HONOLULU — Joey Yellen got the first-team treatment on Wednesday in his first full practice as a Hawaii Rainbow Warrior.
But that doesn’t necessarily mean that will be the case on Thursday.
The quarterback who arrived over the summer from the University of Pittsburgh made the most of Day 1 at the Manoa Lower Campus grass practice field. While he got to play with the Rainbow Warriors’ first-string offensive line, the team’s most experienced unit, he was slinging balls to a fleet of receivers largely new to both Yellen and spectating media.
In a traditional college football practice, all the orange-shirted quarterbacks on the team are grouped together for drills. However, Yellen was joined by only two others at his position for UH’s early morning session on Wednesday. That’s because head coach Timmy Chang and his staff elected to split the team, including all main position groups, into two different practice sessions every day of the first two weeks of camp.
Afterward, Yellen, a two-year Panthers backup who began his college career at Arizona State, was invited to speak to the press.
The practice format differed from other fall and spring camps he’s attended, but the spirit of competition was not. Returning UH reserves, Jake Farrell and Armani Edden, threw alongside Yellen in the day’s first session, and presumptive frontrunner Brayden Schager threw in the second session alongside Cammon Cooper and Connor Apo.
“I’m confident (about winning the job). I think if you asked any quarterback, they’ll say that,” Yellen said. “If you’re not, then what are you doing? So, I think you’ve got to be confident. You’ve got to feel like you’re the right guy for the job. I think everyone should feel that way.”
Yellen entered the portal at Pittsburgh after spring camp in May and arrived at UH — a school that lacked an established starting signal-caller upon the offseason defection of Chevan Cordeiro to San Jose State — in early June.
For the next two weeks, there is no guarantee that any player will get reps with a particular set of teammates — only that they will all get reps. That’s a benefit of the split-practice style that Chang, an assistant at Nevada the last five years, stumbled upon when the Wolf Pack had to adopt changes during the pandemic.
Of UH’s fall roster of 110, 60 are returnees from the 2021 season that ended in a storm of controversy around ex-coach Todd Graham and his alleged mistreatment of players.
UH spent the spring and the summer rehabbing its football image as much off the field as on it, fully investing in the “Braddahhood” mantra to boost morale.
Now there’s a month left to prepare for the Aug. 27 opener against Vanderbilt, and UH has no shortage of players to integrate to his system. About 30 of them saw action in a full Rainbow Warrior practice for the first time Wednesday.
Chang, the former UH quarterback in his first head-coaching job after overseeing receivers and tight ends in Reno, might regularly change up combinations based on performance, injuries, or to look at chemistry or specific scenarios. In theory, but not necessarily execution, the first session of the day features the first- and third-string players, and the second session the second- and fourth-stringers.
“For new guys, having this type of situation allows them to get right in the fire,” Chang said of the split practices. “Guys are not standing around and watching other guys. They’re just thrown in there. So, there’s going to be a lot of correction from film, and that’s where we’re at.”
The 6-foot-3 Yellen, of Mission Viejo, Calif., is among the handful of newcomers who have some FBS experience. He was a backup for NFL first-round draft pick Kenny Pickett at Pitt, appearing in seven games over two seasons. At ASU in 2019, he started just one game, but he made it count — he threw for 292 yards and four touchdowns in a 31-26 win over USC.
The ability to ad-lib surfaced Wednesday. He drew some oohs with a sidearm sling during a run-pass option play.
“I thought Joey did pretty good. I thought he threw the ball pretty good,” Chang said. “He was with some younger receivers, but he’s proven. He has some game film and some big-time games. I liked what I saw all summer. … It’ll slow down for him and he’ll keep improving as we go.”
Schager, who exited spring camp as the frontrunner among a pool of seven quarterbacks, spoke to the media after the second session. The sophomore who made spot appearances and a couple of starts as Cordeiro's backup in 2021 looked to have put on some bulk after a summer spent in the gym.
After two weeks of introducing (and reintroducing) their schemes to the players, UH’s scout work for Vanderbilt will begin, Chang said.
Senior linebacker Isaiah Tufaga went down with an apparent injury late in the first practice session.
“Some guys got nicked up today. We’ll get an injury report,” Chang said.
Season tickets/giveaways exceed 7,000
The majority of the capacity of seating of the Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics Complex for the upcoming 2022 season is spoken for.
For UH’s seven home contests at the roughly 9,000-seat venue, over 7,000 season tickets have been sold or distributed, UH Athletic Director David Matlin told Spectrum News.
That figure includes season-ticket holders, student season tickets, and UH corporate partner distributions, he said.
Shipley named to Groza Award watch list
Junior kicker Matthew Shipley was one of 30 players named to the 2022 Lou Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker Award watch list on Wednesday.
After going 18-for-21 on field goals and a perfect 42-for-42 on extra points in the 2021 season, the Texas native was named a Groza Award semifinalist, UH’s first since Jason Elam in 1992.
The 2022 semifinalists will be announced on Nov. 3.
“That’s where he belongs,” associate head coach and special teams coordinator Thomas Sheffield said.
“It’s a testament to him as well and what he can do. I see him continuing on that path," Sheffield added. "He’ll keep his head down, keep his focus, and make sure that he’s working really hard to be a finalist for that instead of on the watch list.”
A couple more shots from Wednesday's practices:
Brian McInnis covers the state's sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii.