Spring Practice Quotes from the local papers

Happy to be #1 LT right now after being on the bench for so long, Aaron Kia said:
"I'm happy to step up. I have to keep working hard and not give up." (HA)

HA Note: "Keith AhSoon, last year's top left tackle, is practicing at left guard. The battle between left tackles Ray Hisatake and Laupepa Letuli has not initiated. Letuli has not been at full strength because of a hamstring problem. That opened the way for Kia, who actually was the No. 2 left tackle last season."

About the importance of the LT, Kia said:
"I'm protecting the blind side." (HA)

HA Note: "The orientation period has been short. The first full-gear practice was Monday. That day, Kia worked against speed-rushers John Fonoti and David Veikune."

About Veikune and Fonoti, Kia said that Fonoti has:
"good shakes. He's got every move — bull-rush, swim, push-pull. He has the whole bag of moves. Dave is the same way. He's unpredictable. It's good to go against them every day." (HA)

HA Note: "Kia, who will be a fourth-year junior in the fall, is part of Mike Cavanaugh's last UH recruiting class. Shortly after Kia signed with UH in 2005, Cavanaugh accepted the job as Oregon State's offensive line coach."

About Coach Cav, Kia said:
"We didn't get to do drills with him. Nothing. He just left. I liked the guy. He was a super cool cat. I was looking forward to working with that guy. He put so many players in the NFL." (HA)

The 6'5" Kia says that he weighs 280 pounds:
"which is not good. I was at 300 during the season, and that was perfect." (HA)

About how there is no training-table when they do not have practice and their meal plan does not extend to the basic offseason program, Kia said:
"It's hard to eat in the offseason because you've got no food, no money. It's drinking water and drinking protein shakes. You've got no real food. Your weight drops pretty quickly." (HA)

About being ready to play after being a gray shirt and then a red shirt, Alasi Toilolo said:
"Right now, it seems, is my time to shine." (HA)

About being on their two-deep depth chart, Toilolo said:
"A lot of people were like, 'You play for the football team?' " (HA)

HA Note: "Toilolo, a 2006 graduate of Kapolei High, has evaded the radar the past two years. He grayshirted in 2006, an arrangement in which he would attend UH as a part-time student in the fall and then join the Warriors in January 2007. But a dislocated shoulder suffered in high school altered those plans. He underwent surgery in 2006 and spent the spring of 2007 rehabilitating the injury. He joined the Warriors last summer. Because of the talent surplus on the defensive line, Toilolo redshirted last season."

About how he worked hard on the scout team, Toilolo said:
"I try to work hard every day. I have ups and downs. The first couple of days (of spring training), I wasn't doing so good. I'm trying my hardest to keep the level that (defensive line) coach (Dave) Aranda wants." (HA)

HA Note: "Toilolo, who is a member of the Mormon church, said he is considering going on church mission in the future. In the meantime, he is focusing on a football mission."

About not competing in contact drills for the second consecutive day, Blaze said:
"It's maintenance." (HA)

About how his condition does not require surgery, Blaze said:
"I'm getting treatment. I'm taking it easy. I don't want to injure it. I'm trying to be 'pre-cautious.' " (HA)

Expecting to be back at practice on Monday--he tweaked his right ankle when he slipped while running a route during Wednesday's practice, Lane said:
"I just rolled over it. I was on crutches (Wednesday). I feel a lot better now. I'm walking on it, not even with a bad limp." (HA)

HSB Note: "It was a sight rarely seen at the Hawaii football practice field the past nine years -- running backs taking handoffs from quarterbacks dropping back from center. And they were pretty successful doing it, as Leon Wright-Jackson, Daniel Libre, Mario Cox and Jake Heun all took their turn jaunting through the UH defense during a 45-play team session at the end of spring practice yesterday. All four ran for gains that would have been for at least 10 yards, with Wright-Jackson turning the left and right corners each for big chunks of wet turf.

The quarterbacks -- Inoke Funaki, Tyler Graunke and Jake Santos -- completed 15 of 27 passes, but nothing longer than 20 yards. Exciting or disturbing, depending on your perspective, the Warrior QBs were "sacked" seven times, with Keala Watson getting in twice. Not counting the sacks, 10 running plays went for an estimated 120 yards."

About their rushing success yesterday, Ron Lee said:
"Maybe we should forget passing, just run the ball. We'll take what they give us, but we can run the ball, and they have to defend us. It was good. A lot better today than it was yesterday." (HSB)

HSB Note: "But Heun was the talk of practice, blasting past defenders Cory Paredes and Khevin Peoples on the way to what would've been at least 30 yards on a good old-fashioned draw play."

Praising Heun, Mack said:
"Leon is looking good. Libre, too. But the guy who really stood out today is Jake Heun. He had some powerful runs and ran over some people. He's a big powerful tough guy. Sort of a Csonka-type guy. He's strong, powerful. The other guy is my man, Cox, Mario. He's done some good things too." (HSB)

About how their younger WRs go to "Yoda" Bain for advice, Inoke said:
"It's one of those, what do you call it, intangibles. You just feel Yoda knows his stuff and, not only that, he brings more unity. Yoda, he's often helping the younger folks that are still learning. He has that capability." (HSB)

HSB Note: "The 5-foot-9, 190-pound walk-on earned the Star Wars moniker not for his insight, but for his height -- or lack thereof -- while trying out for the Saint Louis intermediate team as a seventh-grader. Despite being a head shorter than the receivers he competed against, Bain came down with some impressive catches that earned him the namesake of a Jedi master throughout high school. After he was invited to the Warriors' fall camp in 2005, the title carried over instantly. To this day, after each impressive grab Bain makes in spring ball, the inevitable cry of "Yoda!" follows from his comrades."

