If the University of Hawaii submitted its offense for an ancestry DNA test, the likely result would be a pie chart with several slices.

The run-and-gun offense is like no other — and yet like all others.

“Throughout my time and experience,” said Bo Graham, who is expected to be named officially as the Rainbow Warriors’ offensive coordinator, “anything I’m doing is just a mixture of what I’ve learned from other people. I try to take the best ideas and put them together.”

The concoction will be shaped beginning Thursday, when the Warriors open spring training. “This spring, we’re getting back to fundamentals and the basics, and trying to lay more of a foundation going into this next season,” Graham said.

The Warriors were deprived of that preparation when the pandemic escalated a year ago. The 2020 spring practice was canceled, summer training was abbreviated, and training camp was delayed — twice — until it was whittled to about 40 hours of practice time ahead of the season opener. The Warriors had to learn a scaled-down version of the offense on the go, and several had to play catch-up on conditioning.

“We were off for 17 straight weeks where we were not training together,” Graham said. “One of the most important things in our program is how we train. A lot of what we do schematically in all three phases relies on our training. I felt last year a lot of guys were playing themselves into shape.”

But the Warriors are coming off a 5-4 season, their first under head coach Todd Graham, and have recently completed the speed-training segment of the offseason program. Todd Graham’s eldest son, who was instrumental in play-calling last year, including signaling plays from the sideline in the New Mexico Bowl, will take over the offense. The elder Graham will remain involved in the offense, defense and special teams.

Bo Graham said the run-and-gun is rooted in Texas high school football, where the triple option — dive, quarterback run and pitch — were the basic elements. Under Rich Rodriguez, whom Graham played under at West Virginia, plays were a reaction to reading a first-level defender, such as a defensive end. “It was all read,” Graham said. “We ran all screens on the perimeter. No RPOs (run-pass option), nothing like that.”

Eventually, the third option became a pass. The quarterback would read a linebacker, and if he came up, the pass would be thrown over him. And then the reads extended to safeties and corners as the pass routes deepened.

At Tulsa, under Todd Graham, the Golden Hurricane led the nation in total offense in 2007 and 2008. The hybrid concepts were expanded at Arizona State, where the balanced attack featured passing, running and passing after running. From the offense’s original zone-blocking base, pulls from guards and guard-tackle tandems were added. First-level defenders were blocked, opening for second- and third-level reads. “That opens up your menu as far as what kind of throws you can add on,” Bo Graham said.

UH’s version of the run-and-gun employs a versatile back to branch out as a receiver. There are power plays with two backs, a back serving as a lead blocker or pass protector, or an empty set with a back as a fifth receiver.

UH also is adding a tight end into the mix as an on-line blocker, a linebacker hunter on screens, or as a receiver. The Warriors signed two tight ends and moved Jonah Laulu from defensive end. “Just adding another blocking surface (tight end) forces the defense to defend another gap,” Graham said. “If we can establish a run game and demand more respect with a tight-end-type body, then we’re going to be throwing to wide-open receivers.”

The offense also features different tempos and methods. A play could be called based on a defensive alignment, or quarterback Chevan Cordeiro can choose from a menu of options, or the Warriors can run a set play.

“Sometimes you want to go fast, sometimes you want to go slow,” Graham said.

For the Warriors, according to Graham, it begins with offseason training and spring ball. “We’re going to operate off being efficient and operating as quickly as possible to take advantage of our conditioning,” he said.