Taimane Purcell

A spectacular morning greeted Tosh Lupoi's charges as they took to Memorial for the first practice of the Spring.A new staff and a lot of new faces on the roster meant this was a far more interesting first day of Spring ball than you normally get to see.The staff changes mean that almost everything has changed in terms of how the practices are run. There's a big emphasis on utilizing every blade of the artificial surface, which means that the O and D installs were being done at the same time by four different groups of 11. That carried over to a lot of O vs D drills where two 7v7s were going on simultaneously, two pass rush drills were happening at the same time, etc. This is a more modest but noticeable change from the last few years.There were a lot of recruits in attendance, something I can't remember seeing at an early morning Spring practice, and more than the usual number of donors on the sidelines as well.More dramatic was how vocal the players were throughout practice. Constant chatter, particularly in drills and 11v11 work. The defense in particular, was engaged in non-stop verbal discourse. This is clearly something the staff wants to emphasize. It was noticeable on Offense as well, with the players being louder and more demonstrative in their communication.The players were in shells today (uppers), and while it wasn't a full-contact practice, it was physical with the run plays featuring live blocking and shedding blocks, and the 7v7 and press coverage drills being, shall we say, very hands-on? A big difference from previous Springs was their was far less time spent in positional groups and far more time utilized for competitive O v D drills or full 11 drills (11 vs 0) for the O and D. Tosh has said repeatedly that he wants everything to be a competition and that was on full display today. It was also a LONG practice - 2 1/2 hours. Longer than I can ever remember a Spring session.You can see the difference in having more staff members. More hands-on teaching, focus on technique rather than where to line up, etc. The team's install seemed very smooth, not a lot of confusion on either side of the ball. Tosh is a much more demonstrative, active participant in practice than was Coach Wilcox and his intensity and energy were clearly channeled by his staff to the players.As for the roster, almost everyone was out there healthy and ready to roll. BJ Canady was the one injured suprise and he didn't look too far away from returning. Mini will sit out the Spring, Tounkara did practice but not as a full participant and Crosby and Burrell will full tilt.The team looks noticeably longer - taller, with a lot of long levered players. It also appears demonstrably more athletic. A lot of guys who move with alacrity, change directions well and can run. The OL looks BIG, the DL less so - NGs Jericho Johnson and Stanley McKenzie are the only two true big boys in that unit, not a lot of jumbo-sized frames there. Fletcher, Harris, and Lopa look out of place in the secondary with their height. RB Mohammed is a BIG person, and his running mate, Carter Vargas is jacked up and bigger than I had expected him to be. ILB Kamar Mothudi is huge and OLB Justin Beadles is very well put togetherSome players are gaining weight fast. True Freshman TE Taimane Purcell has easily added 10lbs since December and John Tofi's now up to 240lbs (He was 205 as a Freshman a year ago). Frederick Williams, the potential starting LT looks noticeably bigger and WR Ian Strong is built. Quick hits on individual players:Freshman RB Victor Santino has some serious juice. He's quick and fast. A bit thin but he reminds me of the Jet with his explosion, and he may well have more lateral agility than Thomas. Chase Hendricks and Ian Strong were as advertised. Both were uncoverable in 7v7 (where the D plays man to man). Hendricks isn't big but he's smooth. Strong has great size and can run by people.JKS is clearly the team's leader. Led warm ups and his voice could be heard throughout practice extolling players to get in the right place, etcI was impressed with CB Ricky Fletcher and returning corner Khamani Hudson. Both looked sticky in coverage with a confident feistiness. Mark Hamper made a great one handed catch for a TD in 7v7 over Michael Hurst Jr. He looks healthy and ready to rollAdam Mohammed didn't get a lot of live 11v11 reps but he jumps out with his size and running style. He runs with a wide base and can make guys miss in space despite his size and he's got some quickness. He'll be hard to beat out for RB1Newcomer Jimothy Lewis ran with the 1's at RT today and was very, very good in pass rush drills with no one able to beat him. He's a big kid.Solomon Williams isn't huge but he's explosive and is an energizer bunny out there. Reminded me of Cade Uluave (same #) with his athleticism and enthusiasm. He had a nice sack/hurry in 11v11Emmanuel Okoye might be the teams's most impressive physical specimen. He was very effective in the pass rush drills as he's LONG and very twitchy laterally. He and Williams are the two edges that have a real chance to be difference makers getting after the QBJosiah Wagoner had a really good day, breaking up multiple passes in 7v7. He's really quick and fluid in defending the short area crossers, curls and slants. Perhaps the most improved player from last years younger group was Legend Journey. He made a lot of plays and was the third most effective pass rusher behind Okoye and WIlliams. RB Ashton Emory isn't huge but he's got good size and he runs low to the ground with authority. I think he and Vargas will both get carries behind Mohammed. I couldn't see everything and it's only one practice. Spring can have a lot of false positives so be patient as more practices unfold

Tied with USC, Texas A&M and Oregon with five players a piece, future Bears Lopes, Purcell, Wong, Huihui-White and Telona took the field in tonight's 2026 Polynesion Bowl All-American game in Honolulu

Talented Kamehameha tight end talks about his experience at the Polynesian Bowl, playing with his future teammates, why he chose Cal and more