When rumors circulated that Nick Rolovich might “suit up” during spring football practice, it wasn’t hard to imagine he might have something wild up his 36-inch sleeve.

Few who know him were surprised when the University of Hawaii head coach emerged from the giant inflatable helmet at Ching Field on Saturday in a tuxedo, complete with hat and cane.

“He came out in weird things before,” junior quarterback Dru Brown said after Saturday’s Hawaii Football Festivus event, which was equal parts food truck caravan, meet-and-greet and scrimmage. “But it’s fun and it brings energy. Look at all these people smiling. He gets that it’s bigger than just football.”

Why the unique attire, acquired from Black Tie Affair in Kaimuki? (“I’ve got a feeling that’s a rental,” said offensive coordinator Brian Smith.)

“Why not? It’s Festivus! A different kind of ‘suit up,’” Rolovich said.

And does anyone care that the celebration for “the rest of us” made famous on “Seinfeld” was actually on Dec. 23? We don’t need to get all technical about a parody of a holiday, now, do we? Certainly, the Spirit of Festivus — whatever that means — should be held in our hearts year-round.

“He’s the star, he’s engaging,” said defensive backs coach Abe Elimimian. “I liked it. You never know how something like that will go, but I think it went off really well. Except he must be pretty hot in that stuff.”

Athletic director David Matlin said Rolovich gave him a heads up last week regarding his planned sartorial splendor to celebrate the satirical holiday.

Also, “going live” meant a couple of different things:

The scrimmage was live for everyone except Brown, the starting quarterback.

In Rolo’s case, it meant a half-hour-long presence on Facebook Live during the scrimmage.

As the Pittsburgh Steelers learned during the playoffs, social media doesn’t always equate to social genius and going viral might not be healthy.

“I haven’t heard anything yet, so I’ll take that as a good sign,” said Matlin, about an hour after the coach’s self-produced show.

Rolovich continues to engage everyone — especially UH football alumni — on a much larger scale than his predecessor, Norm Chow.

There was a tricycle race between Chad Owens and Britton Komine. Like Smith and Elimimian, they were Rolovich’s teammates at UH.

Owens, the Canadian Football League superstar, won. “It’s all in the turns,” he said.

Gov. David Ige was on hand to call some plays (from a selection provided by the UH offensive staff).

“He called some touchdowns,” Rolovich said. “Didn’t he?”

Yes, he did. Despite the circus-like atmosphere, there were quite a few circus catches.

“Dru looked sharp, and the first offense looked sharp out of the gate,” Smith said.

Barring injury, the job is clearly Brown’s. And Diocemy Saint Juste looks ready to handle an even bigger load at running back, his hamstrings healthy headed into his senior year.

Slot receiver John Ursua was at his elusive best, and backup quarterback Cole Brownholtz broke off a long run.

The first offense was ahead of the first defense, but the defense caught up as the afternoon wore on.

“This was our most productive week (of spring practice),” Rolovich said. “It was ugly the first couple of weeks.”

Smith was all smiles because of a compliment from one of the officials who worked the scrimmage.

“He said he thought we were way more disciplined than last year, that we made a lot fewer procedural errors,” the OC said. “That made me feel good.”

Just about everybody felt good.

That included the fans who trickled over from Les Murakami Stadium after the baseball team beat Indiana with a seven-run comeback. The guy dressed up like the Monopoly Man didn’t have anything to do with that.

But Rolo is loose, and that helps everyone remember these are fun and games and that’s what they should be — fun.

There will be at least 12 Saturdays and the weeks leading up to them in the fall to be more serious, and the players were focused enough in the scrimmage to show they’re making progress.

“It’s good to see the kids smiling,” Rolovich said, leaving it to the imagination if he meant his players, the mass of children in attendance, or just everybody in general.

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