As the rest of the Hawaii football team left the grass practice field following Monday’s session, the offensive line stayed behind to run gassers.
Running from sideline to sideline on the hottest day of fall camp so far took its toll on the group, which made it through under the watchful eye of offensive line coach Chris Naeole.
John Wa’a, one of a few freshmen making a push to make the starting unit, still had enough energy to take questions once it was all over. It was something he may have had trouble with last season.
"I was almost pushing 330 (last year) and sluggish," the Kahuku alum said. "I dropped a bit of weight and feel very comfortable. I’m about 305 now."
Relegated to scout team duty last season, Wa’a has taken first-team reps most of the fall with the opener against Washington in just 18 days. Although he practiced at both guard and tackle Monday with fellow freshman Dejon Allen out, Wa’a has spent the majority of camp at right tackle, where he played as a two-time All-State selection with the Red Raiders.
"The first team is not easy to get on and I’m blessed to be out there with them right now," Wa’a said. "Now I’m trying my hardest to stay there."
Naeole said he’s still looking to find the right combination of players and that multiple starting jobs are still up in the air. With Allen spending most of practice working out on the sideline recovering from a minor ankle injury, Wa’a moved to right guard, with Elijah Tupai moving over to left guard. Senior Frank Loyd and sophomore RJ Hollis also took first-team reps.
Every lineman better have a solid understanding of all of the positions if they want to play.
"I’m going to move guys around until I find the right combination and the more positions you can play is better for you," Naeole said. "Whoever understands and can comprehend the most and put the whole package together is going to be the guys that are playing in the season."
Allen, Tupai and Wa’a are all freshmen who redshirted last season. When the team played its games on the road, the non-travel players would watch games either in the locker room or at Campus Center with the students.
"You can’t beat the one dollar pizzas," Wa’a said.
Unless, of course, he’s on the field playing, which is Wa’a’s goal now that he’s in shape. While other linemen with more experience have struggled to stay in shape, Wa’a handled the extra running Monday just fine. Now it’s just a matter of understanding the schemes and techniques the coaches want out of him.
"Coach wants us to learn everything so your mind-set has to be not just focusing on your own tackle plays but what everyone else is doing," he said. "It ain’t easy, that’s for sure."
Naeole says the freshmen are better prepared because of the number of reps they already have under their belts.
"They got a lot of live reps in the spring because I tried to keep the older guys out to see what they got," he said. "The more I can throw at them the better for them because sometimes it looks a little fast for them.
"Coach (Defensive coordinator Kevin) Clune has thrown the house at us, but it’s going to make us a better front."
