Sandwich Islands Social Network presents: Coach Ken Niumatalolo

[Music] [Music] oh [Music] [Music] n [Music] Aloha [Music] and happy Aloha Friday on our fourth of July weekend oh my goodness kamaka brown right over here uh small kind small kind running on Hawaiian Time no worries it's all good um I just I just got I just got a couple of um textas over here what bra you taking off on on for the Fourth of July and I said no no no we get some many honies working with us um that's making it all happen so uh no worry beef Curry we stay on board right now with the Aloha Friday show and um uh we are so so um happy and blessed to have um this guest with us on the Aloha Friday show um he uh has uh uh been so gracious uh with his schedule to um to jump on over here and we've been we've been working with his staff for uh several weeks was a month or so to find one puka in his schedule and so we did it just before he gets really really busy please welcome to the Aloha Friday show Coach Neo Mato what's up coach how you doing thanks for having me and first I better tell your listeners and your viewers that uh it wasn't your fault it's my fault still Le my daughter my daughter had to help me so sorry sorry sorry for the uh still learning how to use my iPad I only P coach I only Pia just just like I told you man no stress expressed no stress expressed we good we good um and uh just really really really really happy to have you on and and as I was sharing with you you know any of our listeners uh and folks that are that are are viewing um uh they can Google your name Ken Neil mat lulo and all that stuff is gonna come up all about um you know your records and all the things that you've done over you know DEC ades in sports and in football um and um I just said to you earlier I said you know aside from that which people can ainar do what kind of things should we talk about and um we settled on three FS um and and I think us locals we love it the first f is food and um I'm gonna tell you right now so I live outside of Los Angeles right uh and this local boy uh when I fly home I'm always looking for a place for go grind so coach I just jump on a plane at LAX I landed there I pick up on car I call you up and I say coach I'm hungry man um I like meet you we we go eat someplace so where would you recommend or where would we go for grind I know you live you stay up in Mano today whatevers but um you know we can go Mano Marketplace I gu McDonald's but please please let's let's not do that where we going coach oh that's the problem I get so many different places I like to go you know I mean I like to go to Diamond Head Grill oh Diamond Head Grill yes sir I like that um um he's one of the places I go to um I mean just all the the normal the normal kind close by you know zippies kind just of the trying to think of all the places I I go I guess I go to I eat so many different places you know what I mean just grab grab any um grab any kind you know what I was surprised um my last trip home was 71 got voted as the best place for spam musu be everybody voted 71 hello I go 7-Eleven so I went to my cousin and I was surprised man they get one whole display case of you know grab and go kind food right um like when you go Beach and stuff like that I was so surprised that 7-Eleven defin stepped up their game I mean I I don't get paid by 7-Eleven maybe we should but but they really stepped up their game with grabbing gold stuff when you go to the beach or you know you like C or whatever I was surprised oh it was funny to said that because over here in mono the one right below the 7-Eleven right by puno so my granddaughter always she's like oh papa can you take me there you know she loves 7-Eleven like what and then my daughter was saying Dad she go they have really good musu bees over there and so in like yeah you know place that we have Sam store they have have uh they really have good you know spam musab bees over there um I just started my my my son then they really like the you know the Poke Place Hana in Hawaii Kai ah you know so I like but their teriyaki chicken is amazing you know what I mean it just and so um yeah they they do it uh we like to do tokoname in kyua you know good job I love the ter I'm a terak guy okay you I'm a me guy just a just really love their I mean their Sushi and all that stuff is good my kids love that but I normally go for um the Teriyaki gaku over here is close by us over here in Manoa but nice yeah just you said like once you said that I was trying to think of it's like overload is like it's like it's like the kind just just being at a you know Buffet smage Bo all these things came right into my M slow down okay and me I got to go I got to go kimchi too or up there in kamiki any Korean restaurant that where I can get um you know my Korean food fixed man you know ah have you had have you been to Sun in Sal Lake no yeah so it's right across from Alam Manu High uh ele uh intermediate it's in uh Salt Lake shopping center soon really good Korean food I I've been eating there since I played at uh mom get you know play lunch before the games and so wait wait try get Safeway right and then soon is around the corner right around the corner right on the corner I know that yes so they've been there forever yeah yeah they've been there forever so yeah it's always a thing I you know normally when I come home straight from the airport go to soon grab something yeah um I love L Bakery because I love all of their pancakes and their waffles and so they're Cocoa Puffs no now all my secrets are coming out no wonder why 285 kind of lose weight you know um every time my kids like when they see me in a game or something like that all my family like Dad can you please lose some weight you know what I mean just like well I work out every day they're like oh it's not helping that not the the calorie deficit not helping you got you either got to cut back the food or something like that I canot hard it's hard especially the white rice oh yeah you know what I mean come every time I go plac with like you oh white or brown r i just give him a dirty look like that is that even a question my kids like Dad you got to watch your health I'm like I'm almost 60 already I'm gonna eat white rice too late for brown rice already too late too late oh oh that's funny man well thanks for that we get some of our Ohana jumping in right now so I I want to acknowledge some of them guys over there uh uh oh we have Kate Bennett from The West Wing of the Holly over here she's saying uh Lord OHA um and uh let's see oh we have Marty Burns who is um actually a retired High School football coach here in Southern California um and he works he uh is a dear friend of mine and uh he was looking forward to this interview that's coach Marty Burns right there uh that's awesome coach Burns and all your your viewers going to hear the real way speak now the pigeon coming out now speak not going to be here to the on this one check it out coach here's what Marty says I would like to just take a moment to thank you for all your years of leadership you have been a total Class Act and a great leader for our young men Mahalo Nei there you go from coach man really thank coachs really appreciate that thank you so much especially coming from High School coaches that you know that means a lot because these guys work with you know their players and and at the high school level it's it's more about