The good news is the unit is now in the able hands of coaching veteran Chris Tormey, who begins his first year at UH after three decades in the business, including head coaching stints at Nevada and Idaho.
One position that has Tormey excited is punter.
Alex Dunnachie, a native of Heidleberg, Victoria, Australia, is considered one of the top prospects in recent history. Dunnachie hopes to stir echoes of the school's last Aussie punter Mat McBriar, who has earned all-star status at both UH and in the NFL with the Dallas Cowboys. For Dunnachie, the season opener versus Central Arkansas will be his ultimate initiation into American football.
“We're really pleased with Alex,” Tormey said. “I think he's ahead of schedule. For a guy who hasn't played an American football game before, he's picking up the concepts really well. He has tremendous ability and I think he's going to develop into an outstanding player.”
For the first time in five years, UH is in search of a new placekicker. Newcomers
Brian Blumberg and
Scott Enos will battle it out for the starting job.
“We have two qualified place kickers, both of whom were outstanding placekickers in junior college last year,” Tormey said. “They're in a pretty heated competition now and as soon as we get closer to game time it will start to sort itself out.”
Meanwhile, there will be another Ingram in the fold.
Luke Ingram joins the squad this year and looks to replicate the success of his older brother at long snapper.
“Luke is very consistent and has outstanding speed on the ball,” Tormey said. “He takes his job very seriously and works hard to evolve his talent. He's another young guy that has a bright future here at UH.”
UH won't have the services of wide receiver and kickoff return man
Malcolm Lane, who will redshirt the 2009 season. Lane was a proven big-play commodity and had five returns of 40 yards or more last season, including a 91-yard return against Utah State. For now,
Jovonte Taylor is the top runner for the position this season. The junior college transfer returned nine kicks in the first three games of 2008, before earning a medical redshirt.
Meanwhile, the Warriors hope to drastically improve its punt-return average after finishing 119
th nationally last year.
Ryan Henry,
Kealoha Pilares and Taylor lead the list of candidates.
“We've got some speed back there and we're still kind of sorting through players,” Tormey said. “The key to improving this year is doing a good job of holding up the coverage people at the line of scrimmage. If we can give our return guy an opportunity to get started, we'll have a chance to make bigger returns than last year”
*will redshirt in 2009
-UH-
