Random Quotes about the Warriors

About paying his dues to work on getting time at the slot position, transfer Jon Medeiros said:
“Ryan (Grice-Mullins), Davone (Bess), Aaron Bain, Mike Washington. They’re all great slotbacks. I’m going to have to pay my dues first. They’re great athletes. Hopefully I can work my way up. I’m going to keep working hard and do what I gotta do.” (HSB)

HSB Note: “The 5-foot-10, 195-pound 2005 Kapolei High School graduate transferred to UH from Western Oregon last year. At Kapolei, he shared the quarterback spot with Kaipo-Noa Kaheaku-Enhada, who is now the starter at Navy.”

About sharing the QB spot with Kaheaku-Enhada and now being at slotback, Medeiros said:
“We were the two-headed monster. At (Western Oregon), I figured I was too small to play QB, so I tried something new and played slotback. From there I made my transfer because tuition was too much over there. Figured I’d give it a shot here at slotback. Fortunately, it’s working out for me.” (HSB)

HSB Note: “Medeiros was mentioned several times by head coach June Jones and receivers coach Ron Lee for strong performances during spring practice.”

Declining to talk about his contract negotiations, JJ said:
“I’ll talk about it when it’s done.” (HSB)

About the muscle he has put on this offseason, Patek said:
“It’s quality, not quantity. I’ve been hitting the weights pretty hard, put on about six or seven pounds. It’s mainly muscle. I’m 208 now. Last year I got down to 192 by the bowl game. I was 208 when I came here, but I was like all nasty, fat, slow, just sloppy, sloppy weight. Now I’m putting on a little more muscle.” (HSB)

Note: I can’t wait to see how the hard work that Patek putting in this offseason will pay off this season! I’m so impressed with Jake’s work ethic and character.

Quotes about Erik Robinson (E-Rob)

About Erik Robinson, JR said:
“He could be a huge, huge key for us.” (HSB)

HSB Note: ” ‘E-Rob’ is a 5-foot-11, 198-pound junior college transfer from Texas. He is among several candidates to fill the position vacated by Leonard Peters, who is now with the New York Jets. Robinson’s a hard hitter, who has been timed at less than 4.5 seconds in the 40.”

About how he ended up at UH, E-Rob said:
“Coach Jeff (Reinebold) just found me. Oak Cliff (Dallas), Navarro Junior College (Corsicana, Texas). I was being highly recruited at first, then I hurt my ACL in 2005 and a lot of schools didn’t want to take a chance with me. Then Coach Jeff showed up and told me they had a scholarship for me.” (HSB)

HSB Note: “That was after the 5-foot-11, 198-pound Robinson made 115 tackles at Navarro, the most in the nation for any JC defensive back last year. It made him seem like a good candidate as a replacement for safety Leonard Peters, who is now with the New York Jets.”

About how he has been working with E-Rob, Patek said:
“We go in coach’s office and go over stuff on the board. He seems to be picking it up and coming out on the field he’s showing he’s learned it. He seems to be working pretty hard. That’s a good trait, hard worker.” (HSB)

Note: It is interesting that Patek, E-Rob, Lewis, and Newbery all played in the same JC conference and could comprise the entire starting secondary for UH at times this season.

Praising E-Rob, his JC coach Ray Woodard said:
“He was the best defensive player on our team. Because he could cover so much ground and he was so good at coming up to the line from deep, I was able to do a lot of different things with our defense. Also a great character guy. We’re really going to miss him.” (HSB)

JJ praised E-Rob at his news conference on letter-of-intent day:
“He’s the real deal. We had a need there with Leonard leaving and we think he will be an impact player for us this season. Being from junior college he’s a little bit older and more mature. His size and speed is a little different than what we’ve been used to.” (HSB)

About growing up in South Oak Cliff, one of the toughest neighborhoods in Dallas, E-Rob said:
“I ran with a hard-head crew. I stayed in trouble. I didn’t start playing (football) until my junior year of high school. I knew if I stayed in the streets I was going to end up in jail or dead or something. I took the positive road and stuck with (football). And it got me here, and I’m working to make a success of myself.” (HSB)

Loving the family atmosphere of the UH team, E-Rob said:
“I enjoy the players. Everybody’s like family. Coming from Navarro, we didn’t have that kind of bond. I didn’t really hang out with the players, I had just a few guys I’d hang out with. But everybody here is like family. When I was in high school and at my JC, we had good players but we didn’t win a lot of games. I was like, ‘I’ll sacrifice, but I want to win.’ I knew Hawaii was winning, and I knew there’s an opening for a safety.” (HSB)

About the competition between E-Rob, Monteilh, and Desmond Thomas for the starting safety spot alongside him, Patek said:
“(The starting spot is) there. If you want it, it’s there. It’s all a matter of how hard you work. That’s how it was when I came here. There were guys in front of me, but Coach said, it’s there, go get it.” (HSB)

Quotes about Samson at 1st team C at Miami

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/dolphins/content/sports/epaper/2007/06/10/a16b_finsnotes_0610.html

About having rookies Samson and Mormino in their 1st team OL, Cam Cameron said:
“The most pleasing thing is it hasn’t been too big for them. We are still evolving in the offensive line and it’s nice to see young men who come in and just play ball and it isn’t too big for them.” (PBP)

Note: The practice after Cameron said this, Mormino made a mistake and was replaced at starting LG. He was still the 2nd team LG in the following practice too. Samson kept the starting C spot the whole time.

Hoping to hold onto the starting C spot, Samson said:
“It’s going to be kind of hard if they put me back on second string. But I’m just trying to stay in that first string.” (PBP)

PBP Note: “Satele, who went to the University of Hawaii, admitted that his rise has happened “kind of fast.” In fact, both Satele and Mormino, who was a standout at Central Michigan, found themselves fighting a case of the nerves when they first lined up with the likes of Chris Chambers, Marty Booker, Ronnie Brown and Vernon Carey.”

Interesting history note about Cameron and Houk’s (OL coach) success rebuliding the OL in San Diego:
PBP Note: “In 2004, the Chargers were coming off a 4-12 season. Thanks in part to the play of two rookies on the offensive line, center Nick Hardwick (a third-round pick) and right tackle Shane Olivea (a seventh-rounder), the Chargers finished the season 12-4 and won the AFC West division.”

Note: Samson is now Miami’s center and was taken in the 3rd round also. Mormino was taken in the 6th round…there are a lot of similarities here.