developing people and so to hear that I have a great amount of respect for be honest with you kamaka there are a lot of great High School coaches that are better than us colle college coaches or Pro coaches but they decided to stay in high school because they want to be with their family you know because that time commitment at college and the pros there so much so some of these guys like hey you know I know I could coach that level or but they you know they don't want to move all around the country they want to see their kids grown and so in all my years of you know 35 years I've been doing this recruited you know literally every state in the country been to whatever hundred thousands of schools over my time and there's so many good High School coaches in our country so many good guys and forget the ex's and O they're really smart ex no but just he talked about you know my leadership but I've seen so many great leaders that you know I take stuff from them I go to their their offices and walk into their gym and their football buildings I just look at their signs and just different motivational things and you know they don't know that I'm taking note of a lot of stuff that they're doing you know I think of my about my high school coach coach Faso it had a great impact on me the way we do things you know at Radford um you know so have a you know I really appreciate coach saying that but I have a tremendous amount of respect for High School coaches because what they do the impact they have on these young men's lives and a lot of these young men I mean they come maybe they don't have a a a father figure in their life and so the first person that's kind of helping them Mentor them is their High School football coach you know what I mean trying to help them give them some some guidance maybe help the mom a little bit uh you know give them some discipline and just different things and so I know growing growing up there are a lot of guys that you know coach felasco is basically a father figure for them and I know a lot of guys that I've recruited many football players that I recruited High School coaches were their father figure and uh you know where they got a lot of their examples from and how to be a man how to be accountable how to be responsible so those kind of um accolay or compliments from High School coaches it means a lot to me because I know who they are as people yeah um uh every now and then uh coach coach Marty would say hey um I got I got one of my guys uh in town um we go eat lunch and we'll end up over at the Hawaiian food restaurant in Torrance or whatevers and it'll be one of his former high school players that are now playing college ball um who playing up here on the continent maybe in the midwest or back east and um it's easier for them it's maybe expensive for them to go all the way home they end up over at coach's house they end up um staying over his house for a couple days and um you know I've met several of his former players from high school um that are now playing college ball and you're absolutely correct that connection with the coach um continues even though you know into their adult years and stuff you know yeah yeah yeah yeah you know coach felasco uh coach v as we called him you know in back you know a long time ago in the 80s when I played for him you know we had a really good team and we wanted to prepo our uh junior year is a year he passed away so he passed away kamaka my junior year um but his so that year basically we dedicated to him we're able to win a you know the prep bow you back then that was the state championship um but a lot of things that I do in coaching you know the philosophy the discipline the toughness just how you do things uh I got from him you know every year we used to always have you know for camp we had you know a saying on our or a word on our shirt and that would be like the theme for that year you know one year is Ohana uh one year is I believe you know just different things like that and just but those are the kind of things I just learned from him he was um he was a black belt in Kempo Karate you know what I mean and um he always wore these dark these Shades and he was an you know handsome guy always had his hair slick back you know what I mean but nobody messed with him you know what I mean we're we were all afraid of him kamaka but from a standpoint of you know I look back then maybe I thought it was feir but now that I'm a little older I don't think it was fear it was more respect you know we respected him so much cuz he was a tough coach but he wasn't a coach that would um you know he wasn't mfing kids and stuff like that you know it just hard nosed held you accountable you know do things the right way wear your uniform the right way be on time practice hard you know just simple things in life that you you know and then again is you know now that I'm older you realize just those are qualities that you have to do in life to be successful be on time not like me come late because don't know how to work you know I mean I should have worked on my iPad skills last night a little bit earlier you know I mean so oh Billy coach no worries um I got um um Auntie Jerry K here is a liyer girl she's here in Southern California anti Jerry has a golden voice she's one of the treasures musical Treasures here uh in our community here in Los Angeles and so she she comes from laa she's a Kahuku high school girl um and U we relate as my cousin so she's coming in and saying Aloha and so she asked what high school she's from Radford um there Jerry um and uh yeah Co coach Marty says being that Father Figure an offensive line coach has cost me a lot of money on food just kidding I enjoy it every minute I know he would say oh them boys they can't eat yeah because when they come when you invite them to the house it's like you know it's always funny like it made me think about like sometimes you know we go to the you know different hotels we stay we have to do the food and so you're trying to approp rate you know how much food we're going to need for our players and these people they're appropriate for normal people like okay these guys don't just eat one piece of chicken I think you need you know just you're gonna have uh triple your portions for so I can see your coach just said you know so it shows his his love you know what's so amazing too about that to kamaka is like in these kids even like yeah if you could have steak and riy and the most expensive stuff those guys would be grateful but these guys would eat hot dogs you know what I mean just any kind just have something for them and so I know coach knows that but just the times to get get together and I still think of our potlucks you know after games and stuff like that all the parents would green chili and different stuff I mean this weren't stuff coming from hotels or you know restaurant kind food it's just just people you know making food out of the love with their heart you know just whatever they had bread you know sweet bread or whatever on table you're gonna grind whatever is on there you know I mean so yeah so I can hear what coach is saying about the bill oh you know what I dug this out of the out of the archives coach out of the archives oh tell me what you see when you look at this picture Coach uh I see a guy that uh 85 pounds ago and it's funny like in s you you know you call it a ulaval guy or you know Hawai I think