The most intriguing recruit to the University of Hawai'i football team for this season never signed a national letter of intent nor accepted a scholarship.

The newcomer with one of the biggest opportunities to impact the Warriors' fortunes this year does not have a uniform nor does he wear a number. He hasn't made a tackle in decades and UH isn't counting on him for any now, either.

Yet, if the Warriors are to be successful in 2009, chances are you'll have to see Chris Tormey's fingerprints on the finished product.

Tormey is UH's new special teams and safeties coach and, frankly, something of a what's-he-doing-in-this-job curiosity.

He might be the most over-qualified coach in the Western Athletic Conference for someone who labors under a title that isn't head coach or without coordinator's pay. With stops at Nevada and Idaho, he has nine years experience as a head coach — or one more than the combined resume of the current head coaches at Boise State, Idaho, Louisiana Tech, Utah State and New Mexico State.

So, if Tormey has a commanding bearing on the Warriors' practice field and polished presence in meetings — and, clearly, he does — it is both earned and much to UH's benefit. He is, at the prevailing salary rates of the profession, something of a blue light special.

Fortunately for UH, Tormey was the last "cut" of the University of Washington staff when Steve Sarkisian took over in December. It was an opportunity Warrior head coach Greg McMackin, who coached Tormey at Idaho in the 1970s, was quick to pounce on.

And, boy, did McMackin have a job for his former protege. UH was 119th — and dead last — in the nation in punt returns last season at two yards per attempt. The Warriors suffered twice as many blocked kicks as they forced and were at the bottom of the WAC in field-goal percentage.

Tormey comes to the tasks at hand with relish, not resignation. He is a true special teams believer, someone who has preached and practiced them as game breakers, not as a yawning necessary evil. He comes by this devotion from years under Don James and Dennis Erickson. Even as a head coach himself, Tormey personally commanded punt units.

"I think you don't always choose your role," Tormey said. "It is your responsibility in life to play your role to the best of your ability. And I'm happy with this role. I'm excited to be here. Big time is where you are."

Big time is also the kind of contribution his unit has the potential to make this year.