Hawaii football player Craig Cofer has crossed the line again.

A week after moving from tight end to defensive end, Cofer was back on offense during Thursday’s spring practice.

"It feels like a compliment in a way," Cofer said, "and it’s frustrating in a way."

Change is a part of Cofer’s life. He attended Southern Oregon and Grossmont College before joining the Warriors as a defensive end in July 2011.

Cofer moved to tight end in 2012, when he played 12 games and started three. Cofer opened this spring training on offense, but then was moved to defensive end because of several injuries.

"When they moved me over to defensive end, it was because they needed guys over there," Cofer said.

The depth problems on defense are fixable. Defensive ends Beau Yap (broken right foot) and Iuta Tepa (back surgery) are expected to be ready for the start of training in camp in August. The Warriors also recruited five players who can play on the defensive line.

"Right now, they don’t have much depth at tight end," Cofer said.

Jordan Pu‘u-Robinson, who was projected to be the No. 1 tight end, has missed the past four spring practices because of a sore back. Harold Moleni has been inconsistent as a pass-catcher. The Warriors have used H-back Clark Evans and fullback Justin Vele as on-line tight ends.

"We’re getting low over there," offensive coordinator Aaron Price said. "We need more depth at tight end. Two practices ago, we only had two guys over there."

The thing was, Cofer had emerged as an effective pass-rusher. He was practicing with the first-team defense.

"You have to take one for the team," UH coach Norm Chow said of Cofer’s switches. "There were opportunities on both sides of the ball. He’s not being shoved off to the side. He’s needed. He has some skills that allow you to (play both positions)."

Price said the success of the tight end position will dictate how the Warriors will attack this coming season. The Warriors have practiced with formations that involve four receivers and no tight end to sets featuring two tight ends.

"Depending on how (the tight ends) do will determine what tight end sets we’ll use," Price said.

And that goes back to Cofer, who is an aggressive blocker and improved receiver.

"It’s a hard position to play," Price said. "You’re in the pass game 100 percent and you’re in the run game 100 percent."

Chow said: "And we demand the same amount of excellence in both areas."

As UCLA’s offensive coordinator, Chow coached walk-on tight end Logan Paulsen, who was a starter for the Washington Redskins in 2012. Chow told Cofer: "If you can master (the position), you can be like Logan Paulsen."

Cofer, who can bench press 395 pounds and has a vertical jump of 36 inches, is focusing on pass-catching.

"Catching the football is fun, dude," Cofer said. "It’s more complicated on offense. It gasses you running routes and hitting people on the line all of the time. When you finally get to make a catch, that’s so satisfying."

Defensive coordinator Thom Kaumeyer has suggested that Cofer can be used on both offense and defense.

"That’s fine with me," Cofer said. "At the end of the day, I like playing football. It comes down to that. It’s a team sport. It’s not about one person. Everybody has to do something for the team. It doesn’t matter where I am, I appreciate the opportunity to play football every day."