On the first practice day of the University of Hawaii football team’s training camp:

>> the competition for the starting quarterback’s job was launched;

>> the offensive line began to take shape;

>> and all signs point to former UH assistant coach Jeff Reinebold returning to the Warriors as director of player development.

A non-coaching spot on head coach Timmy Chang’s staff was vacated when Derek Faavi resigned to accept an offensive analyst’s position at USC. Reinebold coached the Warriors’ defensive line in 2006 and 2007, and served as an influential talent evaluator. He was UH’s point recruiter in signing defensive linemen Josh Leonard and Vaughn Meatoga, offensive lineman Ray Hisatake, linebacker Francis Maka, and defensive backs Ryan Mouton, Myron Newberry, Gerard Lewis, Jacob Patek, and Erik Robinson. Reinebold was en route to Honolulu on Wednesday night.

The Warriors opened with a split practice divided into 95-minute sessions. Quarterbacks Joey Yellen, Jake Farrell and Connor Apo competed in the first session; Brayden Schager, Cammon Cooper and Armani Edden took snaps with the second group.

Chang, who was hired in January after Todd Graham resigned, said the groupings did not indicate the quarterbacks’ statuses. The quarterbacks will rotate between sessions until a depth chart is established after about two weeks of practices. Schager, who was 2-1 as freshman starter last year, transfers Yellen (Pittsburgh) and Cooper (Washington State), and Farrell, a former walk-on who threw three scoring passes in the spring game, are considered the leading candidates.

“We got a lot of reps in,” Yellen said of the practice format. “It was a lot of work in a short time.”

Chang reset the installation of the new offense — a hybrid of spread, run-pass option and run-and-shoot — to the first phase. “We’re hoping the repetition helps,” Chang said of building toward the Aug. 27 opener against Vanderbilt at the Ching Complex.

Farrell, who recently was awarded a scholarship, has been with the Warriors since July 2020. Schager was a true freshman last year. Cooper transferred to UH in mid-January, and competed in spring training. Yellen, who was the primary backup to 2022 NFL first-round pick Kenny Pickett, participated in Pittsburgh’s spring training before entering the NCAA transfer portal in April. He joined the Warriors in May.

Yellen expressed confidence in competing for the starting job. “If you asked any quarterback, they’d say that,” Yellen said. “If you’re not, what are you doing? You’ve got to be confident. You’ve got to feel you’re the right guy for the job. I think everybody should feel that way.”

The offensive line is forming with Western Illinois transfer Austin Hopp taking the majority of first-team reps at right tackle on Wednesday. Also getting extensive work were left tackle Ilm Manning, left guard Stephan Bernal-Wendt, center Eliki Tanuvasa and right guard Micah Vanterpool.

“I really like our offensive line group,” Chang said. “You’ve got different parts and pieces you can work with. They’re the veterans of the offense. It’s everybody else, in my opinion, who has to catch up.”

Hopp, who grew up in Minnetonka, Minn, was at Western Illinois for four years before deciding to transfer. (He did not play in 2020 because of the pandemic.)

“I looked for a different opportunity,” said Hopp, who is 6 feet 6 and 310 pounds. “I came from a small school. Just looking for an opportunity to compete at a higher level.”

Hopp played in all 13 games as a UH graduate student last year. An injury abbreviated his spring training. “I’m 100% for this season,” Hopp said.

Hopp acknowledged it was a “big change” relocating from the Midwest.

“But I’m so grateful for it,” he said. “Hawaii felt like that spot. When I talked to the coaching staff, I knew it was the place for me. … (The linemen) took me in, they accepted me. We’ve grown together in the time I’ve been here. I love these guys. They’re my brothers ‘til the end.”