KG and the Duff Man

Stephen with more on Kenny Graham.

Last week was the first day of the NCAA signing period, but the Warriors reserved four scholarships. The wait resulted in Graham, who received a 4-star rating from Scout.com. He is UH's second 4-star cornerback, following Blinn College's Ryan Mouton.

"This is a super pickup for Hawai'i," said Kevin Lustgarten, whose site, JCFootball.com, evaluates prospects for Scout.com.

...

Graham said he has several hobbies, including competitive dominos. "It's really a mind game," he said. "If you can get your opponent to think a certain way, and you want to do something else, you've got the edge over him. The mental edge is what you need in the game. It's the same in football."

Sounds like a great guy and a great athlete. From what I understand, Solomon Elimimian and Adam Leonard are big dominos players too, so now they got competition.

Dave Reardon writes about new coach Terry Duffield.

Terry "Duff" Duffield, a former assistant coach at Dixie State now at Eastern Arizona, will join the Hawaii football staff as a graduate assistant, probably in time for the 2007 season.

"We're not sure when yet," said UH coach June Jones, when asked for a timetable for Duffield's arrival. "There's a lot involved."

Some of it has to do with the pending retirement of Jones' mentor and assistant coach Mouse Davis, 74. Davis was Jones' coach when Jones played at Portland State, and Davis brought the four-wideout run-and-shoot offense (which UH uses) to pro football, coaching with Jones at several NFL, USFL and CFL stops.

Davis, who joined the Warriors staff in 2004, has said several times -- as recently as last week -- that 2006 would be his final season. Yesterday, Jones would not confirm Davis' retirement.

When Davis retires, Dennis McKnight is the logical replacement. McKnight, who was UH's special teams coach in 1999 and 2000, returned to the Warriors last year as a graduate assistant. His work with the offensive line and special teams contributed greatly to UH's 11-3 season.

McKnight moving onto the regular staff would open a GA position for Duffield, 38.

If you read the rest of the article, Reardon writes how Duff was responsible for getting UH to recruit Adam Leonard. I like him already! We'll see how to coaching shuffle pans out.

And there's a separate section at the end of the article which states that the time-saving rules the NCAA implemented last year are going away!

Responding to negative reaction by fans and coaches, the NCAA football rules committee yesterday recommended completely eliminating the controversial clock rules of 2006 and implementing a new set of time-saving measures.

I'm a little wary of what the "new set of time-saving measures" are, but if they don't take away from any time on the field, look for the Warriors to break even more offensive records! It just makes everything accomplished in the 2006 season all the more impressive.

And finally, Leo Goeas, former UH player and current agent to some ex-Warriors getting ready for the Combine, writes about getting his clients prepared.

Another thing they'll have to do at the combine is take a Wonderlic test. It's a 12-minute, 50-question intelligence test. We gave them a two-minute version, and then talked about different types of questions that are on those tests. We wanted to improve their ability to take the test.

Physically, they look great and they'll have a great showing. But we think the interview process will be huge for them. We want them to understand this will be a job interview.

There are several types of interviews. On the first day, the guys will be in a ballroom setting, and they'll be approached by coaches or scouts. It's usually one-on-one. Those are get-to-know-you interviews.

The article is really interesting and gives you insight on how the players are not only training physically, but mentally and socially as well.