On defense, every position
is up for grabs

By Paul Arnett
Star-Bulletin

Don Lindsey is shouting instructions to his players with such intensity, his face is turning cartoon red.

"I already know your physically tough because you're out here," the University of Hawaii defensive coordinator yells in a boom-box voice. "I want you to be mentally tough."

At this point, he drops to one knee and begins rolling footballs across the slick Cooke Field turf, commanding his players to scoop them up and head the other way for a touchdown.

"We're down by three and need a score," Lindsey said. "Pick that ball up and go for a touchdown. Pick it up and score. Get your knees bent and pick it up."

Of course, as everyone knows, the football is oblong and tends to take funny bounces. Not everyone is scooping it up and scoring in this make-believe-affair.

"Get down and do me 10 finger-tip push-ups," Lindsey instructs the unfortunate few who aren't grasping the tricky game. "Put that ball away. You don't want some little wide receiver to knock it out from behind. Protect the ball. Score. Score. Score."

Fortunately for this group, the horn finally sounds, signaling the end of practice. Lindsey claps his hands and tells them, "Good job." Day two of spring ball is over.

"It's still a little early to tell what we've got and how they're doing it," Lindsey said. "I like the new offense we're working against because it's what we're going to see a lot of in our league.

"We're taking a look at our new guys on defense. Just after two days, Rinda Brooks and Ron Wood are as good as advertised.

"We're certainly not disappointed. We're very pleased from that respect because they can run. Moving Kekoa Kilcoyne and Brian Chapman from linemen to linebackers has worked well so far."

Eddie Klaneski also has moved from free safety to cornerback. He has made at least one interception each day at practice from his corner spot.

Lindsey is a little reticent to say just where Klaneski will end up. He's waiting to see the rest of this year's recruiting class in fall camp before making any lasting determinations.

"Every job is open to competition," Lindsey said. "The ones who are coming in this August will have every opportunity to vie for a starting position. They've been told since they've been here this spring that nobody has any position locked in.

"Come August, we're looking forward to some stepped up competition in the secondary. Right now, I enjoy working against this offense. If you said, 'How would you like to practice?' My answer, put the defense under the most pressure all day long and this offense with all it's motion and formations certainly does that."

NEW GRAD ASSISTANT NAMED: VonAppen announced after yesterday's practice that Dan Maginnis would replace Tim Green as his graduate assistant coach.

"He'll work on the defensive side of the ball with Coach Lindsey," VonAppen said. "He's a good man with a lot of experience."

The University of California-Davis graduate said he began his coaching career at Division II California Lutheran University, where UH defensive line coach Doug Semones attended school.

"I went from there to the University of Pittsburgh, where I was a graduate assistant with Fred," Maginnis said. "I then went to Colorado State to be a G.A. with Sonny Lubick before going to Illinois State for a couple of years.

"I was a linebackers coach there. Unfortunately, we didn't do well. This past year I was the defensive coordinator at New Mexico Military Institute. In fact, Rinda Brooks is from there. He's a hell of an athlete."

INJURY UPDATE: UH trainers added local product Damien Arafiles to the casualty list. The defensive back is out for the spring with a pulled abdominal muscle.

The Hawaii Prep Academy graduate joins Shane Oliveira (ankle) and Andy Phillips (back) on the sidelines.

MACONS HAVING BABY: Senior wide receiver Johnny Macon and his wife, Paula, are expecting their second child in November.

"We just found out about it," Macon said after Wednesday's practice. "I'd like to have a little boy. My wife is going to have a C-section, so we can plan this one."

Macon's first child, Taryn, was born in October of 1994, the night before he started for the first time at quarter-back vs. Fresno State.