Quotes from Spring Practice, Week 3 Day 2

About how he is paying his own tuition, fees, and housing now because UH did not have an available scholarship this Spring (he'll go on scholarship in August), Francis Maka said:
"You have to pay the price sometimes. It'll pay off in the end." (HA)


Praising Maka, JR said:
"He's got the explosiveness, the ability to get — what we call — short-quickness that all great pass-rushers have. Players who have the ability to snap their hips" — turn quickly — "are rare, and he has that ability." (HA)


Praising Maka, JJ said:
"He's coming on. He's going to be a real player. He's had a good camp. He's what we're looking for in a pass-rusher. He's quick and fast and works really hard." (HA)
Note: Maka is now the 2nd-team right DE and a starter in the "Okie" 3-3-5 defensive package.


Maka was raised in the Bay Area but:
"I love it here." (HA)


About wearing the same 98 that Purcell wore last season, Maka said:
"It's a pretty big number to fill. I watched his films. He's awesome." (HA)

Note: Maka wore 98 when he played at San Mateo College. His surname means "rock" in Tongan.


About the 12 people they have competing at RB, RB coach Wes Suan said:
"We have a lot of good guys, it makes them more competitive." (HSB)

"We've got a lot of numbers and a lot of good candidates to replace Nate and Reagan. We've got a lot of potential there." (HSB)


About how he has a chance at playing time, Mario Cox said:
"I see it as a fresh start in that everybody has an equal opportunity to get on the field." (HSB)


About his redshirt year this past year, Cox said:
"It was tough. I didn't really want to waste a year. I was just trying to keep my body in good shape to come out here and start the season. It started last fall." (HSB)


Praising Cox, JJ said:
"He's applied himself a lot better as a student and athlete. He's made all the workouts. ... Way better shape than last year, not even close. He's given himself a chance to make it." (HSB)


Praising Pilares along with Cox, JJ said:
"We're sorting them out. Mario's done some good things. Pilares is a good player and we have players coming in who are pretty good." (HSB)


Going from 250 to 240 now, hoping to get down to 230 pounds, Cox said:
"I knew I had to come in and get my weight down to be able to play at a good speed." (HSB)

"I wanted to work on my strength and keep my agility up. I wanted to keep my strength up because the linemen in college are pretty big so I wanted to be able to fight those guys off. What I want to do is just make sure my technique is down to I can be accountable and be reliable to my coach and my team." (HSB)


About his improvement in the classroom since he used his redshirt year to focus on Academics, Cox said:
"My freshman year I wasn't really aware about how all the tests go. Now it's pretty easy. I know I have to stay on top of my syllabus." (HSB)


About adjusting to weakside outside LB, Adam Leonard said:
"I'm making those early mistakes, but learning from it. I'm feeling real good about playing outside. I think it's kind of a good change for me. I get the opportunity to learn a new position and get some versatility. So I'm enjoying it." (HSB)


About how being on the weakside at LB in the 4-3 is different when he was inside in the 3-4:
"You get the opportunity to roam and put yourself in position to make plays. We've got two gaps and that's it. If they do this, it's this gap, if they go the other way, it's the other gap. It's easy to read and almost makes it look like a blitz, how fast we hit the holes. There's a lot of different stuff we can do from the 4-3, and the nickel package we got, so I'm just thankful for the opportunity to step up and make more plays." (HSB)


About how Pisa Tinoisamoa made a similar switch at UH to outside LB and had 20 tackles vs. Alabama, Leonard said:
"I heard he had 20 tackles against Alabama. I'm hoping I can do something like that one game." (HSB)


Happy that the NCAA eliminated the time-running changes they had last year, JJ said:
"I knew last year it didn't make much sense, so I'm glad somebody else realized it." (HSB)

Note: Just imagine what the UH offense would have done last season if each game had the 14 or more players it would have had without those rules...


Praising former CB Keao Monteilh, who is now at safety, CB Gerald Lewis said:
"He's doing well. We just want the best players on the field." (HSB)


About joining the UH football team in the Fall, Saddleback sophomore punter Tim Grasso said:
"I like the Hawai'i coaching staff. Hawai'i is a good place to be. The program is great." (HA)

HA reports that in 2005 Grasso punted for Dixie State College and ranked 5th nationally with a 42.2 yards per punt average. Because of long-snapping problems at Saddleback in 2006 Grasso had a 40 yard per punt average. As a senior at Davis High School in Utah, Grasso was an All-State receiver for his 5A state championship-winning team in 2004. His nickname is T-Grass.


About how he will attend Mike McCabe's One-on-One Kicking Camp in Alabama this summer, Grasso said:
"I'll be there six to eight weeks." (HA)