Hawaii’s Wynden Ho‘ohuli, Jamih Otis transforming ‘Lion’s Den’

One is a meteorite. The other is a comet.Wynden Ho‘ohuli and Jamih Otis have used their talents to create a universal position for the University of Hawaii football team’s defense.“There’s just one position now — the linebacker,” said associate head coach Chris Brown, who coaches the linebacker group collectively known as the “Lion’s Den.”Otis leads the Warriors with 54 tackles in 421 defensive plays. Ho‘ohuli has 45 tackles, including two sacks, in 444 snaps.Through training camp Ho‘ohuli and Otis had separate purposes. A converted defensive end, Ho‘ohuli played the mike — middle linebacker — in the Warriors’ 4-2-5 scheme.“Wynden is force, violence and striking (blockers) using his hands,” Brown said of 6-3, 240-pound Ho‘ohuli.Otis, who is 5-11 and 220 pounds, was reassigned from mike to dime linebacker, a weak-side position that uses his speed (4.5 seconds over 40 yards) and athleticism (he can do a back-flip in full pads).While Ho‘ohuli prefers to mix it up in the tackle box — just like Brown, a former UH middle linebacker — Otis is most effective in space or on the move.“Jamih uses his speed to get around guys,” Brown said.In recent games, it was decided to drop the labels. If Otis had a better matchup in the middle, he would align there. If Ho‘ohuli was needed to attack the perimeter, bracket the pocket or position as a defensive end, he set up on the outside.“They can play both positions,” Brown said. “Both of them have the ability to play the same positions with different tools.”Both also take turns relaying the calls from defensive coordinator Dennis Thurman to the other defenders.“We just roll together,” Ho‘ohuli said. “We’re always on the same page. Jamih’s good in space, and I’m good in the box. We alternate.”Ho‘ohuli also is fast, clocking 4.6 seconds in the 40. And Otis said: “I’m a pretty physical linebacker, too.”“Both of them out there gives me a really dynamic look at linebacker,” Brown said. “If I need a big run-stuffer, and we know it’s going to be a run, then Wynden is going to go down there and pile it.”Brown and Watson Ho‘ohuli (Wynden’s father) were UH teammates in the early 2000s. Brown taught Wynden Ho‘ohuli to play with controlled aggressiveness, just like how his father played.“It took a lot of time,” Brown said of the footwork. “He really had to pay attention to what I showed him. A lot of times, Wynden played free, like park football. I had to change his footwork, and how to go from Point A to Point B using his legs as leverage in order to take on the linemen.”Ho‘ohuli said: “I’m feeling really comfortable out there. At first, I was able to get a foot in. Now I’m full go with this defense, neck deep.”Despite suffering a torn ACL a year ago, Otis made a full recovery ahead of player-run practices during the summer. He said his parents, both of whom ran track, are helpful in his training when he visits home in Las Vegas.“We’re an athletic family,” Otis said. “We always work out together. We run together.”Brown said Otis relies on quick-twitch movements at the snap, change of direction, and elusiveness.“He has speed nobody else has,” Brown said. “The big thing with Jamih is he knows where the play is going. He’ll set up people. He’ll set up offensive linemen. He’ll show like he’s going to go to the right, and then end up popping to the left. And if I need somebody to cover the running back, if he’s out there (as a receiver in the flats), I know Jamih can cover him.”Otis said: “Football is a chess game. Sometimes you have to keep people on their toes. I like to play the game within a game. I understand (an O-lineman’s) pros and cons, and I attack that. Taking risks? At the end of the day, I’m from Vegas. I like to gamble on the field. If I’m going to gamble. I’m going to go all in.”—