This coming football season, Hawaii’s offense will receive help from the man upstairs.

Bo Graham, UH’s pass-game coordinator and running backs coach, will be in the coaches’ booth relaying observations to offensive coordinator G.J. Kinne on the sideline.

“I’ll be communicating with him what the defense is doing, formations, pressures, adjustments, and things of that nature,” Graham said. “I’ll be the eye in the sky, trying to paint the picture for the offense.”

Graham can draw from an extensive palette. As a running back and receiver at West Virginia, Graham learned Rich Rodriguez’s spread offense. With Calvin Magee as offensive coordinator, the Mountaineers employed a triple-option out of a spread formation, opening the way for quarterback runs.

At Tulsa, where Graham was on his father Todd Graham’s staff, offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn moved from a two-back set to incorporating a fullback, which provided the option of run-gap schemes out of the spread formation. At Arizona State, where the elder Graham was head coach for five seasons, offensive coordinator Mike Norvell added the Air Raid’s passing concepts. The hybrid scheme involved going from six-blocker protection to five, and expanding the running back’s role to include quick-rhythm and vertical routes.

Bo Graham said UH’s offense will be rooted in the run-and-shoot concepts the Warriors utilized the past two seasons, with the option of adding schemes for the backs.

“Bo has been the right-hand man with Gus Malzahn, Chad Morris, Mike Norvell — some of the best offensive minds,” said Todd Graham, who was hired as UH’s head coach in January.

Bo Graham said the offensive coaches want to use pieces of schemes cobbled through the years. “It’s kind of a collective influence of all those guys put together,” Graham said.

Graham grew up in Mesquite, Texas, just north of Dallas, where Pee Wee games have cheerleaders and draw large crowds. It is where Graham, the son of a coach whom he calls “Coach” more than he does “Dad,” learned the sport.

“I grew up in a family where I might have had 18 cousins, and 16 of them were male, and a lot of them were my age,” Graham said. “There was a lot of front-yard football.”

It was when Graham was 9, that the pastime became a passion. “Coach drove me down to a Texas A&M game,” Graham recalled. “I saw the pageantry and just the energy that day. It was the first time I had been to a college football game. I just realized this is what I wanted to do.”

Graham had played several sports, earning the nickname “Bo” after football/baseball star Bo Jackson, but he eventually focused on “football because I love the sport. That’s what I chose to do.”

When he wasn’t playing, he helped his father, beginning as a ball boy and then advancing to strength/conditioning training. Graham initially learned training techniques from Yancy McKnight, now Texas’ strength/conditioning coordinator. When an injury ended his playing career at West Virginia, Graham worked in a training capacity while pursuing a degree in exercise sports science.

“I grew up training, always believed in training, always enjoyed that,” he said. “Any time I had a summer job, that’s what I did. … Two days after I walked the stage (at the graduation ceremony), that next Monday morning, I was in the weight room starting work.”

Graham remained interested in strength and conditioning as he progressed as an offensive coach. He said the emphasis on explosive lifts, such as power cleans, agility drills, and straight-away sprints will help the Warriors keep pace with the planned fast-tempo offense.

For now, Graham spends his rare free time with his best friend, Chief, an English bulldog who turns 4 in October.

“He really loves it here,” Graham said. “Even though he’s a little bit overweight, he thinks he can swim like a fish. I take him to the beach and he goes straight to the ocean. He’s living the dream out here. He’s a ball of energy. He never has a bad day.”