Back in the early 2000s, University of Hawaii football players had unique pregame routines.

Linebacker Matt Wright ate honey. Defensive end Joe Correia took a shower at a specific time ahead of running onto the field for warmups. And middle linebacker Chris Brown inhaled smelling salts.

“I’d break the smelling salts and actually stick it up my nostrils,” Brown said. “I would leave it up there, then pull it out and my nose would bleed. If you look at a lot of my pictures, my nose is bleeding because of the smelling salts. It was some of the crazy things I used to do.”

There was the time when then-UH quarterback Nick Rolovich was late for a meeting. As a prank, Brown led a group that taped Rolovich’s moped up on a fence. The offensive linemen helped bring down the moped.

Nearly two decades later, Brown did another crazy thing. He went back to school.

“I actually finished my degree during (the COVID-19 pandemic),” said Brown, who completed his UH playing career at the end of the 2002 season. “That was one of my goals. I promised my father I would finish it.”

The pandemic gave Brown — who was the linebackers coach and strength coordinator at Bishop Gorman High in Las Vegas — extra time to re-enroll and take online classes.

“It probably was the hardest thing I had to do,” Brown said. “I was out of school for so long. I stayed in it and I stayed in it. … I finished my degree, and I finished it in sociology. And how about this? I got all A’s. The first time in my life I got all A’s.”

Soon after Timmy Chang was named UH’s head coach, the former Warriors quarterback offered Brown the job as inside linebackers coach. “If I didn’t get my degree, then the chance for me to coach wouldn’t have been there,” Brown said. “It worked out perfectly.”

It was an emotional decision for Brown, who was a popular and imposing coach at Bishop Gorman for seven years. Ikem Okeke, a former UH linebacker and Bishop Gorman graduate, said Brown brought out each player’s best with a stern but respectful style.

“They did everything they could to try to keep me,” Brown said of school officials. “It broke my heart. I needed to come home. That’s my calling. But, man, when I had to break it to (the players), there was not one eye that wasn’t filled with tears. It crushed me.”

But Brown, who grew up in Kailua and attended Damien Memorial School, relished the homecoming.

The Warriors play their home games at the Ching Complex, which is near the Varsity Circle apartment where Brown, Wright, Pisa Tinoisamoa and Keani Alapa lived as student-athletes. “That was great times,” Brown recalled. “All the football players used to come over.”

Brown’s son Elijah often would attend practices. “He’d run around,” Brown said. “I remember him playing with Coach (June) Jones and all the boys. Shoot, man, he became the mascot for all our teammates.”

Brown said he will try to instill in his players the same passion he had as a linebacker preparing for games.

“For me, that was the greatest thing,” Brown said. “The preparation from Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, where on Friday, our swords are sharp and we’re ready to battle the next day. It went the same way in the weight room.”

Brown, offensive lineman Vince Manuwai, defensive end Laanui Correa, linebacker Chad Kalilimoku and defensive tackle Isaac Sopoaga were among the Warriors vying for the most weighted plates.

“We always battled,” Brown said. “If Vince pressed 450 pounds, I would try to bench 465 pounds. Guys were constantly trying to push each other. It was such a huge competition about who wanted to be the strongest guy in the weight room.”

Brown, Manuwai, Kalilimoku and Sopoaga all benched at least 500 pounds.

After UH, Brown had a stint with the Baltimore Ravens before deciding to return to Hawaii. He coached at Saint Louis, went to Damien, and then landed the Bishop Gorman job. During that time in Hawaii, he worked in security for Sheraton Waikiki.

“That was the best time,” Brown said. “Working security in Waikiki is the best, if you only can imagine. If there was a reality show, it would be a hit.”

When news broke of Brown joining the UH staff, he received congratulatory texts from several former teammates, including Rolovich, Travis LaBoy and Wayne Hunter.

“I was there in the glory days,” Brown said. “It wasn’t we were just part of a team, we were part of a family. We bled green. Football was everything to us. It was our pride. It was our identity. Now I get to coach it, bring it out of myself and (help) these younger guys. I’m excited about that.”