With the Hawaii football team’s spring practice postponed and UH students shifting to online instruction, the Rainbow Warriors are finding ways to cope and go about business during this COVID-19 pandemic.
“The main focus is the health, safety and well-being of our student-athletes,” head coach Todd Graham said of the Warriors’ football team. “Second is their academics. That they’re performing and progressing toward graduation, and doing what we’re being instructed to do by the officials to make sure we’re safe and taking care of each other, and hoping this thing will pass quickly.”
Team practices and workouts have been suspended through May 15, the end of UH’s spring semester.
By appointment, players are able to receive treatment in the athletic department’s athletic-training facility. Academic advisers are available through online communication or telephone calls or by appointment.
Graham said the coaches are in daily online or telephone communication with the players and their families. Graham said he sent emails to parents to reinforce “the commitment their son is family to me, and I’m going to treat their son and take care of their son like I would do my own. I don’t take the commitment lightly.”
Graham added: “We talk to our players every single day to make sure we’re taking care of each other. It’s a great opportunity to build trust within our team, especially being new.”
Graham was hired Jan. 21 as the successor to Nick Rolovich, who resigned as UH head coach to accept the coaching job at Washington State.
Graham said several players have been selected as “mentors” for their teammates.
“Obviously, we were looking forward to spring ball,” Graham said. “That’s not going to happen. How can we be better? We can be better every day. We can be closer every day as a football team. We can take care of each other. We can build trust at this time. We can be innovative. What are some of the things we can do innovative through technology to make sure we’re staying sharp, taking care of each other, staying on top of the things we’re doing.”
Graham said the coaches have sent play updates to the players.
“We can’t have spring practice, but we can still send them things through video where they can watch installations, and learn football, and study football,” Graham said. “There are a lot of challenges that are different for them. And for us to embrace new things. And for us to teach, teach, teach, and them to learn, learn, learn. That’s the mode brand right now.”
Before the stoppage, the Warriors had participated in the offseason conditioning program. The UH facilities are not open to football-related workouts. “Right now, we’re working on videos where they can work out doing pull-ups, push-ups and sit-ups — old-school ways of keeping up the work we’ve already put in,” Graham said. “And then to make sure we can interact through Zoom and video chat.”
The Warriors also are recruiting during this NCAA “dead” period in which in-person contact is not allowed. But prospects are allowed to call coaches.
In following guidelines discouraging large gatherings, the coaches are meeting in small groups.
“We broke up offensively and defensively in groups of three or four people breaking down our opponents,” Graham said. “And focusing on how we can be better teachers, how we can support our student-athletes, and how we can build and grow the trust and the relationships it takes to really serve our community and our state.”
Graham said he hopes his players can serve as role models during this situation.
“I tell our players you represent this great state, you represent this university,” Graham said. “It’s important we model the discipline that it takes to carry out the plan. … My own son is 18, and I’ve had to get on him about it. ‘Hey, this is a serious situation. Don’t ignore this. It’s important. A lot of people think this is not affecting them. It is. (If you get infected) you can infect others. You need to look after other people.’ The bottom line is we have to be disciplined in our approach to how we respond to leadership and the plan we’ve been given. We want to be an example to the community when it comes to that.”
