HAWAII FOOTBALL
Warriors warm up in Atlanta
ATLANTA » Hawaii faces one of the biggest road challenges in its football history Saturday at Alabama. But it felt like a huge reunion here yesterday at the home of the Braves, CNN and Coca-Cola.
First the Warriors -- who arrived in the morning and got a few hours of rest before the 7 p.m. practice at Georgia Tech -- were greeted in the hotel lobby by former UH stars Vince Manuwai and Chad Owens. They both play for the Jacksonville Jaguars, who are in town to meet the Atlanta Falcons in an exhibition game tonight.
Manuwai and Owens said they will be at the UH game Saturday in Tuscaloosa.
When the Warriors got to the practice field (right next to where UH baseball coach Mike Trapasso used to instruct the Yellow Jacket pitchers) every move of coach June Jones and defensive coordinator Jerry Glanville were captured by a TV crew. That's because Jones and Glanville are both former head coaches of the Falcons. Jones also played quarterback for Atlanta.
"I have a lot of memories from the time I played and coached here, spending a lot of years here, a lot of memories," Jones said. "There are great places to go here. But the town has completely changed, some buildings were not even here.
"You have the Southern hospitality and it's a melting pot. People come to live here from all over. It makes it similar to Honolulu in that way," Jones said.
Jones, who was the Falcons' assistant head coach, replaced Glanville as head coach when Glanville was fired after the 1993 season.
"I'm treated better here than I deserve," Glanville said. "Everyone comes up to you and grabs you like you're their uncle. It's great."
Georgia Tech coach Chan Gailey, the former Dallas Cowboys coach, knows Jones and Glanville from when all three were working in the NFL. Gailey said he wouldn't mind setting up a home-and-home with UH.
"Shoot. That'd be great," Gailey said. "It'd be a fun trip over there. I don't know if we can get them to come back here after that long plane ride, but we might."
Georgia Tech opens at home against Notre Dame on Saturday.
"We both open up with some biggies. But that's what makes the game fun. You enjoy those big games that are challenges," Gailey said.
Another UH alumnus, Falcons offensive lineman Kynan Forney, took in practice. He enjoyed reuniting with offensive line assistant Dennis McKnight, who coached him at Hawaii in 1999 and 2000.
"You know the offensive line is always going to be good," said Forney, when asked his early impression of the Warriors.
Punter Kurt Milne, who is from nearby Roswell, met up with his parents. Safety Spencer Smith, of Marietta, another Atlanta suburb, met up with his folks. Also, several UH fans from the area and a few who made the trip from Hawaii attended the practice.
Team captain Sam Satele repeated that the Warriors do not plan to do the haka prior to Saturday's game at Bryant-Denny Stadium. But the team did perform one before yesterday's practice.
Then the Warriors tried to work out whatever jet lag was left in an efficient 2-hour session.
At first it seemed like it would be a cool evening, but it got muggy for the second hour after the sun set (a rain storm complete with thunder and lightning hit Atlanta around midnight).
The weather and the time change didn't seem to bother quarterback Colt Brennan, who was on target with nearly all his passes.
Brennan said the Warriors don't feel like 17-point underdogs heading into Saturday.
"I think we were confident going into last season, but I don't think we really understood everything that was going to be in front of us. We wanted to go out and do good things, but there was a lot we had to learn," Brennan said of last year's 5-7 team. "I think we learned a lot in those fourth-quarter losses. We learned something from every one of those."
Many of the Warriors are still dealing with some nagging injuries. Two projected starters were limping after practice: outside linebacker Amani Purcell (foot) and right guard John Estes (groin).
But Jones said he doesn't think the starting lineup will be affected.
"I think we'll be OK," he said. "It was good. We got everything done we needed."
Defensive co-captain Ikaika Alama-Francis also said it was a good practice.
"I thought it was very good. Get the airplane ride out of us, get the sweat going, and I think everyone had their mind right," the senior defensive end said. "Every road trip is different. We just have to deal with whatever we're dealt."
Along those lines, Alama-Francis was surprised to learn Alabama plans to start true freshman Andre Smith opposite him at left tackle.
"Really? That's a change. I just got to be ready. If the coaches at Alabama think he's ready to start, I just have to play that much harder. I can't take anybody lightly," said Alama-Francis, who had five sacks last year. "He's probably a tremendous player who works hard and earned his spot on the starting roster, so I've got to come ready to play."