This football offseason, University of Hawaii defensive tackle Zeno Choi focused on the pigskins.

Choi accompanied his friends and their uncles on pig hunts throughout Oahu.

“It gets you in good shape,” Choi said. “Being in the mountains is a great feeling. The views are amazing. You see pigs. You see all kinds of stuff.”

The group would let loose the hunting dogs. When a boar was located, his friends would corner it for the kill. Choi, who is 6 feet 3 and 284 pounds, would help carry the pigs back to the truck. They weighed between 80 and 140 pounds each. The distance back to the truck varied.

“It depends on where we were in the mountains,” Choi said.

Choi, a 2015 Kaiser High graduate, does not mind the hard work. It is a drive his father instilled.

“My dad always told me that people are going to overlook me,” Choi said. “He said there are no Koreans playing football. He said to use it to fuel the fire. He told me not to complain and to try to work 10 times harder than the hardest worker.”

His father also encouraged him when he contemplated — briefly — giving up the sport.

“I’m happy I stuck with it,” Choi said. “Football is my life.”

During Tuesday’s practice, Choi was on the first-team defense.

Late pair in the QB mix

Despite late entries, Dru Brown and Cole Brownholtz are in the mix for the No. 1 quarterback’s job. Each played one junior-college season before joining the Rainbow Warriors last month.

There are eight quarterbacks on the UH roster. But Hunter Hughes will not report until Aug. 22, and Kyle Gallup, who transferred from Marshall, needs an NCAA waiver to not redshirt this season.

Brown and Brownholtz were qualifiers as high school seniors, making them eligible to transfer after one year at a junior college. Both had met UH head coach Nick Rolovich at a football camp two years ago.

UH’s hybrid offense is similar to the one Brown ran in high school. At Sierra College, Brownholtz orchestrated an “Air Raid” attack that has many run-and-shoot elements found in UH’s offense.

Brown said he has played quarterback since he was 9. His father, who was a college linebacker, was helpful in providing football and leadership tips.

Brown did not hesitate in joining the Warriors despite the glut of quarterbacks. “Wherever you go, there’s going to be competition,” Brown said. “We have a good group of guys here. I’m super content how everyone treats each other over here. The competition will breed confidence. It’ll bring out the best in all of us.”

Full of Franks

Let’s be Frank.

That apparently is the code for slotback Frank Abreu’s family.

“All the boys on my dad’s side (of the family) are (named) Frank,” Abreu said. “We go by our middle names.”

Abreu estimated there are dozens of Franks in the family.

As for the origin, Abreu admitted, “I don’t know. That’s how far back it goes.”