is Koh you know just just a a rascal I just see a guy little rascal this guy just like I like like go slap his head what would you co what what would you say um to your younger self now that you've had this experience you know uh years of experience um in in the game what would you say to your younger self right now what what what would you what would you tell him um I I would tell him to appreciate things more and just recognize you know how blessed you are I mean I was it wasn't a great player I backed up Garrett Gabriel who's a phenomenal quarterback you know at uh in the late 80s and early 90s but I played for Legends in our at the State University of Hawaii played for you know uh dick Tomy and Bob Wagner you know what I mean so I played for Great Men and played with great people and it's kind of funny kamaka here we are older you know all of us are in our late 50s or 60s now and you know a lot of us still text former teammates we stay in contact you know now we're at a point now where guys you know our age guys are passing away so you get text oh you heard so and so passed away and you know just you you reflect on those days you know coming coming out of high school and you had local boys you know here uh you had you know Holly you know uh po guys from the mainland you know what I mean it just he had a I thought coach did a great job of bringing all these different ethnicities together and creating one team in Ohana and that's you know thing I learned from coach Tomy was um it didn't marry where matter where you're from you know you could be a Polynesian kid from the islands a white or black kid from the mainland you know when he came right was right and wrong was wrong when he walked into the locker room you know what he demanded of you uh it didn't matter the color of your skin didn't matter how you talked didn't matter any of that it right was right and wrong was wrong and so he was a tough coach like coach Velasco but I I know I love coach Tomy and he passed away you know recently coach Wagner passed away recently um but I you know I looked back at coach Tommy he's a not a very big man kamaka all of us guys were so afraid of that guy you know what I mean yeah but he was you know just all these big football players we had so much respect for him you know what I mean and so and there are many life lessons that I learned from him um I know from both him and Coach Wagner uh you know especially coach told me cuz this stuff our football team played really really hard back in the 80s you know back then you know there's always a tough team that came and played uh you know Nebraska uh USC Arizona State you know that the last game was always a a tough game and you know you go Oklahoma my freshman year we played Oklahoma I think they only beat us 217 they're ranked I mean we gave them everything they I mean they they were lucky to walk away here with the win same thing with you know I know they played USC earlier in the mid 7s but uh Nebraska my I think I was still in high school but I remember going to the game as a recruit and going into the fourth quarter uh was up you know I think so yeah so you know coach told me in those days you know we didn't have social media and all that kind of stuff back then but the way we were playing the big boys you know the school was amazing and it was coach you know coach told me was there when I when when I was there but he predicated team on effort and playing hard so even though we weren't the biggest team we always played hard and that's the thing that I took with me and to my coaching career at at Navy or in different places just trying to coach effort and trying to you know make you know make sure the guys played hard coach June Jones was my quarterback coach my first year here um Paul Johnson you know was offensive coordinator later on you know heavy influence on me in my career and his his scheme and what he does so I was very fortunate back then kamak I didn't realize but I was around some Legends you know Bob dick Tomy Bob Wagner Paul Johnson June Jones you know what I mean just some really really good men and really good football coaches you know I got a note over here from um from Nate Jones Nate Jones is our our production our production um uh Guru over here that works behind the scenes and he says aloha coach Mahala for coming on the program we had Baba Pisa on the show a couple months ago and he wanted to pass along this message to you please give my fondest regards to Ken I've always look forward to seeing him in person someday there's Baba Piza right there wow yes I think is a mean a legend from the islands you know I mean just guys um I mean the one of the original original OG you know big Tire football players from the islands obviously over the years there have been other guys you know from Manti to Marcus Mariota tutua you know I mean just I'm I'm just mentioning you know guys off the top of my head but those are obviously prominent guys from the islands and there are a lot more that have come from Hawaii in my day was the NOA Brothers but it all started with Bob you know Bob a Piza going to Michigan State in his career back in believe in the 60s is you know was the originator of of all that stuff and then later guys whether it's MOSI tatupu or Junior IU and other guys that have went to the mainland um um you know just guys that gone here and just like I said from the islands that have' gone there to play well and there's a lot more you know Rockne freedus you know I mean like I said I'm rambling right now I'm just whatever comes to top of my head yeah yeah from ISS but yeah so you're right I mean Bob is an awesome man we had um Charlie Weyers you know and Charlie yes right from puno but we had his um his widow um come on the Aloha Friday show to talk story about Charlie and what an inspirational and great session we had with um with uh with her and the legacy of Charlie wamaria um as well cuz you ended up moving to losg right did they go to y y yeah so like I'm at losc high school you know I met the coaches over there wonderful people there and just I mean they all everybody in the Bay Area you know talks about you know his Legend Charlie whire with a you know phenomenal influence that he's had on people too yeah yeah so yeah that's a another legend that I forgot yeah there's there's a lot of great people that have come through here this you know tiny little Island it's kind of amazing you know how about for you now you were the first Simon American head coach in the history of the NCAA Division um how did how did that weigh upon you uh did that did that take any kind of uh onus on you or how did you feel about the fact that you were you were the very first well you know obviously with you know Coach Price being the first Polynesian wine you know to to be you know coaching at you I never played under him but heard great things about Coach pry obviously he did he was a commentator for many years for uh football sports and then um you know just um hold on my um Pap it's my granddaughter um yeah so just come come where is she come I wanna come come that's all in the Ohana over here hi yeah so my granddaughter a hello ala can you go back to Mommy cute Papa busy okay Papa come out later but [Music] um and so when I got hired I guess kamaka this such a it's such a hard profession and this is a tough job I was I I guess I was proud and humbled to be the you know you know