Doug Rosevold:
A top prospect at Bandit linebacker

The two defensive coaches for the University of Hawaii have played for or been assistants on some of the top college and professional programs in the country.

Williams was a linebacker at Stanford for four years, and briefly for one season with the San Francisco 49ers. Lindsey coached at Southern California, Alabama, Georgia Tech and Arkansas, and has been a part of four national titles.

So when the pair began to prepare for fall camp nearly two weeks ago, they knew things weren't as they should be.

For starters, they didn't really have any. That is to say not one of their linebackers was familiar with the 4-3 scheme.

The ones who had the most experience in the Rainbows' version of the 3-4 alignment - Punahou Aina, Peter Salavea and Shawn Harris - flunked out over the summer.

Only Kamuela Cobb-Adams and walk-on Greg Roach had any real game experience in 1995. Cobb-Adams started four games en route to 36 tackles. Roach had 12 tackles in 12 games. Not exactly awe-inspiring.

"We don't have a lot of experience," said Williams, who will be coaching linebackers for the first time at the Division I level.

"Even the three guys we lost haven't competed in this formation, so losing them probably won't make that much of a difference experience-wise."

But it will definitely make a difference in the level of talent. Salavea was one of the top local recruits in 1995. As a first-year player, he had 38 tackles and one quarterback sack.

Aina finished second on the team in tackles last year with 78, and recorded two quarterback sacks. Harris played primarily on special teams, but had five tackles and a fumble recovery in eight games.

"We're pretty green at linebacker," Lindsey said. "When you start naming the guys you've got penciled in up there, it really hits you.

"But I don't dwell on that. I've told the guys that it's up to them how good they are. We're only as strong as our weakest link, that kind of thing.

"I told them straight up that we aren't big, that we aren't fast and we aren't experienced. They didn't argue with that. But that doesn't mean we won't come out and play hard every game."

As defensive coordinator, Lindsey prefers to call his three linebackers Bandit, Mike and Will.

The Bandit linebacker is on the strong side across from the tight end. The Mike linebacker is in the middle with the Will linebacker lines up on the weak side away from the tight end.

Doug Rosevold, Matt Paul and Cobb-Adams are the top three on the strong side. The middle linebackers are Mark Jenkins, Paulo Kamakeeaina, Lesa Maiava and Stephen Gonzales. The top players on the weak side are Roach, Cobb-Adams, Rufus Ayeni and Ryan Battin.

"Doug is probably the most talented of that group," Williams said. "If we had a little better personnel on the outside, we'd probably have him in the middle."

But because of his size and speed, look for Rosevold to remain on the outside. He does a good job of turning up the run and keeping close to the tight end on pass plays, a must in this formation.

On the downside, Rosevold is a junior college transfer with no Division I experience, while Paul is straight out of high school.

It's not the only linebacker spot with little experience. Jenkins, who has missed most of fall camp with a bad knee, played in only four games last year.

The other middle candidates - Kamakeeaina, Maiava and Gonzales - have little or no experience at this level. On the weak side, Ayeni is a junior college transfer and Battin has played primarily on special teams for UH.

"Here's something for you, Rufus has played only five games of defense in his life," Lindsey said. "He was a running back in junior college, but the guy can play."

Hawaii coach Fred vonAppen made a similar observation yesterday after Ayeni stuck his helmet on several running backs during the afternoon workout.

"He's a mature kid out of junior college who has a plan in place," vonAppen said. "I wish more of our young guys were like him.

"Overall, we're a little thin at linebacker, but I guess you could say that about a lot of positions.

"I'm confident Don and Tom will have them lined up right. But just how good we are back there is something we won't know until we get them under the lights."