UH football: Sayles still fleet-footed after 10-year timeout

UH football glance

UH football glance

Who: Western Carolina at Hawaii

When: 6 p.m. Saturday

Where: Aloha Stadium, Honolulu

TV: Spectrum pay-per-view

Radio: 670 AM

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One of the fastest Hawaii football players — cornerback Terrence Sayles — took the longest time to play in an NCAA football game.

When Sayles ran 22 yards on a kickoff return in last week’s game against Massachusetts, it marked the first time he touched a football in a game since his senior season at Kerens High School in Texas.

“It’s been 10 years,” Sayles said.

The wait could have been longer. As the offset returner, he was not supposed to have fielded the kickoff.

“But when he got it, he hit it hard,” said Mayur Chaudhari, who coordinates the Rainbow Warriors special teams. “He did a good job. Whenever (opponents) kick it, they now know we have two good returners back there.”

Sayles still marvels at being a 27-year-old former soldier playing college football. He is two years older than linebackers coach Sean Duggan. Sayles’ only plan after his Kerens graduation in 2008 was “to get away from home.”

He enlisted in the Army, and was stationed at Schofield Barracks. He served a pair of three-year stints, with tours in Iraq in 2009 and Afghanistan in 2011.

“It turned into something I liked to do,” Sayles said of his military service. “I fell into the system. I believed in the system.”

He learned discipline, commitment, and that life did not revolve around a cell phone. “You get used to not having stuff,” Sayles said. “It became normal.”

After fulfilling his military duty, he signed up for UH’s walk-on tryout in February 2014. In the 40-yard dash, he ran 4.4 seconds. That earned Sayles a spot on the roster — and in Warriors lore.

“They said he came out here, with no technique at all, and ran a 4.4,” defensive backs coach Abraham Elimimian said. “I know a lot of people who spend months training to run a 4.4. He didn’t need to train. He can come out in sweat pants and a T-shirt and run a 4.4. That’s impressive.”

The difficult part was remaining at UH. After redshirting during the 2014 season, he moved back to Texas because of the financial struggles of living in Hawaii. A few months later, he learned there was a place for him to stay in Hawaii. He moved back, re-enrolled at UH, earned enough credits to meet NCAA standards, and rejoined the Warriors for the 2016 spring semester.

At 6 feet 2 and 170 pounds, Sayles initially competed at wideout. He switched to cornerback last year.

“He has the physical tools,” Elimimian said. “He can run. He’s explosive. Now, for him, it’s more mental than physical. The physical stuff he doesn’t need to be trained. He needs to be coached the right way in terms of, ‘Hey, how are you seeing this?’ “

Sayles has improved his footwork and decoding a receiver’s route progression. There are sub-packages in which Sayles can be used as a third corner.

In 2016, the Warriors used offset returner Dejaun Butler as a blocker for kickoff returner Keelan Ewaliko. Butler has been with the New Orleans Saints and Dallas Cowboys this NFL preseason. Chaudhari recognized that Sayles can be a second speedy option on returns. Against UMass, there were two kickoffs in which Ewaliko and Sayles aligned near the goal line.

“You have to trust him and you have to let him know you have confidence in him,” said Chaudhari, noting Sayles has to make up 10 years of missed reps. “At the same time, you have to coach him really hard when he makes a mistake. That way he knows how to respond and to fix it right away.”

Head coach Nick Rolovich praised Sayles’ maturity despite a jolting first impression.

“I’m glad he’s off that skateboard,” Rolovich said. “The first time I met him, he was on a skateboard. I yelled at him. He’s been a great representation of our team ever since. … He’ll play well for us when he plays.”

Sayles already has received rousing approval from his teammates.

“He’s very good with computers,” Elimimian said. “He could get a job as an IT guy. We had a problem in our (meeting) room uploading a video to the computer. He did it within 10 seconds. Everybody gave him a round of applause, including myself. It was less time wasted. He’s fast.”