His freshman season behind him, Kennedy Tulimasealii is embracing a fresh start this spring.
Keeping with the sense of renewal that typically accompanies spring practice, Tulimasealii enters his second year on the Hawaii defensive line eager to build on the experience of last fall while integrating into the Rainbow Warriors’ revamped defensive scheme.
"From season one to (this) season, I feel brand new," Tulimasealii said after Tuesday’s practice, UH’s fifth of 15 sessions this month.
Tulimasealii played in nine games at defensive tackle last year in UH’s 4-3 base scheme. The Rainbow Warriors are making the transition to a 3-4 alignment this spring, with Tulimasealii moving over to defensive end.
Playing defensive end in a three-man line still bears some of the same responsibilities, but Tulimasealii is enjoying attacking the line of scrimmage from different angles.
"Kennedy is a big-play guy, he’s doing really well and he’s young and has a lot of upside," UH defensive line coach Lewis Powell said.
"This scheme is, I think, perfect for him. We play with three down linemen, and those three linemen are heavier D-tackle type of guys trying to wall up the middle."
Tulimasealii was one of the more intriguing additions to the roster when he signed with UH following a dominant high school career at Waianae. He was off to an impressive start in his first fall camp before his knee buckled during a practice at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam.
He was carted off the field and a partially torn ligament kept him sidelined for the remainder of camp and the first two games of the season. Even though his knee regained enough strength for Tulimasealii to make his college debut at Nevada in late September, full faith was still weeks away.
"Toward the last two games I felt really confident," he said. "During the other games you just get that second thought where you don’t want to step too hard on this leg. But the last two games I felt 100 percent on the knee and just went full go."
He finished the season by recording four tackles, one for a loss, against Army in UH’s lone win.
After going through an offseason training program led by strength coordinator Gary Beemer, the 6-foot-1 Tulimasealii reported for spring practice at 280 pounds. His target for fall camp is to get up to 285 with continued strength training.
"From summer to now I feel more in shape," Tulimasealii said, "confident I can get from point A to point B, run down a quarterback and give my full effort."
Tulimasealii’s natural gifts were apparent at Waianae, where he stormed into backfields at will. He’s since worked on honing the finer aspects of line play.
"From day one last year he improved a lot technique-wise," senior defensive lineman Beau Yap said. "He was a totally raw talent when he came in last year, but you can’t teach his explosiveness off the ball. His explosiveness is crazy. But from using his hands (coming) off the ball instead of just trying to run through people, it’s night and day compared to last year.
"From what I see he picks it up a lot faster than he did last year because last year was kind of a whole new world for him. But this year he’s like another leader on the D-line."
Yap was among the linemen who doubled as mentors for Tulimasealii in his freshman season. Part of his education took place on trips to the beach with a group led by senior Saui Matagiese.
Matagiese completed his college career in the fall, but the line will have a veteran presence with the return of Yap, Moses Samia, Marcus Malepeai and Calen Friel.
"(Matagiese) coached me up," Tulimasealii said. "I felt they were giving me good advice because they’ve been through this."
