WARRIOR FOOTBALL
Hawaii taps in to Florida talent
UH has a pair of players from the state and hope word is spreading
It's a little early to say a 5,000-mile pipeline from Hawaii to Florida needs only the finishing touches.
But Warrior football fans may notice that head coach June Jones already has two players in camp with connections to Nease High School near Jacksonville, Fla., and is looking for more.
The Panthers were state champions last year, and annually produce some top college talent. Rick Taylor is the first former Nease player to sign with the Warriors. He's in a crowded situation at wide receiver, but got a good head start on the run-and-shoot offense at his Florida high school.
Quarterback Will Brogan, who also has a tie to Nease, is in camp as well. Hawaii hopes Taylor and Brogan are just the first wave of Panthers to become Warriors. UH has already offered a scholarship to 6-foot-4, 305-pound offensive lineman James Wilson, one of the most sought-after players nationally in the high school class of 2007.
"We're doing our best to tell him how good it is out here," said Taylor. "We're making sure James knows this is a great school for offensive linemen."
Normally, UH might not have a chance for a national-level recruit, but the Warriors' connection to Nease goes beyond Taylor and Brogan. (It also doesn't hurt that Wilson's father played basketball at UH.)
Panthers coach Craig Howard is part of the family tree; he is from Oregon, played at Linfield with UH offensive line coach Wes Suan, and previously coached at Oregon Institute of Technology with Warriors receivers coach Ron Lee and former UH defensive coordinator Greg McMackin.
Howard took the four-wide offense when he left for the other corner of the continent. That made UH a natural for the 5-foot-11, 180-pound Taylor.
"Back in my high school it's pretty much the same offense. It was a good fit for me to come out here," he said.
Pending two NCAA appeals, the Warriors might not lose any of the 18 players who caught passes last season. But Taylor will eventually get his chance, Jones said.
"Rick Taylor looks to me like he has a real chance to be a player for us. He's smart and he's got good quickness. He looks to me like he can do it all," Jones said.
Brogan didn't play at Nease, but was a coach for the freshman team last fall.
Brogan knows he might have a long wait before his time comes to quarterback the Hawaii offense.
But the walk-on wants to make sure he's ready if and when his opportunity comes about.
"He's a pretty smart kid," UH quarterbacks coach Dan Morrison said of the 6-foot-1, 199-pound Brogan. "He's picking (Hawaii's run-and-shoot offense) up fine. He's worked real hard to make sure he's prepared.
"He comes from a good high school program," Morrison added.
Make that two good high school programs.
Brogan started as a senior two years ago for Southern California powerhouse Canyon, and made all-league.
Last year, he returned to Ponte Vedra Beach near Jacksonville and spent the season after high school graduation preparing for college and helping as a freshman-team coach at Nease, along with Taylor.
So if anyone says Brogan and Taylor are like coaches on the field, it's actually true.
"It helps a lot. You see more from a coach's perspective. You see the big view," Brogan said.
And that might make him a little more patient as he tries to climb the depth chart that has junior Colt Brennan, sophomore Tyler Graunke and freshman Inoke Funaki ahead of him. Brogan said he knew what he was getting into.
"I accept the challenge," Brogan said. "What makes it good is we have a great bunch of guys."
Brogan is making progress, Jones said.
"It's hard for a first-year freshman quarterback, but he's doing some good things," Jones said. "It's his first seven days with the offense, so like everyone else in that situation his head is swimming."
UH running backs coach and run-and-shoot guru Mouse Davis also knows Howard from Oregon and speaks with him frequently. Howard's connection with Jones, Davis, Lee and Suan could lead to a long line of Panthers-turned-Warriors.
Much of that potential depends on Taylor and Brogan.
"You get a maverick, you get just one kid. You get a pretty good kid, then that starts the pipeline going," Davis said. "I don't care where he's from. If it works for one kid, it'll work for another kid."
CJ the CB: Junior-college transfer CJ Hawthorne worked out at cornerback yesterday, and did a pretty good job, Jones said.
"He's just what I thought. He's got a lot of speed and he works really hard," Jones said of the 5-foot-11, 165-pound athlete, who was mostly used at receiver in junior college. "He's got a chance to play either position and I'll leave it up to him after spring which one he wants to try."