Earlier this year, Chris Brown was promoted to associate head coach for Hawaii football. His aim since he joined Timmy Chang’s staff two years prior was to bring along with him a piece of Bishop Gorman High School, the national powerhouse headquartered in Las Vegas.

Ahead of the 2024 season, UH rosters six Bishop Gorman alumni, though the impact Brown intended goes well beyond any one player.

Brown, who worked at Bishop Gorman from 2015 to 2021 in various roles (assistant head coach, defensive coordinator, linebackers coach), said he hasn’t been around a team at any level that practiced and trained “as hard as those guys.” Coming from a former three-time All-WAC linebacker who played a few NFL seasons on the Baltimore Ravens, that is high praise.

“The motto there is hard work and discipline,” said Brown, who helped the Gaels to their second and third straight national championships in 2015 and 2016. “That’s what’s on every single t-shirt, that’s what’s in the locker room, and that’s what is taught to them day in and day out.”

Hawaii practiced in shoulder pads for the first time Friday, as the team carried out tag tempo, the act of tagging the hip of a ballcarrier during practice to promote full-speed play without the potential risk of contact injuries. Brown said he recently gave all players a presentation on the concept, widely used at the college and professional levels.

The Bishop Gorman group — sophomore defensive backs Fabian Ross and Elijah Palmer, sophomore linebacker Jamih Otis, sophomore running back Cam Barfield, redshirt freshman defensive lineman Aiden McComber and freshman quarterback Micah Alejado — had already received the memo.

“Those little traits go a long way in the game that I feel helped us at Gorman,” Otis said.

“We’re foot off the line, we’re holding planks, don’t drop knees — just accountability things that translate to the field. And one of them is keeping our brothers safe, practicing like pros.”

Palmer added: “At the end of our career, it’ll be something that was preached for like eight years.”

Such discipline even stretches beyond the gridiron and, for some, into religion. Otis and Palmer were baptized as Christians in May, with Brown as their godfather. They said Bible study sessions are held among some of the players up to two times a week, and perhaps more if discussing scripture at lunch counts.

To grow closer to God required a leap of faith for the two of them. When they consulted Brown ahead of their baptism, his answer was one already familiar to them.

Don’t take it lightly.

“If you look at the Gorman boys that we have here, one thing that always stands out is they’re very disciplined in every single thing that they do, whether it’s in the classroom, whether it’s on the field, whether it’s in the weight room or just in the public eye,” Brown said.

“It’s so good for the program because they just bring along that hard work, discipline mindset, and it becomes contagious.”