Change is nothing new to Jahlani Tavai.

A nose guard in high school, Tavai adapted to life on the edge with a move to outside linebacker when he joined the Hawaii football program.

After he spent a redshirt year learning the position and another emerging as a playmaker, a new coaching staff promptly asked Tavai to alter his role again last spring.

Classified as a sophomore but exuding a veteran presence, Tavai’s on-field responsibilities expanded with a shift to middle linebacker.

Along with Tavai’s physical attributes at a mobile 6-foot-4 and 235 pounds, the coaches were impressed by the traits not defined by numbers in shifting him into the middle.

“He’s very intelligent, very instinctive. He’s a leader,” UH defensive coordinator Kevin Lempa said.

Playing a central role in the 4-3 base alignment places particular focus on the leadership facet as a focal — and vocal — point of the scheme.

“(The coaches) were talking to me about it in spring ball because it’s an aggressive defense and if someone’s not talking we’re all screwed up a little bit,” Tavai said. “We have to communicate and that’s something the middle linebacker has to do for the whole defense.”

Tavai was in on 56 total tackles, five for losses, and recorded a safety against San Jose State from the outside last season. He’s now learning the intricacies of a new position under the guidance of first-year linebackers coach Sean Duggan, himself just two years removed from performing those duties on the field.

“He’s a great mentor for me because he played the position I’m in and he gives me those tips that will improve my game,” Tavai said.

Duggan finished his playing career at Boston College in 2014 and served with Lempa on the Eagles coaching staff last year as a graduate assistant with a unit that ranked among the nation’s stingiest defenses.

“He was a coach as a player,” Lempa said. “He knew everything that was going on. … He’s a very intelligent young man. He’s a very caring young man and he’s a great teacher.”

Duggan took over a young group with just one senior in Jerrol Garcia-Williams, UH’s second-leading tackler last season with 89 total stops.

Tavai will be flanked by junior Russell Williams, who made 19 tackles in a backup role last year, at weak side linebacker, with sophomore Malachi Mageo on the strong side.

Sophomore Dany Mulanga moved from safety to outside linebacker and freshmen Jeremiah Pritchard and Ikem Okeke are in contention at the outside spots coming out of Las Vegas high schools.

LINEBACKERS