Are you a quarterback who can play basketball, has a verticle jump, and is tall and fast? Boy, do we have a spot for you in Coach Kefense Hynson’s receiver corps! “Some of the best receivers did something else” Hynson averred at the Nā Koa Coach’s Lunch today at The Willows.
Understand that you will be barraged by “catch the ball with your eyes, thumb based triangle for passes above the waist, pinky based triangle below the waist.” Coach cares HOW you catch the ball. You can catch it with your body…sure you made the catch but then you get hit and out comes the ball. Those catches drive Coach crazy.
Catching the ball was Hynson’s emphasis upon arriving at the UH campus. There are lots of reasons why one drops the ball – focus, hand placement, etc. – but Hynson wants his players to do it right.
Doing it right also means what happens after securing the ball. Coach showed clips of Keelan Ewaliko and John Ursua fighting for extra yards after the catch (YAC) turning five yard passes into 10 yard gains. Another clip was of Dylan Collie going up in the air “catching the ball with his eyes.”
There weren’t too many clips shown today because as Coach said, “when you didn’t play well there’s not a lot of tape.” Besides, he learned long ago from Pro Bowl running back Calvin Hill about the 5 B’s when talking in front of an audience: Be Brief Brother Be Brief!
Although film review was brief, Coach took the time to field numerous questions from the audience providing in depth answers. Hynson was asked why our receivers don’t run patterns that reach the first down markers. He explained there are two lines of thought; for example, in a third and 10 with an 8 yard route called, one thought is to go past the sticks but the other thought is to never deviate from the pattern as it disrupts the timing of the receiver, QB, and O line which is what is relied on for the YAC. Sometimes what you run is dictated by defenses. Some give you passes underneath.
Coach Hynson has great respect for Dru Brown who struggled against one of the best defenses in the nation on Saturday. At the Division I level, Brown is like a freshman who you would redshirt after coming from a Wing T offense. But he is growing into the Hawaii system and “we are better off with him than without him.”
Still, everyone has a hand in the success of the team. Hynson said, “when you aren’t used to winning and you face the top teams you feel like you have to do more but then things happen…you can’t do more than you’re supposed to.”
Hynson was an honorable mention All-American defensive back for Willamette where he got his first coaching job assisting with, of all things, receivers! Then for the next 13 years he found himself on the offensive side the vast majority of the time, even as an Offensive Coordinator.
Like many coaches, Hawaii is his ninth stop in 13 seasons. Born and raised in Oakland, he is a Bay Area guy and is assigned to recruit in that area. Hynson pointed out the wonderful history of success Bay Area players have had in Hawaii…Devon Bess, Travis Laboy, Robert Grant, and Nick Rolovich to name a few. He is working to ensure that history continues!
Coach Hynson has a lot of young receivers developing in the wings and Isaiah Bernard redshirting has him enthusiastic about Spring camp. He also underscored the value of having Marcus Kemp showing the young players how to do it (play, think, and act).
You should have heard how excited Hynson is about the upcoming off season’s development and how he expects Hawaii to be “significantly better.”
Yes, you should have heard it….you should be at Nā Koa’s Coach’s Lunches! We have two more remaining with Associate Head Coach / Offensive Coordinator Brian Smith and Head Coach Nick Rolovich.
Written by: Gareth Sakakida