the first h on Coach one of the first Polynesian coaches you know after Coach Price and but I I didn't really think about that I was thinking about you know trying to be successful because in my mind I the weight was you know trying to be successful to hopefully open doors for others you know what I mean and so if if I could be successful it would show like yeah yeah you know you know a kid that was raised in Hawaii could coach division one football and so just more so I just trying to think okay try to be as successful as I can to hopefully open doors for other people but I mean there wasn't any time to Pat yourself on the back or you know you whatever try to you know get bigheaded or anything like that cuz this profession will spit you out in the heartbeat and so I knew how hard his profession was cuz when I got when I got hired I'd already I been an assistant for 18 years you know so I'd already been in the profession for a long time already and so um yeah so I it wasn't like you know I was um yeah it was I I guess what I'm trying to say is I knew what this job was and I knew how how hard it was and I knew how hard it was going to was going to be to be successful um I was following Paul Johnson at Navy and you know I was with him there you know I was an assistant coach when he was there but he left to go to Georgia Tech so becoming a head coach there's normally not the best time to follow somebody that's done great things you know I mean so you know he's normally you know he there a guy moving on maybe because they're not doing as well and maybe you know that would help with I I wasn't planning on being a head coach at Navy I was happy kamaka what I was doing I felt very fortunate when that opportunity came and I you know I felt fortunate with some of the things that we were able to accomplish in my time there but more more proud and humble than anything to have gotten that job but I knew I had to go to work quickly and um and just try to keep pressing forward yeah well 2014 something happened here let's take a look at this Ken monolo Samoan in two words class personified that's how one writer put it another painted this picture keny matalo is the boy next door the kid you hope your daughter brings home cuz he'll tell you what an honor it is to meet you and we'll have her home by 11: unless you think that's too late kenam matola was a coach in waiting while waiting for his number to be called at the University of Hawaii he had that look in in his eye and he had that presence in 2007 at the age of 42 kenam matalo was named head footb coach at the United States Naval Academy let that sink in from laier to Annapolis from the NorthShore to Anchors Away the midshipman responding to coach neam matal Lolo's laidback style in style nearly 50 wins and five bowl games in his six seasons four times under his watch the mids have captured the commander-in chief's Trophy and against its biggest rival Army Navy has never lost the first Samoan Collegiate head football coach at any level just the second Polynesian head coach in FBS or division one history Ken neam matalo you always say it's about the kids tonight it's about you ah out there in laa the Polynesian Football Hall of Fame um Nate Jones was saying I was at the banquet 10 years ago when you were one of the inaugural induct inductees into the Polynesian Football Hall of Fame isera tuaolo was also that's right on our podcast back in April and vice Hema said he hopes Esra would get inducted into the h Hall of Fame this year that's right we also had aera on on the Friday show yeah yeah that'd be awesome for Sarah to get inducted and um yeah and K goes CH who yeah that's right CH whoo B that yeah yeah just fortunate you know a lot of Great Men before and after that you know paved the way for a lot of us you know whether it's playing or coaching um you know had Vice out there dear friend of mine and phenomenal football coach Tongan descent you know ancestry but just a great man um the cool thing about it like some of the people that you know we're talking about too just great people to come you know I mean Jesse Sao You Know M tanasa and June Jones guys that some of those guys that started you know the Polynesian Hall of Fame just some guys that are trying to get back to the community um so that's pretty you know pretty exciting um you know I'm being at San Jose State now kind of get to continue to Hawaiian ties with you know hiring guys like Craig stutsman who was a St Louis kid and his brother Billy Ray was also St Louis grad and so um even though I was on the East Coast you know thousands of miles away and stuff I I never I never left you know I mean I was I never got away from my roots and who I am kamak I come home every July you know it's kind of like July is kind of like in in our profession is kind of like your your one downtime that you have and so it's it's been a month that I've always kind of come baby it's always been the time I kind of come and get ready this is my other granddaughter name is Rosie Mom hi Rosie hi Rosie aloh Rosie hi hi so cute Lily yes she met Lily already but my two Hawaiian granddaughters they're gorgeous gorgeous you guys they love time with their papa too I can see yeah but it's I kind of knew um even though I was going to East Coast like when I first went um it was a long ways you know I mean kamaka going to the east coast like when when Coach Johnson first hired me and first offered me the job there I was leaving you know I I was an assistant coach here and I was you know was and for me i' kind of died and gone to heaven you know what I mean coach here like I'm here at uh um okay wait hold on one second okay you guys um one me cl close the door please and you guys stay outside okay thank you baby she's inside there but close okay where's your mom see what you have to do with you come home like come take but anyways um but yeah when I went I I wasn't really sure you know where Annapolis was you know I knew it was on the East Coast uh but I you know I raised my family there kamaka and it was but it was important for me to come home every July cuz I wanted my kids to see where I was from I wanted them to see this is where I'm from this is where I grew up you know what I mean and so just take them to all the you know get my kids hooked on you know all the you know the plate lunch places and but it was important for me to come home yeah and but it's cool to see that you know thees stuff because I Hall of Fame stuff because I when I see that I don't think myself I think about all the guys that created that like I said the just and vice cahas of the world and Ma tasas and Coach Jones but also think of all of the Legacy that continues with probably the most prominent guy right now is probably Tua right you know I mean there's a lot of guys that are playing but there's a lot of guys that are in the coaching profession now that are doing really good things like I said Craig stman is a a coordinator and Timmy Chang you know oh yeah Timmy Chang wow Timmy Chang coaching here his dad I played for his dad at raford he was my uh he was my uh JV basketball head coach phenomenal man I learned again another guy I learned a lot from but you know Timmy's doing great things here at uh you know so you know happy for him and all the opportunities that he's getting so you know it's it is kind of amazing you think about this small these small audience in this state