LINEBACKERS (LB)
DUSTIN SNIPES / SPECIAL TO THE STAR-BULLETIN
Solomon Elimimian, right, was much more than a tourist in Seattle this summer. He worked out with fellow inside linebacker Adam Leonard, who lives in Washington state's largest city.
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The young and the restless compete for jobs
Hawaii could have a hard time recruiting linebackers this year. It would be difficult for position coaches Cal Lee and George Lumpkin or head coach June Jones to promise a prospect early playing time while keeping a straight face.
Good luck cracking this group sometime before 2008. C.J. Allen-Jones, sophomore. Solomon Elimimian, sophomore. John Fonoti, sophomore. Tyson Kafentzis, sophomore. Adam Leonard, sophomore. Brashton Satele, freshman. Blaze Soares, freshman.
Yes, experience is a question mark -- but only on the edges, where Allen-Jones, Satele, Kafentzis and maybe transfer Amani Purcell have played few downs at outside linebacker. Despite their considerable talent, if they don't learn quickly, Warriors fans will be missing Tanuvasa Moe and Kila Kamakawiwo'ole, and not just because they're good guys.
But inside is a totally different deal.
Elimimian started 10 games last year and called the signals as a true freshman, making 83 tackles.
Leonard played in eight as his gimpy knee gradually got better over the course of the season. By the end of the year he was looking like the blue-chip recruit he was before a torn ACL cost him his high school senior season and offers from the top Pac-10 schools
Soares and Satele were two of the best defensive recruits in the Hawaii prep class of 2005, and both can probably play inside or outside. Lee and Lumpkin and defensive coordinator Jerry Glanville used fall camp to figure out who their best four are.
It's a pleasant problem they'll have to deal with for two more years with pretty much the same cast of characters.
Unit at a glance
The latest in a long line of hitters
Kafentzis.
The name should ring a bell for Hawaii football fans, since UH players by that name have been ringing the bells of opposing players for generations.
Even if it didn't have its historical significance in Hawaii football history, the name sounds like it would belong to a hard-nosed defensive player, someone like UH sophomore Tyson Kafentzis.
Like his father, Mark, uncles Kent, Kurt, Kyle and Sean and his brother Landon before him, Tyson came from Richland, Wash., to hit. To stick people, to tackle them. Hard.
He got into all 12 games as a freshman last fall, mostly on special teams, making 16 tackles. He's competing for a starting spot at outside linebacker this year, hoping to carry on the family tradition.
"I feel really confident," Kafentzis said on the first day of fall practice. "In spring ball everyone was jelling. And we're just flying around."