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The members of the University of Hawaii football team are proving to be tough mudders.
On the final day of offseason training, more than 100 Rainbow Warriors were covered in mud and confidence as they descended the eastern slope of the Waianae Mountain range.
Theyre ready, associate head coach Chris Brown said after the recent training session at Schofield Barracks.
The Warriors report to training camp Tuesday.
The first practice is Wednesday ahead of the Aug.
29 opener against Stanford.
Once again, the Warriors ended months of strength and conditioning drills with M-3 mission, mindset, mentality at Schofield.
Retired Army Col.
Trey Johnson ran the Schofield program, which included team-building exercises and two obstacle courses.
Allen Hoe, a combat medic who served in Vietnam and was awarded a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star, was one of the sponsors.
We just took the same ideas that the Army uses to get their soldiers ready, Brown said.
I was able to work with Col.
Trey Johnson, and every year he works it out where Schofield Barracks opens up and they allow us to use their obstacle courses.
Its creating teamwork.
Its creating leadership.
Its creating the ability to overcome adversity.
And its great communication.
A couple of generations ago, college teams used training camp to get in shape for the season.
At UH two decades ago, training camp opened with 20 220-yard sprints.
Now Bobby Thomas, in his second year as the Warriors strength/conditioning coordinator, has the players entering camp in fit shape.
Thomas said he crafts individual and team plans based on the way head coach Timmy Chang wants to play this coming season.
Thomas created incremental stages for players recovering from injuries, such as quarterback Micah Alejado and linebacker Jamih Otis.
As their health improved, they were able to advance to the next level of workouts.
Both are fully healthy.
During workouts, players wore GPS trackers that measured their vital signs and stamina.
The data showed several players, like nickelback Elijah Palmer, were able to function at a high level throughout the workouts.
Palmer has shown to be effective in the fourth quarter.
Thomas said all the position groups met their offseason goals.
He praised the receivers as being extraordinary.
These guys are absolute track stars.
But they all did well.
The entire defensive line did well.
QUARTERBACKS Mountain West opponents are bracing for the evolving impact of AI Alejado Intelligence on their defenses.
Through video studies and Q-and-A sessions with coaches and teammates, Micah Alejado has mastered the intricacies of the four-wide offense.
Within a snap-to-release window of 2.2 seconds, Alejado speed-reads coverages, then launches lead passes to vacant areas.
Head coach Timmy Chang, who calls the offensive plays, said the 5-foot-10 Alejado has a knack for guiding passes through and over towering defensive fronts.
A natural left-hander, Alejado can accurately throw right-handed spirals up to 30 yards, making him a threat on rollouts to either side.
He also has shown grit.
He played 11 games on a fractured right ankle last year.
Bjorn Jurgensen, who redshirted as a Virginia freshman in 2025, is the lone backup following freshman Maika Eugenios departure.
Kamehameha graduate Hazyn Botelho is expected to lead the scout team.
UH is prepared to add another quarterback during training camp.
RUNNING BACKS Of the running backs, Landon Sims and Cam Barfield accounted for 85.6% of last seasons carries and 12 of 13 TDs.
Sims, who was used in the base packages, completed his NCAA career, leaving Barfield as the primary back.
Landon was awesome, but Cam was just as awesome, offensive coordinator Anthony Arceneaux said.
Barfield is fast (21 mph) and strong (325-pound bench press).
At 5-9, he uses his lower-body strength (465-pound squat lift) on dives (7.45 yards per up-the-gut rush), to keep grinding (3.02 post-contact yards) and to gain leverage on pass rushers (zero sacks allowed on 58 pass-protection situations).
He also did not fumble on 80 carries.
Barfields fellow Bishop Gorman High alumnus, DeVon Rice, joins the Warriors after two seasons at K-State.
Sitani Mikaele is ready for big-back opportunities after a year on scout offense and another on special teams.
TJ Foilefutu, an early enrollee from Arizonas Liberty High, is termed as an enforcing-type running back.
Translation: smash ball.
RECEIVERS Slotback Pofele Ashlock cemented a legacy with 220 receptions the past three seasons.
According to receivers coach Jared Ursua, Pofele is one of the guys who can use the (Indiana coach Curt) Cignetti line: Google me.
Slotbacks Tama Uiliata, Blaze Kamoku and Audric Harris can make pushes to become popular searches.
Uiliata is a triple threat as a receiver, runner and wildcat passer.
He is skilled at adjusting routes, even when the football already is airborne.
