The cliques have been clicked off.
“I think there’s more unity within the locker room,” slotback Dylan Collie said following the University of Hawaii football team’s first practice of training camp.
Collie said the Rainbow Warriors need to continue to build on the first practice’s momentum.
“We have to keep the success going, and not just stopping like last year,” Collie said of the Warriors’ 3-10 season. “Things came to a halt last year. As long as we keep rolling, we’ll be good to go.”
After being a dependable receiver in the first half of the 2015 season, Collie struggled with his pass-catching, dropping five consecutive passes in a two-game span. He then was displaced as a starter for the final three games.
“I just mentally wasn’t in it,” he said of the drops.”I lost my focus. That’s not good. That’s not how to get on the field. You can’t lose focus.”
Collie had transferred to UH after serving two years on a church mission during which he did not play any sports competitively.
“I hadn’t had a lapse in so long, I didn’t know how to come back from it,” Collie said. “I didn’t have that much help in that regard.”
During the offseason, he consulted with his brothers, both of whom played pro football, and the UH coaches.
“I got the help I needed,” Collie said. “ That’s what it was. I needed help — that ability to refocus and be confident. All of it. I had eight months to get it back.”
He also credited his wife. They were married in December. Marriage, Collie said, gave “me an understanding of priorities and where I needed to be. Because of my wife, I’m locked in and ready to go.”
Torres fully healed
Tight end Dakota Torres has impressed coaches with his blocking and route-running.
Torres said he is fully healed from a dislocated right elbow he suffered late in the 2015 season.
He also has showed deceptive quickness on Monday.
“I’ve got this ice over the six-pack,” Torres said, patting his abs.
Henderson returns
Safety Trayvon Henderson, who started as a freshman and sophomore before missing last season because of a knee injury, was in the rotation on Monday.
“It was frustrating not being out there to help my team improve,” he said of his spectator role last year. “That’s in the past. I’m focusing on what I can do to help the team now and in the future.”
He has served as mentor to the younger defensive backs. There are eight newcomers in the secondary.
“As the years go by, you pass it on to the younger dudes, like the older dudes did for you,” Henderson said. “It’s part of the process.”
Ursua gets some Flavor
Monday’s practice was no longer a test. Slotback John Ursua is preparing for his first season after working for a year, going on a church mission for two years and redshirting in 2015.
“It’s great to be out there,” Ursua said.
Ursua spent last week visiting family in Utah. He was in the Las Vegas airport for a connecting flight when he spotted Flavor Flav, the rapper and reality-show star known for wearing a clock as a medallion.
“I asked him if I could get a picture with him real quick,” Ursua said. “It was funny. He still had his clock on. It was fun to see him.”