting three of their past four practices at off-campus sites.

“It’s good to change locations every once in a while,” safety Ikem Okeke said following the Warriors’ two-hour practice at Punahou School.

Once again, the Warriors were forced to relocate because of the threat of inclement weather and on-going renovations to the school’s Ching Athletic Complex, which sports an artificial surface. The Warriors had feared damaging their grass field if they practiced during a rainstorm.

“It was good to practice out there,” quarterback Cole McDonald said of the synthetic surface at Punahou’s Alexander Field. “It saves our field a little bit, gets it a little greener, patches it up a little bit.”

Defensive coordinator Corey Batoon noted practicing at different sites, in a small way, helps prepare the Warriors for road trips.

“The way we travel, young guys have to get used to practicing on the road at different venues,” Batoon said. “That’s been really good.”

Even for the short trips the past few days, Batoon said, “there are a lot of moving parts. Some kids don’t understand it. They can’t function when it’s not the same. We break them out of the habit really quick here.”

Head coach Nick Rolovich said his team has adapted to several situations. “We’re probably one of the only schools that practices at different high schools throughout the year,” Rolovich said. “That’s how it’s always been. It’s pretty nice to be around a team that understands that.”

The Warriors also are the only Mountain West member that travels on commercial flights between Hawaii and the mainland.

“I tell coaches on the mainland how we travel,” Rolovich said, “and they say, ‘you take 70 guys through an airport?’ Every other week we do that.”

Tuesday’s practice enabled the Warriors to prepare for a season in which all their games will be played on artificial surfaces.

“We have to get some work in on (artificial) turf fields, and actually feeling it and breaking on turf,” Okeke said.

McDonald declared it “awesome” to have practiced at Saint Louis School, Punahou and Aloha Stadium the past week.

“It’s nice getting into different environments,” McDonald said. “We’re a team that travels a lot. We practice in different environments. Anywhere you are, any field you’re on, you have to handle business.”

Defensive end Jonah Laulu marveled at Tuesday’s practice facility.

“Punahou is really pretty,” Laulu said. “There’s a hill by the field. It looks like a place just to sit down. That’s what I thought when I first saw it. It makes my high school look bad.”