Hawaii football: The Byrd is still the word

At the end of Thursday morning’s practice, the Hawaii football team broke into position groups and began sprinting downfield one at a time — even the linemen — to haul in passes. Because of the entertainment and curiosity factors, there was almost no reason to watch the full-time UH receivers do their regular thing.

Almost.

In the final minutes, senior slotback Cedric Byrd II, seemingly without effort, hauled in a ball one-handed on the run, tightroping a sideline.

“We had to show everybody how it’s done, make the standard,” Byrd said afterward with a grin.

Here’s #HawaiiFB senior receiver Cedric Byrd on what he expects of himself this season, a switch from the left to the right side, and how the Rainbow Warriors fared in team-wide receiving drills to end Thursday’s practice. pic.twitter.com/iRtYNTY214

— Hawaii Warrior World (@hawaiiwworld) August 1, 2019

Could players at the other position groups catch?

“Some of them, yeah,” he granted.

#HawaiiFB wraps up Thursday’s practice with some team-wide receiving drills. Linemen included.

Sophomore D-lineman Doug Russell (62) makes it look pretty easy. pic.twitter.com/slLgGmfW68

— Hawaii Warrior World (@hawaiiwworld) August 1, 2019

In-a-pinch linemen-receivers aside, if Cedric Byrd II is Cedric Byrd, the sequel this season, the Rainbow Warriors could be in pretty good shape offensively.

In his first year in Manoa as a junior coming out of Long Beach City College, the 5-foot-9 Byrd compiled nine touchdown catches and 970 receiving yards, or 69.3 per game. His 181 yards receiving in the season-opening win at Colorado State was the most in UH history for a player’s debut.

The Byrd was the word around campus.

He laid out some goals for himself in Year II, including: “really just try to focus on catching every ball that comes my way, and really just yards after catch. Catching, making one move, and go.”

Despite the defection of slotback John Ursua to the NFL a season early, Byrd feels the receivers can be better this season.

“Losing John was a big loss, you know, but coming in, we all had the mind-set like, we have to be great as a unit. We have to be on the same page for each receiver and the quarterbacks,” he said. “Coming in, we just had that mind-set like, we have a chance to be great this year. That’s what we’re shooting for.”

In fact, he’s stepped into the slot position on the right formerly occupied by Ursua, a move the UH coaches mulled over at the end of last fall and introduced in the spring. He went from “H” receiver to “Y”.

Why the Y?

“I think (the right) is a better side for him, as far as his catching ability,” receivers coach Andre Allen said. “That side, I don’t know how it worked out, but it just seemed like that side seemed to get a little more targets. It could’ve just been a coincidence, but I think it was easy for him because he was able to adjust to it. It’s the same responsibility as being on the left side. But on the right side, I think his ability to catch the ball, hand placement, he showed improvement once we moved him to that side. It seems like a good fit for him.”

Byrd seconded the hand placement — “I will flip my hands or something” on the left side, he said.

“It’s the same plays, but different sides they look to first. It wasn’t really a big difference. The main difference was hand placement coming across,” Byrd said. “That’s the main reason why they made the switch. It’s coming along really good, I like the switch.”

His bond with starting quarterback Cole McDonald, his roommate, has only grown since his arrival. And of backup QB Chevan Cordeiro, Byrd said “we communicate on and off the field.”

Allen thought Byrd got such a good jump on last season, in terms of productivity, because of his mid-year addition with the Warriors (he arrived for spring training in 2018, meaning he could work out the steep learning curve of the run and shoot before the fall).

Now, with last year under his belt, he’s assumed a natural leadership role among the receivers, along with JoJo Ward and Jason-Matthew Sharsh.

“Cedric, he knows the offense as well as the coaches, and that’s why he’s able to help the young guys and help those guys develop and come along,” Allen said. “He’s a better student of the game, because he understands it, the Xs and Os part. Now it’s just execution. When he’s facing man coverage … at the line of scrimmage, (he’s) seeing what’s in front of him, understanding how he’s going to attack it, as opposed to just lining up and winging it and seeing if something works.”

As Thursday’s team-wide receiving drill underscored, repetition really does count for something.

When there were but a few players remaining on the field, there was Byrd, shagging balls launched from the JUGS machine.

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Because of weather concerns, UH practices this Friday and Saturday have been moved and closed to the public — an unfortunate development for those seeking to see the Rainbows scrimmage before practice closes up to the public the rest of camp.

As Erick approaches, @HawaiiFootball will practice off campus on Friday and Saturday. Both practices will be closed to the public #HawaiiFB #StarAdvertiser

— Stephen Tsai (@StephenTsai) August 1, 2019

Per UH: #HawaiiFB Training Camp practices Friday & Saturday will be held OFF CAMPUS due to impending weather conditions and will be CLOSED to the public. @NickRolovich told me the team is looking to open a future practice to the public ahead of season opener #GoBows pic.twitter.com/LMnsY9zGju

— Rob DeMello (@RobDeMelloKHON) August 1, 2019

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Here’s Stephen Tsai’s notes from Thursday, including a summary of the movement on the offensive line caused by center Kohl Levao’s injury.