Tomey, Tony, Yogi

Dave Reardon has a great profile of former UH and current San Jose State head coach Dick Tomey. Here's an excerpt:

"(College football) has changed in that the offenses are more spread out, people are capable of scoring more points. Offenses are more explosive because the quarterbacks and receivers are better. There's more variety on offense and defense," Tomey said. "But what wins games hasn't changed. Turnovers, the kicking game, stepping up in critical situations and the fourth quarter. That hasn't changed a bit."

That's something he and his longtime friend, Jones, agree on. Their methods of succeeding in those areas? It's like comparing apples and oranges, to quote Tomey's line in a local insurance commercial from the 1980s.

"He probably doesn't learn anything from me, but I learn from him," Tomey said. "I'm not a real X's and O's guy. I'm more into the people end. June's as good a tactical coach with X's and O's as there is. I just know I'm not in June's league (in tactics)."

Jones is especially concerned about Tomey in one area.

"Am I worried about a trick play? No," Jones answered. "I'm worried that he'll come in here with four or five of 'em."

Ferd Lewis has a quiz on how well you know the Tomester from his days at UH. Here's a sample question:

3. To help build up his team's mental toughness, one year Tomey brought in Tony Robbins, who had UH players:

A. Walk on hot coals and chant "cool moss."
B. Wade through a pit of snakes.
C. Climb Haleakala.

Cool moss! Cool moss!

Stephen Tsai writes that Nate Ilaoa, who's recovering from a sprained ankle, should be good to go for this Saturday's SJSU game. He also writes that defensive lineman Keala Watson and Renolds Freuan are fighting back from injury and hope to play on Saturday, but Kahai LaCount may be out for the year with a torn MCL in his right knee. That sucks. I hope he'll be able to play in the Hawaii Bowl.

The article also has a section discussing the steps Dan Kelly is taking to correct his kicking form.

"I didn't know what I was doing wrong until I looked at films with Mouse (on Sunday)," Kelly said. "It was easy to see. My form was all screwed up. I was over the ball. I lost control. It forced me to swing across. I know that, and it's never going to happen again. I won't make the same mistake twice."

Until then, Kelly was on a remarkable streak in which 15 of 33 kickoffs resulted in touchbacks.

"Sometimes kickers get into a fret," Davis said. "They have to get over the fret stage to become consistent."

Kelly said he was not bothered by the kickoff preceding the three errant ones. After being entangled, a Louisiana Tech player took a swing at Kelly.

"He must have gone through some family problems," Kelly said. "He must have had some hostility built up."

Hahaha! Dan Kelly has a great attitude, so he should be able to work through this.

Dave Reardon writes in his Sports Notebook about Adam Leonard's relaxation and recovery technique.

How does the hard-hitting sophomore heal up between games?

Yoga.

No joke. Leonard said the stretching and meditation of his beginning yoga class helps him as a football player.

"Monday's the hardest day to go in because you're sore. But once you go in it's great. You work everything out, your legs, hips, core, shoulders. You feel great," he said.

"My body feels real good throughout the season. Even though I didn't play an extended period of time last year, my body was getting really banged up. I could tell my legs were getting tired. This year I feel rejuvenated and every game is like the first two games."

And finally, Dave Reardon started something called a "Colt Following" which takes quotes from around the nation, stats, etc related to Colt Brennan and compiles them into a daily feature. Here's an excerpt from today's edition.

DICK TOMEY

San Jose State football coach who tried to recruit Brennan

"He's taken it to another level. He's a little different, a gunslinger with that sidearm. He does whatever it takes to complete the pass. He's a leader and a good runner who's willing to run, and that changes the whole dynamic. He's clearly the best quarterback at Hawaii since June's been there."

Awesome.