The Hawaii football team will make a down payment on the 2018 season when about a dozen players sign National Letters of Intent on Wednesday.
For the opening of the three-day signing period, the Rainbow Warriors also will receive reconfirmations from prospects who committed the past February but delayed enrolling at UH until next month. Ryan Meskell, a placekicker who was placed on scholarship at the start of the fall semester, will count toward the 2018 recruiting class.
The 2018 class includes two quarterbacks — Chevan Cordeiro of Saint Louis School and Jeremy Moussa of Eleanor Roosevelt High in Chino, Calif. Cordeiro was named the Honolulu Star-Advertiser’s offensive player of the year after leading the Crusaders to the 2017 state title.
“No doubt,” Saint Louis coach Cal Lee said when asked if Cordeiro could continue his success at the college level. “I like everything about him. Besides all the ability to run and throw the ball, he’s a guy who listens and learns. And he executes. That’s the bottom line.”
Moussa told the Star-Advertiser he will graduate a semester early and join the Warriors in January. Moussa will participate in the offseason conditioning program and spring practice.
Eric Rooks, a 6-foot-3, 215-pound wideout, also will enroll at UH next month. Rooks is a 2017 graduate of De La Salle Institute in Chicago. He spent the past semester at The Taft School, a prep school in Connecticut. Rooks and his family visited UH the same weekend the Warriors were opening the 2017 season against UMass on the East Coast.
“I loved the family environment that Hawaii promotes,” Rooks said. “I was a big advocate of family environment before I went to Hawaii. That was part of my decision.”
Running back Khoury Bethley of Don Lugo High in Chino, Calif. said he will sign with the Warriors on Wednesday. Bethley recently received “Positive Athlete” recognition on CNN. The segment, introduced by former NFL receiver Hines Ward, told of Bethley fulfilling a promise to his mother to attend college. His mother died of brain cancer in 2005, when Bethley was 6.
Wednesday’s commitments also will include Saint Louis defensive back Kai Kaneshiro and receiver Jonah Panoke.
“He’s aggressive,” Lee said of Kaneshiro. “He’s got some skills. He can run, play man coverage (and) zone coverage. He has a natural kind of stuff. He has that football sense.”
Lee said Panoke has “talent, ability, everything.”
2 UH football coaches to resign
Defensive coordinator Legi Suiaunoa and receivers coach Kefense Hynson left the football program and join the Oregon State staff.
Suiaunoa will coach the defensive linemen and Hynson will coach the receivers. Jonathan Smith was hired as OSU’s head coach last month, replacing Gary Andersen, who resigned on Oct. 8.
Suiaunoa and Hynson were members of UH head coach Nick Rolovich’s initial staff. Rolovich was hired as Norm Chow’s successor in November 2015.
Suiaunoa, who coached the Rainbow Warriors’ defensive line in 2016, was promoted to defensive coordinator in February after Kevin Lempa resigned to accept a position at Michigan. This season, the Warriors were hindered because of injuries and eligibility issues. They are ranked 106th among 129 FBS teams in points allowed (33.9 per game) and 114th in total defense (458.8 yards per game).
Hynson was instrumental in the development of slotback John Ursua, who was among the nation’s leaders in receiving before suffering a season-ending knee injury.
Suiaunoa and Hynson are considered influential recruiters.
The Warriors will have to fill four positions on the coaching staff. Chris Naeole resigned as offensive line coach in October. The NCAA also approved a 10th full-time assistant coach’s position beginning in January.
The Warriors will be seeking their seventh defensive coordinator since 2013. Previous coordinators were Thom Kaumeyer (2012-2013), Kevin Klune (2014), Tom Mason (12 games in 2015), Abraham Elimimian (one game in 2015), Lempa (2015) and Suiaunoa
