Pressure is snapping a football in a tight situation.

Added pressure is snapping when a security deposit might be on the line.

Every day, University of Hawaii punter-kicker Matthew Shipley, holder-kicker Ben Falck and long-snapper Solomon Landrum extend their workouts to their Honolulu home.

“Sometimes, we’ll be in the kitchen and (Landrum) will send me some snaps,” Shipley said.

The hallway also is a preferred training ground. “We’ll get a ball out and work on our ball spins in the middle of the day or at night when everybody’s in there,” Landrum said.

Shipley and Falck, who is competing with Jake Farrell for the holder’s job, are sure-handed. Falck’s 6-foot-6 frame makes him an easy target. Broken windows or lamps are no longer a concern. “There are things they do in that house that gives them extra practice time,” special teams coordinator Thomas Sheffield said.

Landrum, who was at Mississippi for three semesters, joined the Warriors this month. After Landrum entered the transfer portal following Ole Miss’ spring game, he and Sheffield reconnected. Last year, Sheffield, who was a Nevada assistant coach at the time, recruited Landrum. But Landrum, who grew up in Hattiesburg, Miss., decided to stay close to home.

“When he went into the portal, I went after him,” Sheffield said.

A roster spot had opened when Wyatt Tucker, who was UH’s snapper the past three seasons, left the team because of personal reasons. UH coach Timmy Chang and Sheffield offered Landrum a scholarship but no guarantees of starting.

“I wanted him to understand, and I’ve told him this over and over again, he’s got to compete, and he’s got to earn that position,” Sheffield said. “I’m just not going to give it to him.”

Scotty Atkinson, who transferred from College of San Mateo in January, and tight end Kamuela Borden also are considerations as snappers. Borden’s older brothers — Kawika and Noah — were UH long-snappers.

In a full-circle possibility, Landrum was Ole Miss’ long-snapper against Vanderbilt last year. UH and Vanderbilt open the 2022 season on Aug. 27.

Good glove work

For offensive lineman Eliki Tanuvasa, the glove comes off when he prepares for the rough-and-tumble role of center.

He wears gloves when he plays guard, but then takes off his right glove as the center, allowing a better grip. At his previous school, Eastern Illinois, even wearing one glove was discouraged during practices.

“It was a mental thing,” Tanuvasa said of the Panthers’ mind-over-matter approach to practicing in adverse weather conditions.

The Eastern Illinois linemen were not permitted sleeves or long pants when they practiced in the chill. “It got into the 10s,” Tanuvasa said. “Probably the coldest was negative-2, negative-3. It was crazy.”

After being named to the FCS Freshman All-America team in 2018, the Saint Louis School graduate transferred to UH. Tanuvasa wanted to come home to help his father, who was battling an illness. Erick Tanuvasa has returned to good health.

Eliki Tanuvasa has worked his way into the starting rotation, moving between guard and center. He has been the No. 1 center in the first four practices of training camp.

Under the direction of strength/conditioning coordinator Kody Cooke, Tanuvasa has worked on hand-strengthening exercises. He has trained with fat-grip dumbbells and weighted bars. His goal is to perfect one-handed flips in which he will toss a 55-pound plate and catch it with one hand. “Not there yet,” he said, “but I’m trying to work my way up there”

For now, Tanuvasa is fulfilling his father’s vision.

‘I didn’t play anything really cool when I was a young kid,” Tanuvasa said. “My dad knew I was a center from day one. My first-ever football experience was snapping the ball. I’ve been doing it since I was in the third grade. Funny how my dad always knew I was going to be a center.”

Grass is greener

After two years of limited use, the grass appears to be greener on the practice field.

Players and observers have marveled about the condition of the grass field, where the Warriors conducted the first three practices of training camp. Saturday’s practice was at the Ching Complex, where most of the practices were conducted under head coach Todd Graham. Graham resigned in January.

With limited use — and wear and tear — the field is in the best shape since Hall of Fame groundskeeper George Toma re-sodded the area in 2001.

The Warriors also had to overcome the retirements of facility specialists Kyle Tengan and Gary Kaneshiro. Kelly Ong, a former Rainbow Wahine volleyball player, is in charge of maintaining the practice fields.