Hawaii football player Tavita Woodard is at the end of the line.
But which line?
Woodard has been a standout at defensive end during the Warriors’ spring training. Monday morning, he was asked to move to tight end.
“It’s an experiment,” UH head coach Norm Chow said.
It proved to be successful. Woodard displayed sure hands during passing drills. In the goal-line drill, he caught a scoring pass.
Tavita Woodard
“I was going to dunk it (on the crossbar),” he said. “But, ah, I decided to run back to the huddle.”
It appeared to be a slam dunk that Woodard would be in the rotation at defensive end. Then after the Monday morning meeting, Woodard said, “Coach Chow asked me if I wanted to try (to play tight end). I said, ‘I’m down.’ Whatever Coach Chow wants. I’m a team player.”
Woodard played tight end at McKinley High. After redshirting in 2009 at Eastern Arizona College, he played defensive line in 2010. He spent most of 2011, his first season at UH, recovering from a broken foot suffered during training camp.
“He did a pretty good job for the first day,” said Phil Rauscher, who coaches the UH tight ends. “He does some things pretty naturally. He looks the part. He runs well.”
Chow’s pro-set offense involves a tight end, a position that was not employed at UH the past 14 seasons.
“That was my first position,” Woodard said. “I can play it.”
It has not been decided where Woodard will play when the Warriors resume practicing Wednesday afternoon.
“He caught a touchdown pass,” defensive coordinator Thom Kaumeyer said. “That doesn’t bode very well for getting him back.”
Rauscher joked that Kaumeyer “seemed a little upset. I’ll make sure I shut my office door so he doesn’t find me.”
Kaumeyer said: ”We want to get the best 22 guys out there. We think he can help on both sides of the ball. If he can help out on offense, we’re all for it.”
Kaumeyer has some options for a 5-2 scheme that uses two defensive ends and a joker, the name for the strong-side linebacker aligned near the line of scrimmage. Paipai Falemalu is a No. 1 defensive end. Woodard, Beau Yap, Desmond Dean, Siaki Cravens and Marcus Malepeai have received a lot of reps at end. The Warriors also can slide a joker over to defensive end.
“If we need to, we can move some guys around,” Kaumeyer said.
Dean and Cravens are healthy again. Dean missed two-thirds of the 2011 season after suffering a torn ACL during a practice.
“I did a little spin move, and my feet got stuck in the ground,” Dean recalled. “I felt a pop. From there, I had surgery, then I rehabbed, and now I’m back.”
Dean said he has added about 25 pounds.
Cravens suffered a torn right patella in a practice a week before the 2010 Hawaii Bowl. He was cleared to practice in the middle of the 2011 season, but never felt fully healthy.
“It’s frustrating when you know the player you are and what things you can do, and there’s nothing you can do about it because you’re playing on one knee,” Cravens said.
Cravens said he has regained his quickness and agility.
“I’m healthy and I’m contributing,” he said.
