Tuesday, September 15, 1998
They play defense for Hawaii
By Paul Arnett
but these five ex-signal callers
know how the other half livesStar-Bulletin
Being a quarterback is not like a temporary tattoo. It gets under your skin.Once you convene a huddle, call a play using words, letters and numbers in a sequence the uneducated couldn't possibly understand, then set the whole thing in motion with the simple phrase:
Down.
Set.
Hike.
Unless you've been under center, backpedaled to the fence in your neighbor's yard and hit your best friend in full stride with a perfect pass between the plum tree and the trampoline, then you probably won't understand how these five guys feel.
They remember the glory days of high school, when they walked the hallways as The Man. They can't forget the victories over the crosstown rivals, the city championships, the district titles. For these grand marshals, it was a long parade that eventually came to an end.
Not that the five converted quarterbacks playing defense this season for the University of Hawaii are leading Walter Mitty lives.
Starters Rinda Brooks and Daniel Ho-Ching, and reserves Ricky Lumford, Jovon Jiles and Joseph Correia knew the best way to Division I was on the other side of the football.
You can usually tell who they are by the way they watch a game. They're the ones making a pitch to an imaginary man as they scoot along the sidelines in the same direction as the play on the field.
Once the real quarterback lets the football fly, you might catch these former signal callers giving a bowler's lean as the pass nears its intended target.
"I'll sometimes catch myself saying stuff like, 'I wouldn't have done that. I would have pitched the ball.' You know how it is," said Jiles, who played quarterback at Crenshaw High in Los Angeles four years ago.
"But I knew the only way I was going to get a chance to go far at this level was to make the switch. I was willing to do that. And now, it looks like I'm going to get my shot at cornerback."
Lumford was one year behind Jiles at Crenshaw. In 1995, he led his high school to the city championship. There was some talk of Lumford playing quarterback for the Rainbows.
"But I didn't really want to and I told the coaches that," said Lumford.
"I really thought I was going to be a slotback or a receiver, but then the coaches asked me to move to defensive back. I got the chance to be the scout team quarterback last year before the game with Air Force because of my option background at Crenshaw.
"And that was fun, but if I'm going to play in a game, I know it will be as a defensive back or on special teams. I'm good with that."
So is Correia, who was a key part of St. Louis School's two Prep Bowl titles in 1993 and 1994. After high school, Correia's plans were to pitch professionally.
But after that dream died, he went to Saddleback (Ariz.) Junior College for a year as a linebacker before joining Hawaii this season and switching to defensive end.
"I didn't want to be a quarterback anymore because I wanted to play on the defensive side of the ball," Correia said. "Being a quarterback, you kind of know how the offense is going to run.
"I kind of know when a screen is coming, you know, the little things. I miss being quarterback a little, the pressure and the hype.
"But defense is more fun, more interesting. You can use your athleticism to play. Quarterback is the mind, everything you have to use. It's a lot harder. If you win, you get the spotlight. But if you lose, you're the dummy."
Brooks and Ho-Ching are certainly no dummies. These two former quarterbacks -- Brooks of Houston and Ho-Ching of Long Beach, Calif. -- are making the most of their moves to defense.
Brooks has been plagued with injuries, but his potential at outside linebacker is unlimited. He has great speed off the edge and can wreak havoc in the passing game. He would prefer to make a name for himself chasing a quarterback, not being one.
"I don't see any reason talking about it," Brooks said. "It's insulting because I'm a linebacker now."
Ho-Ching wasn't as reluctant to talk about his days under center. In fact, the free safety wouldn't mind running the option phase of the offense if coordinator Don Lindsey would let him.
"I'm not saying I'm as good as (1997 Heisman Trophy winner) Charles Woodson," Ho-Ching said. "But I would love to play on both sides of the football.
"Actually, I was recruited by (former UH head coach) Bob Wagner as a quarterback. But during my freshman year (1995), I told him I wanted to play right away. He said the best way for that to happen was to play defense."
And that's where UH defensive coordinator Tom Williams plans to keep him. Ho-Ching might be a good option quarterback, but he's a better hard-hitting safety.
"That's the thing about quarterbacks, they're usually good athletes," Williams said. "All five of these guys are very good athletes who were able to make the transition.
"It should help them on defense because they can think like a quarterback and anticipate what the play might be."
Ho-Ching agrees with that theory. But he also misses being the man barking the signals.
"It was kind of hard to let go," Ho-Ching said. "Because once you've been the No. 1 quarterback, there's a part of you that believes you could be one again."
Who's next:
Utah UtesWHEN: Saturday, 3 p.m., at Salt Lake City.
http://uhathletics.hawaii.edu
