Reardon: Two-a-day ban already baked into the cake at UH

It’s just a formality at most schools, including the University of Hawaii. But a longstanding college football tradition is officially no more.

Two-a-days are a thing of the past.

In actuality, not very many colleges were still holding practices twice a day in which both sessions involved contact or other full-speed drills, anyway. And that’s what the NCAA — citing student-athlete safety — has legislated out of existence starting this year.

Injuries are inevitable in football. But that doesn’t mean they can’t be minimized in practice.

This is one area where UH has been ahead of the curve. Former NFL quarterback and head coach June Jones brought the pro practice style of limited hitting to Manoa 18 years ago. When UH did have two-a-days, the afternoon sessions were usually non-contact walk-throughs (which remain legal).

Most coaches will tell you blocking and tackling are the most important aspects of winning football. But striking the balance between honing these skills and keeping your players healthy has always been a dilemma.

This is especially true for programs like UH that usually don’t have as much depth as schools that play in the Power Five conferences.

Any coaches tempted to re-install the old-school methods of weeding players out with multiple same-day full-contact practices would now be doing so against NCAA rules.

“I think most coaches, nobody was really beating guys up two times a day (in recent years),” Hawaii coach Nick Rolovich said after Thursday’s practice, the first of preseason camp.

UH offensive line coach Chris Naeole played 12 years in the NFL. He retired in 2009, two years before two-a-days were eliminated via union negotiations.

“These guys don’t even know,” Naeole said. “I think it’s been like that for a while, it’s fallout from the NFL. The overall emphasis is on taking care of everyone. It’s still a tough sport, a lot of banging.”

Tommy Heffernan, a former UH football and baseball player, remembers three-a-day practices — in high school, at Saint Louis. That included a 6 a.m. 2-mile run, then a morning practice followed by an afternoon session.

Heffernan, now the strength and conditioning coordinator for the athletic department, said the new NCAA rule should help “especially in terms of recovery time. There won’t be as many problems with heat stroke.”

The Rainbow Warriors start practice at 6:30 a.m. On Thursday a steady breeze helped them stay cool.

The early practices motivate players to get to sleep early … well, most of them.

“Some people are at a time and place in their life where nightlife is more important to them than preparing for the season,” said junior receiver Dylan Collie, who has experienced various versions of two-a-day football practices since he was 12.

“Some people suffer with two-a-days because they don’t know how to recover. But looking at the other side of it, it means we can give it everything in the one 21/2-hour practice, like we did today.”

Defensive coordinator Legi Suiaunoa said he also experienced three-a-day practices as a player in high school in California and then in college at Nevada. But times have changed.

“Obviously as a coach you want to maximize your time on the field. But with the workouts with the strength coaches in the summer it makes up for it. I don’t think it will be a big change. We have more summer access. The technology makes things a lot more efficient,” he said. “You give us the grass time, we’ll use it. But I don’t think I’ve been through a camp where we used every available two-a-day, anyway.”

In the not so distant past, players were mostly on their own after spring practice until preseason camp. Now, with offseason workouts more organized, the month leading up to the season is more about building the team and less about players getting into shape.

“Coach Bubba (Reynolds) did a great job of getting these guys prepared,” Rolovich said, praising the football strength and conditioning coach. “We didn’t have anybody fall out, so he deserves some credit.”