When it came to earning the trust of his new University of Hawaii football teammates, Dedrick Parson took the weights-and-see approach.

At 5 feet 9 and 205 pounds, Parson impressed with his strength in the bench press (385 pounds) and squat lift (575 pounds).

“I don’t think a lot of guys knew that I was that strong coming in here,” said Parson, who joined the Rainbow Warriors as a graduate transfer from Howard University in Washington D.C. “And coming in here every single day, and lifting a lot of weight, and pushing a lot of weight every single day, you get a lot of eyes. You get a lot of people wanting to compete with you.”

Parson’s speed (4.49 seconds over 40 yards), grip, and low-padded power running have earned him a spot in the offensive rotation. Although listed as a running back, Parson sets up in the backfield, slot, wide or in motion.

“I think my running style fits this offense by really being a versatile back,” Parson said. “I can catch the ball out of the backfield. I can line up outside, inside. I’m a downhill runner, as well. I’m a three-down back so that just fits this offense, whereas we just play our back all over the field.”

In the Warriors’ run-and-gun offense, which is now choreographed by coordinator Bo Graham, the backs are cross trained for several alignments and assignments. Calvin Turner, who led the Warriors with 11 touchdowns in nine games in 2020, Dae Dae Hunter, Dior Scott, and James Phillips are among the other multi-skilled backs.

“Every day you’ve got to bring it,” Parson said. “You don’t want to fall short, take a day off, and then you’ll fall right behind. I think one of our biggest attributes for our offense is the depth in the running back group. Just knowing if someone goes down, it’s the next man up, and the next man will do the job of the first man.”

Parson was the featured back at Howard, where he initially joined as a walk on. After rushing for 148 yards against Morgan State and 149 against Florida A&M in 2018, Parson received a scholarship. He was named the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference’s 2018 freshman of the year after rushing for 706 yards and nine touchdowns.

In two seasons at Howard, Parson averaged 10.2 yards on 32 receptions. He also returned kickoffs and punts.

But Parson, who grew up in Philadelphia, wanted to play at a higher level. Howard is an FCS program. After the Bison postponed the 2020 season until this year, Parson entered the transfer portal. Former UH assistant coach Brennan Marion was the Bison’s offensive coordinator in 2018.

“I just asked if I could compete for a starting job,” Parson recalled asking after connecting with UH coaches. “I didn’t ask if could come in here and start, could I come in here and be handed anything. I wanted to come in here and compete, and they fulfilled everything I asked for.”

Parson indicated he welcomes every practice and workout.

“Even those days when you wake up and it’s hard to get up,” he said. “You come out here your body hurts, there are never any excuses. I come from Philadelphia. We’re tough.”

From the first day on campus this summer, Parson said, he was greeted with “open arms” by teammates, particularly the running backs. Parson said they root for each other.

“We can all come together and make plays together (then) everyone can eat,” Parson said.