Sitting out all but three games last fall left Aaron Brown awfully hungry to get into spring ball.

Actually, hungry probably doesn't do his craving justice.

“;Starving,”; the Hawaii linebacker clarified. “;I could eat a horse, let's put it that way.”;

Brown played through a nagging hamstring injury early last season. But when the pain persisted, it was decided he would redshirt and take another shot at his junior season this year.

Now he's back to full speed and part of a linebacker unit replacing its top two performers in Blaze Soares and R.J. Kiesel-Kauhane.

The duo started every game last year, with Soares leading the Warriors with 107 total tackles and Kiesel-Kauhane making a team-high nine tackles for loss.

Brown and Corey Paredes opened the spring as the leading contenders to step into those roles as the outside linebackers with Jake Heun and Mana Lolotai among the candidates at middle linebacker.

“;Blaze and R.J. were awesome and I think they were the heart of the defense last year, but we have to step up,”; said Paredes, who started four games and led the Warriors with four sacks as a sophomore. “;We have to focus in and be physical and hopefully we can fill those shoes.”;

Sorting out the competition at linebacker was among the reasons the Hawaii coaches scripted more full-speed contact into spring practice. The Warriors got their first dose yesterday morning, with the offense and defense meeting up after spending the first two practices on opposite ends of the field.

The heaviest contact came in the 9-on-7 period, a session dedicated to executing and defending the running game.

“;It felt good, I missed this a lot,”; said Paredes, who had an interception in 7-on-7 drills. “;The emotions you get when you're in competition, you don't experience it any other place. Everyone's trying to find their role on the team, and we're trying to find leaders ... so the intensity is a lot higher.”;

Brown was expected to bolster the secondary as a safety when he arrived in Manoa last summer. But he was shifted to outside linebacker during fall camp to utilize his strength at 6-foot-1, 205 pounds while adding speed to the unit.

The hamstring led to the redshirt and he spent the rest of the season letting it heal while learning the schemes primarily through observation and film study.

“;It was a little tough,”; Brown said. “;(The field is) like my second home, so it's tough to watch all your brothers come out here and perform and that's all you want to do, come out and compete.”;

Now that he's back, the spring offers a chance to develop chemistry within the unit while vying for positioning on the depth chart.

“;We're working on our communication, so we're on the same page and we're going to know our assignments and where our help is,”; Brown said.

While the linebackers compete during the spring, how the unit looks in the fall depends heavily on whether the NCAA grants Brashton Satele a sixth year of eligibility. Satele was in line to start at middle linebacker last year before a shoulder injury ended his season during fall camp.

“;I'm really anxious to see what the NCAA does with Brashton,”; UH head coach Greg McMackin said. “;If Brashton comes back, we're really a solid corps.”;