Starters Lost: None
The Warrior secondary is loaded to say the least. Five starters, including both cornerbacks and both safeties, return in 2010 along with six other players with game experience, making the secondary one of the more stacked units on the team.
“They're veterans, they're proven, and they've played in big games before,” said associate head coach Rich Miano said. “What really excites me is that they have tremendous passion and desire. They're a coaches' dream because they're all going to graduate, they're all going to be successful in their careers, they're all going to put in the extra time in terms of film study, they all can run strong. They've paid the price to be successful and they deserve to be successful.”
Starting safeties Spencer Smith and Mana Silva headline the group and are the unit's top returning tacklers. Smith finished with 77 total stops and had eight passes defended (1 INT) while Silva led the WAC and ranked 11th nationally with six interceptions along with 74 tackles. Smith has a knack for getting to the ball with three games of 10 or more tackles including a career-best 12 against Idaho last season. Silva had two picks in UH's road win at Washington State.
“We only expect them to get better,” Miano said. “We expect that of all of our returning players because what they did last year is somewhat irrelevant to what they're going to do this year. They still need to do it this year, they've got to work hard, and they've got to make plays.”
Corners Jeramy Bryant, Lametrius Davis, Tank Hopkins, and Kawika Ornellas combined to start all 13 games last season. Davis had a team-high 11 passes defended (3 INT) and was considered the team's top shutdown corner. Bryant started 10 of 11 games and had 45 tackles and five pass break-ups. Hopkins and Ornellas started three games each.
“Lametrius Davis is a top-rated NFL prospect on the defensive side of the ball,” Miano said. “He's gotten nicked up and banged up, but he's going to be a very good player for us,”
Kawika Ornellas for us is having the best summer camp and
Jeramy Bryant has been making a tremendous amount of plays as well. All of these guys can start for us.”
Richard Richard Torres served as the team's nickelback and made seven starts in the defensive backfield with 44 tackles and one interception.
“Richard Torres is just a guy that we as coaches need to find a way to get on the field because he does everything correctly,” Miano said. “He's good at every single aspect of his game. He can cover people, he can play the run and the pass, he can blitz, play nickel, dime, corner, and safety for us. He is too valuable to keep on the bench. Overall, he's our most versatile football player.”
“Kenny Estes is really coming along as well as (redshirt freshman)
Kamalani Alo. Those guys have stepped up at safety and they're getting better and are going to be our future,” Miano said. “[Jordan] Gomes is going to be in one of our packages right now. He bench presses 400 pounds, he vertical jumps 40 inches and he's a smart guy. He's the kind of guy who we can put anywhere.”
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