Day 11 + Scrimmage Wrap-Ups, Meatoga, Thomas

Dave Reardon writes about the offense struggling a little in yesterday's scrimmage.

Part of it had to do with veteran offensive linemen John Estes (center) and Keoni Steinhoff (right tackle) being held out of the scrimmage.

"It shows fast," offensive line coach Brian Smith said. "Communication. There were some holes here and there. But the good thing is the kids were competing and fighting. We exchange scripts, so we know what's coming. We struggled a little bit today. I think we took a step back."

Still, head coach Greg McMackin lauded Smith's work with the offensive line's technique, and said it may be the team's most improved unit.

Stephen Tsai talks to McMackin about the offense getting better.

"It's a matter of getting more and more reps," McMackin added. " I can see in the last week we made a giant leap on offense. Defensively, we've continued to improve. We're making plays on both sides of the ball."

In that article, Tsai also writes about Elliott Purcell, who considered quitting the team due to family problems last year, but is now dedicated and has ascended to No. 2 right defensive end.

Tsai writes that Greg McMackin met a lot of people at yesterday's coaches clinic.

There were more than 400 high school and youth-league coaches who attended yesterday’s clinic. It appeared as if McMackin introduced himself to each one.
As offensive coordinator Ron Lee said: Mack “shakes more hands than Obama.”

Jason Kaneshiro and Dave Reardon's Sports Notebook features Erik Pedersen, who is back at linebacker after five position changes in his UH career. They also write about the improvement of Kealoha Pilares at slot, Calvin Roberts' ascension to No. 1 right corner, and some coaches talking about yesterday's clinic.

Kaneshiro profiles defensive tackle Vaughn Meatoga, who talks about the recent death of his mother, as well as his progress on the field.

Meatoga, a redshirt freshman, didn't make the trip to the bowl game at New Year's, instead staying home on Kauai to be with his family. He is back on the field this spring looking to make a push for playing time at defensive tackle when the fall rolls around.

He's been playing with the second unit on the Warriors' defensive front lately and his progress, on and off the field, is evident even to those who haven't known him all that long.

Reardon profiles sophomore offensive lineman Adrian Thomas. Here's a quote from O-line coach Brian Smith:

"Adrian's had a real good spring so far. He's big, strong and fairly athletic. So I think he's still a little bit away. But if he keeps improving, keeps getting better he's going to push some of these guys.

"Football's pretty new to him. He's still learning the fundamentals, but he's a competitor, he's strong and he really wants to be good so he's working hard at it. He's got a real good future here."

Leila Wai has a video, which includes Blaze Soares interviewing coach Ikaika Malloe, while Inoke Funaki and Keala Watson talk about the performance of the offense and defense.

And Irse has posted a few pictures from yesterday's practice up.