The University of Hawaii starts football camp Sunday, and as far as first-year coach Nick Rolovich is concerned, that would be a fine time for the Manoa campus to be hit with either flood, fire, famine or pestilence.
The University of Hawaii starts football camp Sunday, and as far as first-year coach Nick Rolovich is concerned, that would be a fine time for the Manoa campus to be hit with either flood, fire, famine or pestilence.
Maybe all of the above.
“I can’t wait for something bad to happen for this team,” Rolovich said in Las Vegas at the Mountain West Conference’s Media Days. “How we respond to that will tell us how much progress we’ve made in the offseason.
“Do we start complaining or do we stick together and say, hey, we’re going to get through this.”
If losing builds character, the Rainbow Warriors – coming off a 3-10 season that saw the end of the Norm Chow era – should be up to the test.
After going winless in the Mountain West last season, the media picked Hawaii to finish last in the West Division, and no Rainbow Warriors received mention on the preseason all-conference team.
Undeterred, Rolovich laughed it up Wednesday in Sin City. He taught commissioner Craig Thompson how to use Pokemon Go, entered the Chubby Bunny Challenge – think multiple marshmallows, one mouth – talked Twitter and reminisced about balloon fights in spring practice.
“Everyone on the team really loves Coach Rolo … the things he doing, the positivity he brings and his message,” junior defensive back Daniel Lewis said in release.
“The fact that he’s been in our shoes and knows how to be a Rainbow Warriors football player is a big deal to us,” senior quarterback Ikaika Woolsey said.
How far Rolovich, a former offensive coordinator at Nevada, is able to revive Hawaii’s offense largely will be dependent on the the development of Woolsey, or the emergence of another signal-caller.
There are seven quarterbacks listed on UH’s roster, but Woolsey enters Monday’s first practice as the only one with appreciable experience. He played in all 13 games last season, starting five, and threw for five touchdowns against six interceptions with a 49 percent completion percentage.
“We’re going to do what’s best for this football team to help win games,” Rolovich said of his offensive approach this season.
The Rainbow Warriors will go through the practice grind, including two-a-days, through Aug. 20, before leaving to kick off the college football season against California on Aug. 27 in Sydney, Australia.
According to Cal, approximately 70,000 tickets have been sold for the contest at ANZ Stadium.
If Hawaii doesn’t face the adversity Rolovich relishes against the Golden Bears, it’s likely to come the following Saturday when the Rainbow Warriors are halfway across the globe taking on Michigan, a probable top-10 team, in Ann Arbor.
“Now it’s real,” Rolovich said, turning his attention from fun and games to fall camp. “I’m ready for it. It’s time to go.”