but you know some of the other Islands P Islands whether it's from you know sore or or Tonga you know places that there's been some really good Polynesian players coming and so Fijian so it's exciting and um I think all of us are proud of our where we come from I'm you know I'm excited you know I always tell people this like uh cuz I'm proud to be someone but I'm also I even though I don't have any Hawaii blood I consider myself Hawaiian you know growing up in Hawaii abely you know what I mean I this is why I grew up you know I mean so I speak pigeon you know I mean just like you know I mean I'm just um my blood is you know my both of my parents are someone but I was raised here you know I mean so you know I um so it's kind of cool because I always tell people it was so beautiful growing up here because there's so many ethnic groups you know and all of us growing up now you cannot do it but you know don't going again too controvers but growing up every ethnicity got teased every you had a joke for every ethnicity you know the S the Filipinos the Chinese the Hawaii everybody the the H everybody had a joke and you know and you'd laugh about it but you canot say this kind of stuff now but it's just but you didn't think anything growing up because I think growing up here kamaka as you know just we're just all happy and proud you know to live here in this beautiful state and we loved home you know and just it was so beautiful and I I really believe it's the law Spirit just embracing all the culture just you're just one and just the I think it's you know kind of joking a little bit about the food but you see the kind of how the food was ingrained here where locally they have all these different Cuisines um the influences of all the differ Cuisines here in Hawaii but it Hawaii is definitely a Melting Pot and aahu as it is known is definitely a gathering space place you know this is definitely a Gathering Place you just think about it just I mean you got people from around the world that have come to this tiny little island and these tiny little Islands in this tiny state so this is a special place uh like I said don't want to get too C probably too overcrowded right now but but you know but it's it's still home and I always come home I love to come home it's a great place yeah you know what we're going to take on smok break uh and then we'll come back um and uh we'll talk about family you know you you related to uh your football family and you also talk about coming home and spending time with your family you got your moopuna you got your grandkids that are there uh you're definitely a family man that's been an important part of your life as well let's talk about that when we come back um and if you just join us welcome welcome uh we're talking to Kent uh Coach Ken neom mat L and we're going to be right back [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] yes indeed Mak comes to La my friend Mak I just saw him in uh uh Hawaii Kai actually a couple of weeks ago at a new performance space called the lounge up there in Hawaii Kai and um he is coming to Los Angeles with the Tao ban in Little Tokyo and he's gonna come on and talk story with us on talk story Tuesday this coming Tuesday so join us with Mak right there and we are back with Coach Ken neom matalo and I while we're there we had a question to come in I thought was really good and here is Marie K she says Aloha coach for Polynesian students do you see a disparity in resources for them to maintain academics to stay eligible for sports o I like that what's your thoughts um I don't I don't know if i' be qualified to say I mean I know when I was growing up I I would say no you know I mean I'm I'm a I'm a raford high school graduate you know I mean I'm a public school kid here from Hawaii and I feel like and I and I went to the University of Hawaii I feel like the skills that I learned at you know I went to um growing up I went to Red Hill Elementary and also I Elementary we used to live in halava early on um but then uh I went to koku for one year then actually went to elani for a year and then I finished at Bradford you know so I was at different schools and obviously elani is probably you know some people consider the best Academic School on you know here in on Wahu and it's a really good school but I graduated three years and went to Radford and feel like skills that you learned um things that I learned at aliamanu intermediate I think helped me the one years at koku it's so um I I feel like the schools here you know and I I I'll take that back I feel like I can't say because we had kids and I don't want to mention schools because I don't but I had in my time my my 15 years at and 25 years at the Naval Academy we recruited quite a few kids from Hawaii and some were private school kids and some were public school kids and you know what they all did well and so um I think maybe you know you know I I think I've seen some stuff there talking about the testing that you know some of the comprehension stuff here and maybe it might be a little bit lower from a national level but to me there's more to learning than some of that stuff and I guess I'm relating it to my experience at the Naval Academy I feel like the kids from Hawaii were um how do I put it I you know in just in a learning environment I think there's some humility from that them and that you know they're willing to learn but also I don't know if they're used to kind of um um an authoritative disciplinary person and telling them what to do because they I thought they um Blended well into the academy and that's hard the service are hard schools you know it'd be hard enough just to go to school there for school itself but then you add on the military component makes it even doubly hard and then you can add on from here the kids traveling basically Halfway Around the World to go to the east coast that's really really hard and the kids that I recruited out of Hawaii public high school kids and private school kids all did well and so you know again I was just thinking about it as I answer that question so um in my experience and experience I I feel like the Polynesia kids in this area and on the Island are getting what they need you know are getting the tools they need to um for education I think a lot of it obviously comes from the schools but I think it's also in the homes yeah you I think there's stuff that's being taught in the homes here that I think maybe helps too in that educational part and I don't I I don't know the the numbers on this like I said come on I'm just rolling off the top of my head whatever goes my head but maybe there there's a lot more uh two parent uh families here you know what I mean that helps them in that you know just cuz like I said I just was thinking about just the kids that came to the Naval Academy and I can just see their families and their parents right now and from like I said really good private schools and from public schools and they came there and did really well and are doing well so I think there's something to be said as I think not just the education but there's the education in a home that to me gets overlooked way too often you know what I mean so yeah I guess that was my I guess that's my answer yeah coach Marty says speaking of a academics and sports Jesse sapu has opened his private Middle School which will eventually lead to high school sports and more so academics