About his Yoda nickname, Bain said:
"Sometimes my teammates don't even know my real name. They just know me as Yoda, that's it. That's cool with me, I like that name. If you call me by my real name, I'll think I'm in trouble. I don't even hear my real name unless it's, like, my grandma at home." (HSB)

HSB Note: "Bain has been a go-to presence this spring for the next generation of Warriors receivers, much like the authority departed slotbacks Ryan Grice-Mullins and Davone Bess had last season as juniors. It doesn't matter that he's looking at the best chance of his career to earn a starting job."

About helping the other WRs, Bain said:
"Because they made the team, they're part of the family. We're all the same receiving corps, so we gotta do whatever it is to take care of our own. I want to do it, because I want to see everybody do well, make our team better as a whole." (HSB)

HSB Note: "His primary pupils are Kealoha Pilares and Jon Medeiros at slotback. He's also tutored freshman Ben Noy."

About how Bain has helped him, Noy said:
"He's helping a lot, trying to teach me pre-snap reads. He's telling me how to break." (HSB)

HSB Note: "Craig Stutzmann played the same position as Bain at Saint Louis and UH. He coached Bain his senior season with the Crusaders in 2004, and is doing so again as a graduate assistant."

About Bain, Stutzmann said:
"His biggest asset back then was that he ran the routes really well. He's come a long way in four years. When I heard he was going to come here, I knew he would have a good chance to do well at the position. His work ethic is second to none. He might not be the biggest or fastest guy at the position, but no one has a bigger heart." (HSB)

HSB Note: "On a play this week in team drills, Funaki fired a pass across the middle that appeared up for grabs. Bain leapt high among a crowd that included All-Western Athletic Conference linebacker Adam Leonard, managed to come down with the ball and earned whistles of appreciation (and "Yoda!" cries) from several teammates."

About Bain coming down with that ball, Inoke said:
"Yoda definitely bailed me out on that one -- great catch. Yoda knows his stuff. He's just been waiting for his opportunity." (HSB)

About how Bain has a chance to play extensively this year, Ron Lee said:
"Aaron made catches every year, the last three years. Now he's got a chance. The thing with these guys, they've gotta get better in practice, and come Saturdays, when the lights go on, then you see who can play." (HSB)

About how Bain has a chance to show what he can do, Lane said:
"Aaron Bain has a great influence on me, myself. I look up to him, he's a hard worker and he's been here for a while. He never really got the opportunity I felt like he deserved, and I'm happy for him that he's going to get a chance to prove himself." (HSB)

HSB Note: "Daniel Libre showed some of the moves that earned him playing time toward the end of last season with good gains on a shovel pass and an off-tackle run. Leon Wright-Jackson got into his fast gear despite a wet grass field, turning the corner for long gains twice."

About getting to run the ball for long runs twice yesterday, LWJ said:
"It felt good, like high school, downhill kind of running. I'm just getting my technique down and getting my endurance up a little bit." (HSB)

About how he and LWJ are at the top of the RB depth chart now, Libre said:
"Yeah I'm used to it, switching my role up a lot. If I gotta split time with anyone, it's good it's Leon, he's a good guy, athlete. We're going to run a lot more, so I'm looking forward to that. Adding some plays. Our running game is to try to keep (defenses) honest. They always worried about passing, now they're going to have to worry about us running the ball. There's a lot of good backs this year, and (Dave) Farmer's not even in now. When he comes back, it's going to change up again." (HSB)

HSB Note: "Tackle Keala Watson had two sacks, while tackles Chris Leatigaga and Josh Leonard and linebackers R.J. Kiesel-Kauhane and Mana Lolotai had one apiece. Linebacker Adam Leonard and safety Spencer Smith both nearly made interceptions, but didn't come up with the catches."

About how he doesn't expect to put on pads the rest of the spring, Blaze said:
"Probably. No sense make anything worse." (HSB)

HSB Note: "McMackin said Soares was held out of practice and received treatment Wednesday as a "precautionary" measure. He has been diagnosed with a stinger, a nerve injury that usually requires a few days of rest. Soares, a hard-hitting fan favorite, was dogged by shoulder and hamstring injuries last season and played in just nine games. He was in on 27 tackles. Kiesel-Kauhane has replaced Soares on the first unit at weakside linebacker."

About his ankle injury, Lane said:
"I feel a little bummed that I injured myself -- that's the last thing I needed. I don't want to be missing practice, and let all the other guys down." (HSB)

About the back-to-back passes he caught yesterday from Santos, Noy said:
"It's not as natural as I want it to be. You gotta read on the run, you gotta read the coverage. I'm still new to this offense. It's really tough. I've got the concepts of the plays in my head, I just have to read the defenses. I've got to read the defenses mentally." (HSB)

About Noy, Ron Lee said:
"He's struggling with everything, but he has a knack for finding the spots." (HSB)

HSB Note: "The offensive line of Ray Hisatake, Brysen Ginlack, Lafu Tuioti-Mariner, Raphael Ieru and Adrian Thomas saw plenty of action in offense-only reps yesterday. The first group during team session was Aaron Kia, Keith AhSoon, Austin Hansen, Tuioti-Mariner and Keoni Steinhoff. Starting center John Estes still had a tender hamstring."