Kamoku is a quick cutter with 20 mph speed.
In two years at Washington, Harris was a wideout for one season and inside receiver the next.
In being named the states Offensive Player of the Year as a Kahuku High junior in 2021, Kainoa Kaikai Carvalho caught 64 passes, averaged 9.3 yards on end-around runs and jet sweeps, scored on three kickoff and two punt returns, and converted 45 point-after kicks.
He appeared in two games in 2025 after returning from a two-year church mission in Japan.
Wideouts Jackson Harris and Brandon White transferred, but the Warriors reloaded with speedy Power-4 receivers.
Iowa State transfer Carson Brown was limited in spring ball because of hamstring issues.
Brown has logged 562 snaps 337 as a wideout the past two seasons.
Virginia Tech transfer Devin Alves, who also has played defensive back, has been clocked at 21 mph.
Tre Griffiths, who transferred from Oklahoma State, is capable of sprinting 40 yards in sub-4.5 seconds.
Freshman Robert Haynes IV has drawn comparisons to former UH receiver Steven McBride.
Entering his senior year at Ridge Point High in Houston, Haynes made an oral commitment to Arkansas, turning down offers from Louisville, Pitt, UNLV and Tulsa.
After Arkansas made a coaching change, Haynes de-committed.
Haynes, who is 6-2 and 170 pounds, was timed at 22 mph in the flying 10, which measures the peak speed during a 10-yard dash.
TIGHT ENDS Under Jeremy Kerrs supervision, the position has multiple purposes.
Devon Tauaefa, who has gained 30 pounds in three years, can mix 15-yard routes with chip blocks.
Frank Abreu is a sure-handed receiver.
Micah Kaonohi-Kaihenui is better suited attached to the line.
Oakie Salavea and Matthew Bailiff are fullback/H-back hybrids.
When the Warriors go to a jumbo package, O-linemen Uluaki Taukiuvea, Vake Hehea or Jordan Kernaghan enters as a sixth front-line blocker.
OFFENSIVE LINE The 2005 Warriors were loaded, with stars Colt Brennan, Davone Bess.
Solomon Elimimian, Samson Satele and Nate Ilaoa.
The MVP? That was unheralded center Derek Faavi, now UHs O-line coach.
This years version of Faavi is center Ethan Spencer, who surveys the defense, makes the blocking calls and usually grapples with the heaviest opponent.
Great special powers to have, Faavi said.
Dean Briski, the Warriors undisputed speed-eating champ, moves from left tackle to the right side.
Because of the ambidextrous schemes, Briski is not a true blind-side tackle for the left-handed Alejado.
Judah Kaio, who has logged 524 snaps the past two seasons, gets the first shot at right guard.
Faavi said left tackle Boogie Henderson has good footwork and is now at a game-ready weight of the low 300s.
Lipe Moala is a self-styled people mover; Campbell grad Taimi Manuma and transfers Denaris DeRosa (San Jose State) and Khalil Walker (South Florida) are competing at left guard.
DEFENSIVE ENDS The room is evenly divided with four traditional four-down ends and four hybrid rush/outside ends.
Of the latter group, Lester Lagafuaina is the leader of the QB hunters.
Kaeo Akana has gained 30 pounds and now weighs 245 since transferring from Utah last year.
As a Roosevelt High sophomore in 2019, Akana led the state with 23.5 sacks.
Noah Wily, who added 22 pounds to his 6-3 frame, creates anxiety for offensive tackles because of quick first step on pass rushes.
Nazaiah Red Caravallo is most effective in space.
Haaheo Dela Cruz is a solid D-end because of toughness against the run and intelligence in the zone-read game.
Spencer Elliott played more than 1,600 snaps in three years at Portland State, where he was a co-captain last year.
Josh Sagapolutele moved from D-tackle to end this past spring.
West Virginia transfer Adam Tomczyks background is playing across the B gap (between the guard and tackle).
Flexing to the outside shoulder of the tackle gives Tomczyk a better angle to the outside running paths.
INTERIOR LINEMEN Fully healthy, Luther McCoy was a pain to opponents, using his 6-5, 275-pound frame to create barriers to the flats and quickness to elude grasping blockers.
McCoy can play the nose, 3-tech tackle and, in odd fronts, slide to end.
McCoy underwent four surgeries two at Creekside High School in Jacksonville, another two at Minnesota to repair a labrum tear in his right shoulder.
It essentially cost him four years of development.
He excelled in the classroom, twice being named to the Big Tens All-Academic team.
