In Hawaii coach Nick Rolovich’s view, a memorable football season begins with a forgettable past.

The Rainbow Warriors enter so-called Phase 2 — Rolovich’s fourth season as head coach — with depth, experience in all three areas, and all the full-time assistants back for the first time in 17 years.

But Rolovich said lingering too much on past accomplishments will not be helpful in today’s season opener against Arizona at Aloha Stadium.

“This is always a new team,” Rolovich said. “It’s always a new start. You can’t put too much on what we did last year. We take the good, we learn from the bad. Nothing we did last year matters (on) Saturday. What we do Saturday matters Saturday.”

The Warriors went 8-6 in 2018, their first winning record since 2010, and appeared in the Hawaii Bowl for the second time in three years under Rolovich. But the Warriors’ run-and-shoot offense, which was so disciplined and efficient during the regular season, imploded against Louisiana Tech’s fierce defense in the SoFi Hawaii Bowl.

Quarterback Cole McDonald noted the bitter aftertaste fueled the offseason’s conditioning program and player-run practices.

“You work so hard in the offseason to get to a bowl game,” McDonald said. “You get to a bowl game, and you go there and get your butt kicked. If you’re not upset or using that as motivation, you’ve got something wrong with you. If you’re OK with being that losing team, you shouldn’t be playing football, or even playing for Hawaii. Everybody here is locked in. If we lose, we take that to heart. We don’t ever want to feel that again.”

The Warriors honed their offensive and defensive schemes while adapting, without complaint, to the unavailability of an on-campus artificial surface during the Ching Athletic Complex’s renovation projects. Six times they practiced off campus, including four workouts at high schools.

McDonald is healthy after conquering ailments last year. The Warriors recruited speedy replacements for departing slotback John Ursua and wideout Marcus Armstrong-Brown. They also added depth to the defensive secondary.

“We’d better be ready for Phase 2, with the beginning of this schedule, the whole schedule, really,” Rolovich said, referring to opening with three consecutive Pac-12 opponents.

“We have to be the best form of ourselves we can be (on) Saturday,” Rolovich said. “As long as we play hard and try to play mistake free, that gives us, at least, the best chance to win.”

Of this year’s Warriors, Rolovich said: “I’m excited to get into game situations with this particular team. There are a lot of high-character guys who have a lot of qualities to help you win football games.”