GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM
Hawaii walk-on freshman Doug Wylie looked for running room during practice last week. The former Maui resident is making a good impression.
Walk-on Doug Wylie's actions
speak louder than words
FRESHMEN -- especially walk-ons -- are supposed to be seen and not heard.
But the noise Doug Wylie made the first week of Hawaii's fall football camp wasn't with his mouth. It was with action, and that's fine with the veterans and coaches.
The 6-foot, 196-pound running back from Granite Bay, Calif., has resembled a block of granite, carrying up the middle and absorbing heavy hits from the Warriors' veteran defenders, some of the toughest and strongest players in the Western Athletic Conference.
And he's making a name for himself by keeping quiet and doing his job.
"He's a hard-nosed kid and he gives us a great look on scout team. We need a back that's gonna run it up there and take a pounding from Isaac Sopoaga and Lance Samuseva and Chad Kalilimoku," said defensive backs coach Rich Miano, who coordinates the Warriors walk-on program. "Those guys are pounding on that kid every day. He just gets up, doesn't say a word, runs back to the huddle and runs it again."
It's doubtful Wylie will get any playing time soon. The Warriors have four returnees who played last year, and their run-and-shoot offense employs only one running back at a time. They also have two other big freshmen walk-ons in West Keliikipi (6-foot-1, 266 pounds) and Kala Latuselu (5-11, 215).
All Wylie wants is a chance. He could have accepted scholarship offers from San Diego, Linfield or the Coast Guard Academy. But he chose UH because he loved Maui, where he lived as a young child.
"I wanted to get back to Hawaii, and I saw Hawaii as a rising (football) program. It's starting to be a presence in the WAC, and I knew I wanted to come here. I based it on school and football," he said. "Basically, I just want to make the team. We've got a lot of good backs this year, with Brew (Michael Brewster), Michael Bass and John West. Hopefully just get on the team, hopefully the travel squad if I can get on some special teams."
Miano compares Wylie to Brock Forsey, the Boise State running back who was the WAC's Offensive Player of the Year in 2002, and is now trying to make the Chicago Bears.
"He's fearless, he's tough, and he's gonna continue to get stronger," Miano said of Wylie. "We're very impressed with him. And as Coach (June) Jones would say, he's as valuable as anybody because without that guy we don't get that look. And we need that look to get ready for what we're going to see, two backs and two tight ends and all that kind of stuff.
"With his work ethic -- he loves to lift weights, he loves to train -- he will be a player for us sooner or later."
Jones welcomes another 12 or 13 walk-ons when school starts later this month. One of the more intriguing members of that group is 6-5, 238-pound defensive end Frank Pojsl, a transfer from Northern Illinois originally from the Czech Republic.
Although players like Wylie do a lot of dirty work, walk-ons aren't treated like so many slabs of meat. A Doug Wylie or a Frank Pojsl could end up having a long NFL career -- like Miano, UH's most famous walk-on.
"We've had some great walk-ons we've put on scholarship and we have some we will this year. That's one thing here in Hawaii we have always had pretty good success with," Jones said. "(All-WAC safety) Hyrum Peters is a walk-on. A lot of kids get overlooked. We provide them with an opportunity to show what they can do. If they do what we think they can do, we try to take care of them."
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