He entered the portal in December 2024 and joined the Warriors the next month.
Geoffrey Speight, who can play both interior positions, was at VMI for three seasons and West Georgia in 2025.
Ozzy Pollard (son of former NBA player Scot Pollard), former BYU 3-tech Iosefa Letuli, Tonga Paea, and Elijah Williams are in the interior rotation.
Williams was so energetic after UH workouts he signed up for speed-and-quickness sessions with former UH cornerback Kenny Patton.
LINEBACKERS The inside-outside combo Wynden Hoohuli and Jamih Otis has taken over the linebacker room known as the Lions Den.
Hoohuli, at the mike after moving from D-end, is the run stuffer.
He relies on keen peripheral vision, comprehension of blocking schemes and aggressive hands.
He has an elite jab to create separation from blockers.
Proof of Otis recovery from an ACL injury are noted on stopwatches.
He has regained 4.5-second speed over 40 yards.
At 5-11, Otis models his game after 6-foot Devin Whites.
Matteus Ioane has earned a reputation as a hard-hitting mike.
He is what I call the Axe Murderer, linebackers coach Chris Brown said.
Hes trying to kill you on every single play.
He has that old-school mindset.
A lot of times I have to douse the flames with that kid.
Zaden Mariteragi, a one-time end, excels on 10-yard blitzes.
Once cleared from ACL injury, Alika Cavaco-Amoy will be used in the speed packages as a blitzer.
Aisiah Scoob Paogofie has drawn comparisons to former UH defenders Peter Manuma and Darius Muasau.
In the move from safety, Paogofie bulked up to 210 pounds.
His uncle is Chris Paogofie, a former Waianae High linebacker known as the King of the West Side.
Brown said Chris was the greatest high school player.
We all looked up to him.
I think (the younger Paogofie) can be a superstar here.
CORNERBACKS The corners can align left and right, or field and boundary, or match up to the receivers.
Caleb C-Bo Brown, who returns to UH after an injury-doomed season at Virginia Tech, is the top corner.
In his previous two-year UH stint, Brown played 784 snaps, including 350 in coverage, relinquishing only two TDs.
Zion Allen, Jeremiah Hughes, Jaylon Edmond, Elijah Gibson and Kainoa Ontai will be part of the rotation.
Allen is capable of running 100 meters in 10,5 seconds.
Hughes weighed 195 when he transferred from Michigan State in January.
Hes down to 180.
Gibson ran a 10.4 in the 100 in high school.
Freshmen Kydel Stone, Avin Houston and Jahren Altura, as well as Olivet Nazarene transfer Junior Fetu are seeking roles in training camp.
SAFETIES With Manuma, Kilinahe Mendiola-Jensen and Justin Sinclair completing their NCAA careers, Matagi Thompson (564 UH snaps in four years) and Kona Moore are ready for the spotlight.
Moore has rebounded from a torn ACL in 2023 and broken arm last year.
West Georgia transfer Joenel Figueroa faced a learning curve in spring ball but impressed during player-run practices.
Zeke Rodrigues, Riis Weber, Kela Moore and Brayton Correa also are vying for spots in the rotation.
NICKELBACKS It was at Bishop Gorman High when Elijah Palmer realized there would not be another pencil mark on the wall to measure his growth.
Once I understood I was going to be undersized, it put even more of a chip on my shoulders, Palmer said.
I wanted to make sure I was going to get it done no matter what.
Palmers speed allows him to play inside corner and middle safety.
His strength (365-pound bench, 465-pound back squat) is helpful when he plays in the box or as a flex end.
Palmer analyzes football video and, several times a week, is joined by defensive coordinator Dennis Thurman.
Makana Meyer can play nickel, safety, inside corner while in man-to-man or press coverage.
SPECIALISTS The Warriors are seeking to replace All-America kicker Kansei Tokyo Toe Matsuzawa, now with the Las Vegas Raiders, and punter Billy Gowers, who transferred to Indiana.
Sean Olvera-Harle has connected from 65 yards during practice.
Real next-level leg, special teams coordinator Thomas Sheffield said.
Hudson Borsari, a freshman, kicked a 55-yard field goal last week.
How many kickers bench 305 pounds? Sheffield said.
He does.
Texas transfer Gehrig Heil and Gannon Miller are competing at punter.
Heil is accurate in placing punts.
Millers A-Ball his towering punt has a 4.8-second hang time.
The Warriors might bring in another punter next month.