It was in the first half of the 1999 Oahu Bowl when Oregon State attempted an on-side kick. A backup safety recovered for the Beavers, although the play eventually was nullified because of an illegal-formation penalty.

The OSU safety was Jake Cookus, who now is the University of Hawaii’s special teams coordinator, and the all-out approach is part of his portfolio.

Cookus succeeds Chris Demarest, whose big ideas matched his booming voice. Cookus, who coached at Montana last year, speaks with a living-room voice. He is detailed oriented, sometimes using early morning meetings to reaffirm each practice’s itinerary.

“It’s organized chaos, isn’t it,” Cookus said of choreographing six special-team units. “The one thing with special teams, you have to be pretty organized and you have to be efficient. I get a lot of help from the coaches and the (graduate assistants) and that helps make it run smoothly. Every day when we meet, I tell them exactly what we’re doing so we don’t waste time going from drill to drill.”

The preparation includes emergency drills, such as injury substitutions. In football parlance, it is “doing gymnastics.”

“You have to do gymnastics in a game,” Cookus said. “Anything can happen. It’s not always going to go as planned. Somebody can get hurt. Something can happen. The next guy has to know what’s going on, and step up, with no falling off.”

Head coach Norm Chow has supported special teams. There are three place-kickers, including two on scholarship. There are three long snappers. The special teams session is the opening round every practice. Cookus has the freedom to pluck top-of-the-chart players for special teams, although there is an unwritten limit of two units per starter.

“I’m excited,” Cookus said. “We’ve got guys who can do it, and we’ve got depth. Competition always makes everyone better.”

Rigoberto “Rigo” Sanchez, Mauro Bondi and Aaron Novoa — each with post-high school experience — are competing for the place-kicker job vacated with Tyler Hadden’s graduation. Sanchez was second among California Community College kickers in scoring.

“Sanchez doesn’t say much,” Cookus said. “He goes out there and bangs the ball.”

Sanchez also is competing at punter.

Bondi earned a bachelor’s degree at Nebraska, meeting the requirement to transfer without redshirting. He was the long-distance specialists for the Cornhuskers.

Novoa rejoined the Warriors in January after a fall semester hiatus. He exited spring training as the No. 1 kicker. Sanchez and Bondi joined the Warriors in July.

Alex Trifonovitch, a 2015 Punahou School graduate, is contending for the punter’s job. “He’s very focused out there,” Cookus said. “He’s got a strong leg.”

Last year, Brian Hittner, who was placed on scholarship this summer, was the long-snapper on punts, and Brodie Nakama was the short snapper on field-goal attempts and point-after kicks. Noah Borden, who recently returned from two-year church mission, can handle both snapping jobs. “He’s definitely in the mix,” Cookus said.

At this position

Kicker: Mauro Bondi, 6-0, 210, Sr., Boca Raton, Fla.

Kicker/punter: Rigoberto Sanchez, 6-1, 190, Jr., Hamilton City, Calif.

Kicker: Aaron Novoa, 6-0, 190, Jr., Sacramento, Calif.

Punter: Alex Trifonovitch, 6-1, 180, Fr., Honolulu

Long-snapper: Brian Hittner, 6-1, 210, Sr., Anaheim Hills, Calif.

Short-snapper: Brodie Nakama, 5-9, 225, Jr., Santa Clara, Calif.

Making the grade

Based on analysis from Star-Advertiser staff:

Size: 5

Speed: 3

Strength: 4

Depth: 5

Experience: 3

5–Excellent; 4–Good; 3–Average; 2–Subpar; 1–Poor

Strengths/Weaknesses

Mauro Bondi has played in front of big crowds and should not be overwhelmed in games at Ohio State and Wisconsin. It is tough to follow Scott Harding, whose punts were the Warriors’ top weapons last season.