will be the priority interesting that's awesome yeah that's awesome and I think really I guess you know you're talking like what would be a message to you know you showed a picture of me in college like if I was to leave a message like for for parents and people now having been in this profession for as a player and as a coach over 40 years is focus on the education and I think sometimes where guys kind of see like okay this kid has a potential to go to the league or some of that stuff you know all for whatever Sport and then people go all out you know with basketball football baseball golf soccer and and they spent an inordinate inordinate amount of time uh taking into the practice and the training and all that stuff don't forget the academic side yeah as much effort as you get to take your kids to camps and spend all this money to go to the mainland and you know play in all these tournaments and all things which is all great but make sure your kids are coming home and doing their homework make sure they're they're getting the educational because if they do make it like the Tua and the Marcus's and the Jesse saus of the world that's awesome but the majority of them don't and it doesn't make you a failure if you don't make it because only little less than you know 2% make it anyway into the NFL and so if you don't make it it doesn't mean anything it just it doesn't make you a failure or a bad person or anything um the numbers speak to that you're probably not going to make it you know an NFL which is okay just have make sure that you have your your degree and your education stuff so the things that Jesse is doing with his school and stuff like that that's awesome but it's a it's a testament to Jesse that he recognizes that obviously he was fortunate to play The League really good player really good person worked really hard to that and the Lord blessed him with great skill sets physically which he worked and developed but I he knows he's recognized and he's got you know kids himself to see that um the education part is the most important part so that's a great question that was asked yeah yeah yeah thank you let's take a look at this little clip that I found here and I've heard somebody tell me the Lord doesn't really care about Navy football and I think to some extent that's true but I know he's concerned about me and my family and this is my job my dad coaches the Naval Academy and that's his team but my parents are a team [Music] too we had tremendous success on the football field and I I truly believe that a lot of that comes back to the way that he lives his life ah so you're featured on a film called Meet The Mormons and as a man of Faith U very much connected uh to the church um and to your family um obviously family is a huge huge component of who you are yeah come and it's like um you know the Savior the Lord is number one in my life than my family you know you know I love Jesus Christ I love my wife and my children and my grandchildren um you know and sometimes you know I was at a school where you know there's a separation of state and religion you know I mean so I had the keep that you know separate from a standpoint of you know I I couldn't you know obviously like force my players to to a certain denomination or religious group or beliefs um but I was okay with it but I was just but I was who I was I didn't try to force my beliefs on anybody but I just liveed the way I am you know what I mean I I did what I and I'm um I'm not embarrassed about my beliefs and um I know that my faith in the Lord has guided me and giving me the spiritual compass and the moral compass that I needed I need in life but I've also recognized that everybody has their own beliefs and everybody has their own freedom to choose and so I've never try to impose on my players or people that maybe I supervised or worked for me or worked with me they're like hey you have to do it this way but they knew exactly who I was and I couldn't really separate those beliefs from who I was you know sometimes I had discussions with maybe some of maybe my box and stuff about this certain topic but you know there weren't really um long or anything serious talks or anything that ever came up but I I did Express but this is who I am I it's I can't like cut off part of me I mean just this is just who I am I mean I'm I I love the Lord I love to eat I love my family just just just person I mean just I'd be disingenuous if I was any other way just just swear but with that said I hope people would respect my beliefs because I definitely respect all other people believe so I don't you know whatever you believe in that's your own choice and it give you your space I was tell my players like even for example kamak like on Sundays I go to church but I don't force my players to go to church you know on the coaches hey you do whatever you want on Sunday that's that's your own choice you're you do whatever you want but for me and my family I'm taking my family in church so just know for me that's what I was going to do and and in this profession uh that's very unique you know because Sundays are probably the biggest day in college football because that's the day that you know you just finished your Saturday game so you have to review that and then you start your prep for the next opponent and so you know that's how I did things cuz I um in my faith you know the Sabbath day is important but I also would tell guys like when I first told coaches hey this is what I do when I when in fact when I first became the head coach I said guys on Sundays you're not going to see me here at work and I know they kind of looked at me like what this is this is the our most important day where you going um and I said this is my beliefs and this this is what I'm going to do and but I said don't misconstrue that that I'm trying to get out of work or I'm cutting Corners being lazy or anything like that I said this is how I feel like I can prepare myself to be the less the best version of myself so that I can be the best leader of our our program and now with that said I came to work you know I come to work really early kamaka I mean during the season I get to work I get up at 3: you know 3 312 every day to during the season to come to come to you know to get ready but you know that was my that's my faith that's who I am my family is very important to me and you know I met my wife here in Hawaii she went to Bei Hawaii she's from Guam her dad's choro her dad's a a blonde from you know Southern California you know what I mean so um but I met her here I went went to uh I'd come home on the weekends and met her at a um you know many years ago and you know so been you know close over 36 years being together and so U been together a long time um have three beautiful kids my daughter my oldest daughter Alexia you just saw her two girls Rosie momy and lelia uh they she works for Hawaiian she's a flight attendant uh her husband John to is is a flight attendant um he live here in monoa my two other my two sons VA and his wife of Kenzie and he has three daughters of Aussie Jada and um Ivory just born and my son Ali he's a a CO both of them got into coaching my son was a started out as a graduate assistant here for Coach Nick rolovich and Coach stman then he's uh coached that uh Navy for the last five years they just fired the dad but they kept my son they kept they kept a better looking guy better then