Local football coaches reveal college ball realities

A handful of former prominent college football players turned local football figures in the Islands recently held a seminar at Farrington High School.

Their message? For high school players hoping to find a college home, the game has completely changed.

The event was hosted by Farrington head football coach Mike Lafaele, a former standout defensive tackle for the University of Hawai‘i. He was joined on a panel by Farrington offensive coordinator and former star Hawai‘i running back Nate Ilaoa, Farrington receivers coach and former Cal tight end Savai‘i Eselu and former UCLA defensive end David Tautofi, now with Pacific Region International Sports Management, also known as PRISMLife.

The seminar also included presentations from Farrington special teams coordinator and former Hawai‘i football staffer Nicholas Miller, as well as a Zoom with 247Sports national editor Brandon Huffman.

A pair of seismic changes over the years have shaped the way college sports are played on and off the field: Monetary gains from name, image, and likeness (NIL) becoming legal on July 1, 2021, and the advent of the NCAA transfer portal in 2018.

New rulings continue to create change and chaos in the college landscape. Starting in the summer, schools from Power Four conferences will begin to distribute as much as $20.5 million in revenue among its student-athletes.

"There's a lot of opportunity in sports in Hawai‘i, particularly football. I hope they got something out of it and that they could apply it to their lives, apply it to their kids," Lafaele told Aloha State Daily following the three-hour event. "I've shared some stories of kids who have gone through the gauntlet over this whole thing and came out successful because they trust the process. People matter and you gotta trust the process."

NCAA eligibility

First things first: In order to play college sports, prospective student-athletes must gain academic eligibility. Miller, Eselu and Lafaele noted that even if a baseline GPA of 2.5 is met, that alone may not get one into a school such as Stanford, or even the University of Hawai‘i. When college coaches peruse an academic transcript, excessive absences and tardies can be a dealbreaker as well.

Getting recruited

"Film, film, film," Eselu said when recalling his days evaluating prospects as San Diego State University's tight ends coach from 2020 to 2023. Eselu estimated that he was watching 200 to 250 highlight reels a day. When editing one's highlight tape, Eselu highly encouraged putting one's best plays first in order to catch the eye of a coach and provide a reason to keep watching.

Huffman and Eselu both emphasized that it is becoming increasingly difficult for high schoolers to immediately land at a Division I school. Last May, a ruling allowed athletes to transfer an unlimited amount of times without penalty. Prior to the transfer portal, athletes would have to reach out to schools directly then sit out a year in academic residence if they did not graduate from their previous school.

There are murmurs within college football circles that programs could soon have wealthy team owners, a la the NFL. With the amount of money being pumped in to major college football, coaches are under more pressure to win immediately and thus are more inclined to take a proven college player rather than a high schooler.

The recruiting pool for high schoolers is getting smaller at all levels, but prospects can still get exposure at summer mega camps on the Mainland. The panel stressed the importance of proper planning and preparation, citing the cost of the trip for Hawai‘i families.

The biggest investment, Ilaoa noted, has to come from the player himself. Once a player applies himself and is honest about what's realistic, then doors will open.

Money

Tautofi outlined how college sports is becoming more and more of a business, and a "pilau" one at times when money is being discussed.

Gone are the days of big-time college football players being unable to make ends meet. Huffman said it especially pays to be a proven college quarterback, left tackle or skilled pass rusher.

Among the athletes he advises, Tautofi tries to teach financial literacy and ensure that his players are signing contracts in their best interests. A common issue among student-athletes getting NIL deals is taxes, Tautofi says, with many not knowing how that aspect of their paydays work.

Name, image and likeness deals have trickled down to the high school level. In Hawai‘i, while some high school athletes aren't getting known monetary deals, there are multiple who are receiving merchandise from companies in exchange for a shoutout on social media, for example.

Lafaele recalled the recruiting process for his son, Anelu, a four-star prospect who graduated from Farrington in 2024 and began his college career at Wisconsin. He is now at Michigan State. Mike Lafaele says he initially took too humble of an approach to NIL, but he soon realized the investment in a player represents a school's commitment.

Development

Lafaele, who also doubles as a prominent athletic trainer, acknowledged that the journey is different for each athlete. Some of the players he worked with started off as walk-ons before earning scholarships at FBS schools, while others, like his son, took years to bulk up before blossoming as prospects. If a Hawai‘i high schooler is fortunate enough to play college football, the journey to stay there and thrive is not an easy one, Lafaele stressed.

Reflections

"A lot of these kids that are playing now, they think they got forever," Tautofi said. "I used to think that way. We all did."

With a shared affinity for Hawai‘i and its athletes, the panel wanted to share the advice they wish they had when they were coming up in the 2000s.

"We're far ahead of the Mainland in ability, but in knowledge, we're way behind," Eselu told Aloha State Daily afterwards. "Holy cow, this would have been perfect for me, my brothers, everybody."

Lafaele said he hopes to hold more events in the future at different schools.

What if?

Ilaoa and Lafaele were teammates during the golden age of University of Hawai‘i football. The Warriors went a combined 23-4 from 2006 to 2007, culminating with an appearance in the 2008 Sugar Bowl, the school's lone BCS bowl appearance.

Ilaoa was selected by the Philadelphia Eagles in the 2007 NFL Draft. In 2025, a player of his ilk would not have to wait until after college to earn a livable wage playing football.

If those UH teams played in the current era of players getting poached for large sums of money, would they have been able to stick together? Ilaoa and Lafaele say it's a topic they like to joke about with their former teammates.

"I know I would have stayed," Ilaoa said, who passed up offers from schools such as Oklahoma and Miami to sign with UH out of North Stafford High School in Virginia. "Colt (Brennan) would have, because we both passed up big money at one point in our lives."

"Nate would have been gone," Lafaele said in response. "He would have made choke money. For sure, Colt would have made millions of dollars. I didn't have anybody to pick me up. I probably would have just stayed where I was at, probably would have just taken some kind of money to help pay my bills.

"I was a father and a husband when I was in college. So definitely, NIL would have been beneficial for me and the guys in that situation."

Christian Shimabuku can be reached at christian@alohastatedaily.com.