The University of Hawai‘i football team finished spring practices in March without a permanent strength and conditioning coach, a role viewed as essential in the physical development of players, particularly in the offseason.
Associate head coach Chris Brown assisted in the role in the interim while also leading the national search for role, a void left by former UH football strength coaches Ryan Ishihara and Kody Cooke.
The search led UH to Bobby Thomas, who was living in Georgia at the time as the head strength and conditioning coach at Morehouse College, an NCAA Division II school in Atlanta. Thomas, who was also an assistant strength and conditioning coach for the NFL's Atlanta Falcons from 2021 to 2023, was alerted of the Hawai‘i opening from former UH performance and sports scientist Trevor Short. Thomas and Short both attended Humboldt State.
After Thomas had conversations with Brown, UH head coach Timmy Chang and general manager Matt Chon, he was completely sold on the job. Thomas decided to go all-in on the move, selling his house in Georgia.
"They called and offered, and then from there, it's just, what do you do and how do you do it? Do you sell everything? You could ask a thousand different people, and you're gonna get a thousand different answers," Thomas told Aloha State Daily of the move. "It was chaotic. We were coming from Georgia at the time, so that's a long way to go."
Thomas initially moved to the Islands by himself while his wife and two young daughters stayed to finish out the school year.
"I was out here for three months, and then they finished school. Once we were done, we went back, packed up the house, sold the house and then we came out here, and it's just been great."
Thomas' all-in attitude carries over to his players, where his booming voice is a constant in all phases of team practices.
"The team, the staff, administration, the football players, everybody's just been very, very helpful and made this transition easy for us, and so we're super grateful, and we've really enjoyed everything. It's just a unique opportunity and one that you know you don't regret taking, and you know you just got to make the most of every situation. So, that's what we're here for."
In their first two full weeks of fall camp, the Rainbow Warriors have held practices in the late mornings and early afternoons in anticipation of their season opener against Stanford on Aug. 23 at the Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics Complex. The game kicks off at 1:30 p.m.
"It is for a purpose. It is hard, it is demanding. There is a lot that goes into that," Thomas says of the sweat-filled practices. "Who are we going to be in times of adversity and how are we going to show up, and how are we going to rise up? We got to take advantage of the situation, especially going into week one. We get an opportunity to host somebody in this time. Why not take advantage of the environment and put ourselves in a position to be successful?
"When you get into that heat and you get into a practice, two hours plus, where's your mentality at? Adversity is hitting. Where are you at? What's your mindset? How are you approaching it the day before, the morning before? I'm glad we were able to get the opportunity to do it, because it gives us an advantage going into week one, but also it's going to make us it's gonna make us tougher mentally and physically."
As rigorous as practices in the summer heat have been for the Rainbow Warriors, fall camp has pushed the 'Bows physically in a bevy of other ways. Led by Thomas, the team also has weightlifting sessions almost every day along with conditioning workouts.
Because of variability of positions in football, each player on the roster has a different plan. Some are directed to lose weight, while others have been told to add muscle without losing speed. During practices, members of the team have also been seen in Kinexon vests, which are designed to track a variety of metrics, such as speed and heart rate. Players are also required to take ice baths to reduce inflammation and aid in recovery for the next set of workouts and practices.
"Camp is a tough grind. There's a mental fatigue aspect to it and it's just, how do you respond to it? How do you adapt to it? You get new stressors, and then you adapt to it again," Thomas says. "The body weights, nutrition, and then hydration, how are we doing? What are guys looking like? And then recovery process, we're pushing guys into the cold tub. Everybody gets to see this stuff, the practice and what we're doing but we have our lifts, and we got to get those things in because we still have to maintain the strength that we've gotten throughout the summer.
"It creates a long day. We're no different than anybody else in the country, but it's the guys that are able to adapt and continue to keep pushing and pushing and not give in to that other guy on the side that's saying, 'Hey, you're tired, man, don't go hard today.' I keep preaching to these guys, if you can just stay consistent in your work, stay consistent in your recovery process and all those things, you're going to be successful."
Other stops in Thomas' career as a strength and conditioning coach include USC, Stanford, North Carolina State, Fresno Stare, Western Kentucky and South Dakota. Although he says he's entered rebuilding programs before, he doesn't view Hawai‘i as one of them.
"Everything that I heard and seen is they came into a really, really tough situation, and for where this team is at now and what I'm coming into, it's just a testament to those coaches and those players that have had to grind," Thomas said. "The place that these players are in (physically), that's just a testament to the players and the coaches. I get to do the fun stuff and it's refreshing to come into a staff that has high standards and high expectations and discipline.
"These guys have upheld the standards and the players, the leadership group, it's just a great group to work with. We're just super grateful and super appreciative, and I'm just glad that I got to come in and just be another resource for these guys to help them be successful and chase their dreams. I'm just excited to be here, and hopefully we can do some things to make this community proud and happy this year."
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Christian Shimabuku can be reached at christian@alohastatedaily.com.