my younger and he played at BYU and my youngest son played at the University of Utah uh was a analyst there for a year then was a graduate assistant at uh UCLA last year so for me kamaka probably two of the more more highlights of my career won a lot of games in my coaching career been to a lot of bowl games been to the White House you know several times um on my in my time there um The Pinnacle of my profession is uh being able to coach with my sons so I was with my son for three years at Navy which was awesome being with him and his family and his wife and his his beautiful wife and beautiful girls and then last year I after I got let go at Navy I wasn't sure what I was going to do and I don't know if I was going to retire or stay out for a little bit and then I got a great opportunity to go to UCLA to work with Chip Kelly um Bryce McDonald who is Chip who was Chip Kelly's chief of staff used to be my chief of staff or director footballs at Navy and Brian no one of my best friends that we played at Ratford and at University of Hawaii together and um he was a the secondary coach at UCLA IO mooy another local boys dline uh coach there now he's a defensive coordinator so I was able to go there they provided me an opportunity I was a director of leadership there chip was being nice to me it was kind of a way for me to kind of come there and just kind of help in any way I could but I mean he didn't really need me nor did I really do anything but it was a year that I got to stay in football and I got to see how Chip Kelly did things I got to see a little bit of the niio world the portal transfer portal how that's happening in college football so there it was time it was a great time for me because I got to be with my youngest son who was a graduate assistant there uh like I said because he played at Utah and then had an opportunity to go coach there so I got to be with him for 10 months we lived on Wilshire Boulevard and you know and and uh Westwood and it was a great year for me because I got to sit back kamaka and just look and see and take a like um you know 10 10,000 foot view of of the landscape of college football and how things are going and um I got to see like I said learn from a a phenomenal football coach how he did things and and then this opportunity opened up but it was this profession has been great to my family been able to bless my family you know my dad and my parents uh my parents came their their family came to Hawaii I believe in the 50s U my dad and my grandfather was in the Navy and my my dad was in the Coast Guard he ended up being stationed in in Sand Island you know so we lived in Red Hill when we first moved there in 1972 then he worked at the shipyard when he retired uh in PE Harbor and then we moved to halava we liveed right across soon stadium and then Foster Village and then he then the late 80 late late 70s and I think 77 or somewhere on there uh he got an opportunity to go to the Polynesian cultureal Center to be a manager of the Villager restaurant which is now if you go there now it's where the Marriott is now and then he became the one of the managers for the Gateway Restaurant which is the main restaurant at the Paulin culture center right now then he retired there my wife my my mom worked in town worked at State Savings and Loan so she rode the bus you know every day from laer to come to town which you know the one year so I went to elani my freshman year kamaka to play basketball uh muy hanman was my uncle is my uncle and he was the coach there he recruited me Albert tono Frank lutu Keith Spencer um somebody else I'm trying to remember who else but anyways just uh but a few of us um um went there but anyways we went there to play basketball and so one year my n my ninth grade year I was going to elani from La catching the city bus it was kind of funny because I have you know got people from you know friends of mine that are from La that went to come here but they had a bus come picked them up like oh can I catch a rer maybe you guys Dro me off drop me off over I'll catch the bus from KH just Dro me off over there but um but anyways me and my wife my mom had to catch the bus I think the bus left I don't know 4:30 or something in the morning super early old dark hundred and so after practice you know so we'd come back after kamaka I couldn't handle it and if I remember like my when in my freshman year I told my parents I can't do this anymore you know just can I either come back to kahoku but I just I I I couldn't get up that early in the morning you know that much early in the morning and and my mom did that for years you know what I mean so I just say geez so what a such a weak person because I could only do that for one year my mom did that for how many years from La you know traveling on the bus the city bus going back and forth um um and so my siblings and I were raised in laier I had my dad my mom passed away my dad's still living in laer with my two older uh two sisters I have a sister two sisters that live on the mainland in Utah one in a beay and Hayward my other brothers in Utah had a brother pass away um yeah but that's kind of our family you know what I mean I got my three kids and my granddaughters my my my family will be re uh reunited here soon in a week or so my son two of my sons are still on the mainland we're all going to go to Guam together to go see my wife's parents yeah so July has always been kind of like a gathering time for my family um about a place here in Mano um and it just my wife always wanted to live in Mano when I was we lived in makiki when I was a graduate assistant you know just growing up and then oh I would love to live in mono and like okay just we just stick to our two-bedroom apartment that's all I can afford right now but we you know we So eventually you know got a place here but he kind so it's been you know a a a kind blessing you know that I'm grateful for um but I got a place to laer you know so growing up in laer there's a place called Temple Beach and just growing up I used to always run on this beach train cuz it's kind of flat and there's a reef so the water's really calm there if you went further down by ukila or go down there you know there's more waves there but this is pretty relatively a calmer Beach because of the reef but I you saw was train on that beach you know in off season for uh and so I just knew like there's like four homes in this small little span of land and like if I ever able to when I get older I'd love to get a house on this beach so I've been fortunate enough recent you know that I I got a you know bought a place there so it's become our Gathering Place when I was at uh kamaka like I mean at um the Naval Academy it's interesting I talk to different coaches they tell me all about the places they're going to retire oh yeah about a place in Florida I'm going to this place I'm going to there I'm going to Georgia North Carolina going to Montana they're like Ken where are you going to retire like what there's no question I'm going home what do you mean am I going to retire you know ask hello what why would I go to Florida I'm from Hawaii I'm the most beautiful place in the world why would I go anywhere else so true coach show true so I come home so it's been awesome for me come so I come home every July and just get ready because August the grind starts yeah and the pressure and just everything you're running a th000 miles