After today’s festivities to conclude 15 practices of spring training, the Hawaii football team will enter the offseason with new leadership in the strength and conditioning program.
Associate head coach Chris Brown, who also coaches the UH linebackers, is adding the title of strength/conditioning coordinator. Brown succeeds Kody Cooke, who was named assistant athletic director at Tulsa, his alma mater.
“Kody Cooke did an amazing job,” Brown said. “The best thing he did was embrace the culture. He loved the players, and the players loved him. When he told them he had to leave and take the job, it was very emotional. He couldn’t finish his sentence. The boys were pretty choked up. It was a very sad time for them because Coach Cooke meant so much to the program. But that’s home. I’m happy for him. … He gets to go home. His family is there. He played at Tulsa. He has history there.”
Chang said: “Kody’s a great guy. He worked for the coach there. It’s a great opportunity for him and his family. He had to take that opportunity.”
In 2020, then UH head coach Todd Graham hired Cooke to oversee workouts, plan practices, choose meals and evaluate personnel. “He’s the first guy I hired, and the most important person here,” Graham told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser in June 2020. Cooke was given the title of assistant head coach.
After Graham resigned in January 2022, Chang retained Cooke as strength/conditioning coordinator.
“I’m going to miss Kody a lot,” said Ryan Ishihara, assistant strength and conditioning coach. “He was a big part of this program in every facet. The plan has been set. Coach CB is good with it. We’re going to move forward with the big performance block we have (from Monday through the end of the spring semester) and focus on getting bigger and stronger from a research- based method.”
Brown, who was a standout middle linebacker for the Warriors in the early 2000s, is a dedicated weightlifter. As a player, Brown accomplished these lifts: 500-pound bench press, 42 reps of 225-pound bench presses, and 605-pound squat.
“I want to motivate and bring some inspiration to these guys,” said Brown, who oversaw the training program at Bishop Gorman High in Las Vegas before joining the Warriors in 2022. “I’ve been there, done that in the weight room. I know what the weight room means. For me, it’s where warriors are made. I think that place is sacred. That’s why I always called it the ‘Iron Church.’ That’s where you go to change your life. You kill all your weaknesses and you come back better.”
Brown said he welcomed the offer from Chang to take on an additional role.
“For me, I will not let these boys down,” Brown said. “Even if I have to sleep for two hours a day, I will not let them down, I will not let this football team down. I’ve always said God will never give me more than I can handle. If this is what the team needs now, I’ll do whatever I can to help, to build this team to a championship team.”
The Warriors will complete spring training with today’s two-hour event at the Ching Complex. Although it is billed as a “spring game,” the format will be situational drills.
“Get reps and do it in an environment with a crowd,” Chang said of today’s plans. “They’ll go live for a set amount of plays.”
Chang also praised the four quarterbacks: starter Brayden Schager, Jake Farrell, John-Keawe Sagapolutele and Micah Alejado. “We have four quarterbacks in the room who can throw the ball,” Chang said. “I’ve never been around it where there are four guys that can spin it and run the offense. You go from the first guy to the second guy to the third guy to the fourth guy, they’re throwing touchdowns. That’s a good thing.”
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UH FOOTBALL
At Ching Complex in Manoa
>> Event: 15th and final practice of UH football team’s spring training
>> When: 5 p.m.
>> Cost: Admission is free
>> Parking: $7
