When Jerry Glanville was the Hawaii football team’s defensive coordinator in 2005 and 2006, every practice he had to pl0t against the Warriors’ run-and-shoot offense.

In the four-wide offense, Glanville mused, “a tight end was not a position, it was a physical condition.”

Now, after a six-month hiatus from the Rainbow Warriors’ offense, the tight end position will again be included in the playbook this spring training and, most likely, for the 2025 season. It also means six candidates are reapplying for the position during spring practices.

“We have a bright future for the offense with the tight end,” said Matthew Bailiff, who portrayed the opposing team’s tight end during practices last fall. “We can start doing more stuff, be more versatile.”

Head coach Timmy Chang, who moonlights as the offensive play-caller, has insisted the run-and-shoot — a read-and-attack scheme that bases routes on defensive coverages — remains as the Warriors’ foundation. But Chang said several tweaks and wrinkles, such as run-pass options and employing a tight end, enhance the run-and-shoot principles.

The tight end has been an important part of the Warriors’ Division I history. Jerry “Snake” Scanlan, Dave Barbour and Kent Untermann provided extra blocking for Dick Tomey’s UH teams. Ron Hall, the most successful of the UH tight ends, played nine NFL seasons. Theo Adams became a trivia answer — who was UH’s last tight end? — after Bob Wagner hired offensive coordinator Paul Johnson to implement the triple option in 1987. Johnson’s scheme used slotbacks instead of tight ends.

In 1996, new UH head coach Fred vonAppen installed the West Coast offense that utilized a tight end. After being hired as VonAppen’s successor in 1999, June Jones installed a version of the run-and-shoot that he co-created with Mouse Davis. When Jones departed for SMU in 2008, head coach Greg McMackin empowered Ron Lee and Nick Rolovich to call the run-and-shoot plays.

After McMackin “retired” at the end of the 2011 season, Norm Chow brought back the West Coast offense and the tight end position. One of Chow’s first hires was tight ends coach Phil Rauscher. Four years later, Chow was gone and so, too, was the tight end position. Rolovich, who was hired as head coach in 2016, used a hybrid offense for two years, then went with the run-and-shoot beginning in 2018. In Rolovich’s version, an H-back or fullback often was used as an extra blocker.

The hiring of Todd Graham in 2020 revived the tight end position again. Caleb Phillips, who played linebacker at Stanford, transferred to UH with the intent of playing tight end. After replacing Graham in 2022, Timmy Chang kept the tight end as part of his hybrid offense. Phillips was named to the 2022 All-Mountain West first team.

Chang went to the run-and-shoot when he took over play-calling in 2023 and then decided to employ the tight end in specific situations last spring. But while Chang was a run-and-shoot quarterback at Saint Louis School and UH, his coaching experience was mostly with run-pass options and the Air Raid. At Nevada, he coached tight ends and receivers.

Entering the 2024 training camp, the Warriors scrapped the tight end package from the offense. Some tight ends moved to defense. Devon Tauaefa became a wideout.

But late last season, the Warriors began to employ an extra blocker in short-yardage situations. Offensive tackle Dean Briski aligned as a tight end. Tauaefa played closer to the linemen. It was a tweak that made sense. Running backs coach Anthony Arceneaux, who recently was promoted to offensive coordinator, also has a background in the Air Raid, which employs a tight end.

This spring training, UH released a roster that featured six tight ends. “It’s good to be back,” Tauaefa said.

At 6 feet 4, Tauaefa has gained 6 pounds and now weighs 206. “When they got rid of the tight end, they didn’t take away my goal of gaining weight,” he said. “Now that they brought it back, I’m back at it. It’s an eating thing.”

He said he loads up on starches — pasta, bread and white rice. He also has maintained his speed (4.5 seconds over 40 yards) while improving his blocking and pass catching. He participates in the player-run passing sessions on Saturdays.

As a high school running back and linebacker, Bailiff embraces being able to block.

“Hitting is mostly a mentality,” he said. “Growing up playing linebacker mostly, just hitting is part of football. It’s a physical sport that’s a lot of fun. I love being physical.”

Frank Abreu, who signed with UH in February 2024 but delayed his enrollment until last month, spent his grayshirt year lifting weights and training under former Warrior Kenny Patton, now a speed and agility coach. “I owe a lot to him,” Abreu said of Patton.

Abreu was a receiver at Kamehameha-Maui but recruited to play tight end. When that position was removed last summer, Abreu prepared to be a receiver or defensive end. “Any way to get on the field,” said Abreu, who is 6-4 and 215 pounds. He said his goal is to reach 235 pounds.

Abreu also is carrying on the family legacy as the third family member to play for the Warriors. He also is the 33rd Frank Abreu in his family. Most go by their middle name, but Abreu, whose middle name is Kahoa, prefers to be called Frank Abreu.

If he were to have a son, “he would be Frank Abreu,” he said. And a girl? “Frankie,” he said.