Throughout the course of fall camp, HawaiiAthletics.com will provide a breakdown of the 2019 Rainbow Warrior football team, position-by-position, as the team prepares for its home season opener against Arizona on Saturday, Aug. 24.
The Run-n-Shoot offense enters its second season back in Mānoa spearheaded by junior
Cole McDonald who enjoyed a breakout sophomore campaign. The La Mirada, Calif. native has the keys to the offense and quarterback coach
Craig Stutzmann expects big things this upcoming season.
"He has unbelievable drive and he's very competitive—no one is going to outwork him, whether it's in the weight room or on the field," Stutzmann said. "Every time he takes a rep, he's trying to be the best. It really translates to his game. He's able to be coached and become a better quarterback."
Returnees
Newcomers
| Quarterback |
Ht |
Wt |
Cl |
Hometown (Last School) |
| Kamali'i Akina |
5-11 |
180 |
Jr. |
Stanford, Calif. (San Mateo College) |
| Boone Abbott |
6-2 |
175 |
Fr. |
Highland, Utah (American Fork HS) |
| Zach Daniel |
6-0 |
190 |
Fr. |
Houston, Texas (The Kinkaid School) |
2018 QBs lost:
Larry Tuileta,
Kolney Cassel,
Jeremy Moussa
The Ones To Watch: McDonald finished in the top 10 nationally in a half dozen categories last year, including sixth in touchdown passes (36)...he threw for 3,875 yards on 285-484 passing (58.9%) and was also a threat on his feet, rushing for 359 yards and four touchdowns..."I'm expecting him to take the next step in terms of consistency and the way he communicates with the receivers and teammates," said Stutzmann.
Lightning In A Bottle: Redshirt freshman
Chevan Cordeiro made the most of his limited time last season, leading UH to come-from-behind wins over Wyoming and UNLV. "He's been having a really good camp— when you look at last season he wasn't a flash in pan… he was like lighting in a bottle," said Stutzmann. "This year he has had more control in the offense and his confidence level has been really high."
Numbers To Know: Cole McDonald is the nation's leading returning passer in yards per game (298.1)...last season, Chevan Corderio
threw a touchdown every 5.0 completions and 8.2 attempts
#KnowYourBows: Three newcomers enter the QB hui:
Boone Abbott,
Kamali'i Akina, and
Zach Daniel. Stutzmann said: "You can tell Akina is a coach's son—he is smart and he understands the game. What he lacks in size, he makes up for in decision making....
Zach Daniel throws with a quick release and has a lot of confidence in himself. He sees the game like McDonald did when he was a freshman...
Boone Abbott has unbelievable arm talent."
Cole Hard Facts: McDonald wears dreads in honor of former UH and CFL quarterback Bryant Moniz whom he's trained with. Also, the Southern California native with blonde locks is one-eighth Filipino.
QB Lineage: Redshirt freshman quarterback Cordeiro, who backed-up Alabama's Tua Tagavailoa in 2016 at Honolulu's Saint Louis School, continues the high school's tradition of FBS QBs which also includes Marcus Mariota (Oregon), Jeremiah Masoli (Oregon/Ole Miss), Timmy Chang (UH), Jason Gesser (Washington State), and Darnell Arceneaux (Utah).
The Last Word: Stutzmann says: "I'm excited for Cole, Chevan, and Justin, and their overall improvement from last fall to now—everybody has gotten better. As a whole, this year's quarterbacks are a hardworking group. There are a lot of different personalities but they all work really well together. It's a very tight unit, with guys from California, Hawai'i, Utah, to Texas and to get all those types of personalities from different environments, they mesh very well together. I'm just blessed to be around these guys."
#HawaiiFB
