Deontae Cooper was on his way to Washington’s locker room. It was about 8 p.m. on a mid-summer evening. As the running back passed the Dempsey Indoor, he paused.

He watched as teammate Hau’oli Kikaha walked toward the entrance to the facility. A hooded sweatshirt shrouded his face, but Cooper knew it was Kikaha. The senior pass rusher was on his way to an after-hours workout.

No coaches. No teammates. Just the senior and 100 yards of field turf.

“I knew he could only be doing one thing,” Cooper said. “You don’t walk onto a football field without doing something football-related.”

To understand how a player recovers from a pair of devastating knee injuries to become the nation’s leader in bringing down the quarterback, it is necessary to understand the work Kikaha invested in the offseason.

“People look at this guy and say, ‘Look, he’s leading the country,’” said Cooper, who understands what it takes to return after multiple knee surgeries. “They don’t see the time he put in during the offseason.

“All those late nights, going to the Dempsey with a hood on, working his technique, people don’t see that. I’ve seen it, and I really admire that.”

When asked about his evening trips to train on the turf, Kikaha started to laugh. Soft-spoken with a dry sense of humor, the outside linebacker summed up his “workouts” with that one word.

Hau'oli Kikaha INFOGRPAHIC -->>

 

 

After his short summary, he stood in the Husky Stadium tunnel with a wry smile. For Kikaha, there wasn’t much need for further explanation. It is simply the way he prepares. He doesn’t consider his dedication special or exceptional. It is what is required to help his team.

“I just want our team to have the best chance of winning,” he said. “That’s a major part of it. I’ll do whatever it takes.”

After a brief pause – just long enough to make me squirm – he broke down his personal practice sessions.

“I tried to analyze different aspects of the game I could have more control over,” he said.

Kikaha set up his own simulated game. He created drills with tackling dummies and landing pads. He would diagram plays – potential in-game scenarios – in his mind and attack the objects in his way, “as if they were people.”

He didn’t consider his training sessions complicated.

“I just pretended I was playing ball,” he said.

The workouts worked.

With 14.5 sacks through eight games this season, Kikaha has already surpassed his 2013 sack total (13). He is already tied for 14th on the Pac-12’s all-time, single-season leaders list – and he still has five regular-season games.

He needs just one more sack to pass Jason Chorak on Washington’s single-season list and has already become the Huskies’ career leader in that category. When assessing his performance this season, Kikaha doesn’t focus on the moments he has planted opposing passers.

Instead, he talks about the quarterbacks who got away.

“I expect more out of myself than I’ve done so far,” Kikaha said. “I’ve missed a lot of sacks this year that were given to me by my brothers next to me. If they give me a one-on-one, I’ve got to get it.”

Kikaha set up his own simulated game. He created drills with tackling dummies and landing pads. He would diagram plays – potential in-game scenarios – in his mind and attack the objects in his way, “as if they were people.”

But, even saying that much about his individual performance is tough for Kikaha. He believes his success comes as the byproduct of positive plays from his teammates.

“I feel bad,” he said. “This is a team sport. Revealing my personal standards is kind of selfish.”

There isn’t a better pass rusher in college football this season. If Kikaha beats an offensive lineman off the line of scrimmage, he locks in on the quarterback. If he gets him to the ground, Kikaha looks for the ball.

If it is in the quarterback’s hands, he gets a brief moment to celebrate before refocusing for the next play. If the quarterback finds a way to get rid of the ball, well, that is an unsatisfying feeling. And if the ball is loose on the turf, Kikaha goes after it.

“If it’s on the ground, that’s really exciting,” he said. “That’s probably the most exciting part about sacking the quarterback.”

If he sees the ball, it turns into a three-step process: Get it. Take it. Run with it. Kikaha enjoys talking about sacking the quarterback, but he deflects the credit.

He is as unselfish as he is talented. He spends as much time thinking about helping others as he does planning his next foray into the backfield.

Earlier this season, I asked Kikaha to come up with a story that has yet to be written.

“I’ve got a sore toe right now,” he said, laughing.

He was joking, but he had a point. What do you say about someone who has had his story told over and again through the knee injuries, a last-name change and his trip home to Hawaii for the season opener?

“I feel like all of this stuff has been written about,” he said. “I don’t know, dude.”

There is one thing capable of giving him the rush he gets after throwing a quarterback to the ground. After spending two months studying abroad in Tahiti, Kikaha is determined to do anything he can to help those who are underserved.

“The majority of the guys I play with come from a low economic status background,” he said. “Without football, we wouldn’t get an opportunity to do a lot of the things we do.”

Football has given Kikaha a chance to see things he might not have otherwise experienced.

“That’s an amazing thing coming from where we come from,” he said. “That’s the kind of work I want to do. When football is done, it’s less than three percent who make it to the NFL. Where do the rest of the guys go? We all know unemployment is huge these days.”

After receiving a free education, Kikaha wants to find a way to create opportunities for those who wouldn’t otherwise get them. He understands the life-changing possibilities fostered by being able to try something new.

After pursuing an education the way he goes after a loose football – get it, take it, run with it – he plans to pass similar experiences to those in need.

“I want to promote that kind of stuff, academic excellence for everyone who doesn’t get the opportunity,” he said.

There are few players willing to work like Kikaha. He sets an example for his teammates on the field and in life.

He might shrug off his accomplishments with a joke and a smile, but his teammates talk about him in reverential tones. He is someone the Huskies admire.

Just ask Deontae Cooper.