per hour and it's the way I've been able to sustain myself you know in my 35 career fiveyear career my 16 years as a head coach I feel like I've been able to relatively stay energized and passionate and um up uh up technically besides the iPad stuff getting ready for the interview but I feel like I've been able to stay you know Forward Thinking so to speak but this has been this is how I've been able to keep going on is my family and coming home my family coming home and my faith I have to come home some people like oh you know like I have some coaches they go visit Europe and they their um July uh off month and they go to vacation to Mexico to Mexico and different places oh it's great I have to come home yeah this is part of my reprieve my my my preparation I have to be here to kind of get the Mana so to speak yeah to kind of get ready so I can go back you know so you know coach Marty Burns said it's mindboggling to think of the thousands upon thousands of kids that you have guided and you have mentored and changed their lives so awesome and you've shared um the the secret your secret really is uh your family your faith uh you've stayed grounded in uh who you are where you come from and that has been a powerful powerful um uh means by which you've guided so many um young men and women in in in this in um the SP in and out of the sport in your community as well right in your church so wow when I became a head coach I there wasn't a class you know what I mean I I didn't take a head coaching well I actually did take a coaching class from coach rockney freedus and Coach pello at at uh but to be a head coach I never had a class or degree I just relied on all all of who I am the mentors coach phosco coach Tomy uh coach Wagner Coach Johnson all these people that it helped groom me my my faith and how I do things but also just growing up in Hawaii the you know Ohana Spirit when I was trying to U think about how I was going to create my team to me it's pretty simple I'm like I'm just going to build a family I just I was telling guys I just relied on who I was you know as Polynesians we eat eat a lot and we we get together a lot to you know celebrate things and yeah so we you know all of our team meals we eat together we come together but the kids know that I I coach my kids hard and but I'm demanding but not demeaning you know I mean kamaka I love my kids as far as my players I'm talking about I love my own kids and my grandkids but I love my players and I you know over the years as you know as coach Burns just you know I appreciate him saying that I I have literally coached thousands of young men just over this time just like how he has and and the influence has been how I was raised really simple just how I was raised that I didn't know any other way you know I mean that when I went like because when I got hired kamaka it was really really fast I was out recruiting our athletic director called me this 2007 December 2007 I was recruiting in Seattle I still remember and he called me AK can can you get on the next plane uh Coach Johnson took a job at Georgia Tech and I want to interview you for the job so I had to get on a plane and come back quickly and I interviewed that night you know I got back to the east coast in the evening I interviewed all night and he hired me that night and then I had to go you know I mean it wasn't like oh wait can you give me a couple weeks I got to think about what I want to do you know I mean just like yeah so and so it was that part of it getting ready it was simple because I I I'm just who I am I don't try to be anybody else I don't try to coach like anybody else I take all that I've learned and all Who I Am from great people and and the faith I have in the Lord and my family and all of that stuff and just just lead who I am yeah yeah um Nate Jones says my mom taught at Elementary in the late 70s and 80s Junior IU Sons were in her class full circle all of us guys yeah yeah and um yeah my my my beach house is right across from like Elementary right across wow W but I use Junior IU is a legend in the in that community and maybe I say something real quickly about this man I mean come on this guy I think he's in his mid 70s that guy still looks I mean he he looks phenomenal he was a defensive end uh come on looks like you can still rush the passer but his his kids and his family they just continue to serve you know everybody if anything's going on this guy you know used to bring food to my dad just drop it off or just anybody like somebody's having a wedding or something their family would make food for people when there's you know at La element uh Co excuse me at laer Park there's always something going on there you know festivity days L day and all kinds of festivities and their family is always doing stuff but to me Junior IU is a great example of our community our Island how we take care of people this guy you know was a great football player but he's come came back and given back to the community and still serves people to this day which is amazing amaz oh my goodness well we come to the end of our time together I can't believe we we've uh we we can go on and talk star you know us locals we can talk story and sorry M mou over here sorry I love it no not at all coach it has been such a wonderful opportunity to kind of hang out with you and talk story really and um Kam was almost goingon to say a certain type of mouth but I I better not say that because you know growing up growing up you know what I'm saying I would say certain oh I better not say that about any race because you know they wa controversial stuff but growing up that's so if you're this you kn you get mouth but I can say that H it's all good um Coach Ken thank you thank you so much for visiting us on the Aloha Friday show it has been such a treat um and uh something we've been looking forward to and our our friends have definitely enjoyed being with you and spending their time together and a lot of them are um you know a lot of the comments that have come come through over here just just folks that have enjoyed you um and uh here's um there's K said I love the interview love the talk story over here and um so what the um San Jose uh Spartans is that that is that the um that's the team right s Spartans and the thing that I love about it kamaka is we're closer so now my wife's you know she's on the west coast so she's between Hawaii and my son who's still on the East Coast so she can fly back and forth and come visit my daughter back here in Hawaii and she can go to the east coast to visit my son and his family but I love San Jose a lot of good local food over there so I hit the jackpot and where I went so I love great place great people great community and so feel very blessed to be there yeah once again thank you so much coach for being with us and thank you for all of our Ohana for dropping in and sharing in the conversation we appreciate you the Aloha Friday show is brought to you by the swich island social network 501c3 a nonprofit organization you can learn more more about us lower right hand side of your screen sand island.org uh gives you all the information on things we do here in Southern California and Beyond and so for now we're gonna say AO ho to Coach Ken and to all of our Ohana over there and uh we'll catch you next time we'll see you on talk story Tuesday with M you guys we SM you guys later Aloha Al [Music] [Music]