Fong takes over Sabers
By ROBERT COLLIAS, Staff Writer
KAHULUI – Roderick Fong knows Maui High School football better than most.
He has seen the good days, before Curtis Lee retired at the end of the 2004 season after 21 years and nine Maui Interscholastic League titles as the state’s winningest active coach.
Fong has also seen the last three years, when two coaches have posted a combined record of 4-24-1.
Fong, a 1975 Maui High graduate and 17-year assistant at the school, will be the Sabers’ fourth head coach in five seasons in 2008 after the school announced its choice to replace David NeSmith on Thursday.
Fong was the junior varsity head coach in 2007, when the Sabers’ varsity went winless for the first time in more than a quarter-century. Prior to that he served as JV head coach from 1984 to 1996 and was on the defensive staff for the varsity from 1997 to 1999.
“We are pleased that someone with Roderick’s experience is coming on board at Maui High,’’ athletic director Scott Soldwisch said. “I was very impressed this season with the work ethic and discipline that his JV squad showed. I know he is looking forward to meeting with the boys and getting the offseason program going as soon as possible.’’
Fong, who owns a local construction company, said his first point of business is to assemble the coaching staff. He will handle the offense, which he said will be about 70 percent spread and 30 percent with two running backs.
Fong said he hopes to be Maui High’s head coach for the long run.
“Oh yes,’’ said the 50-year-old, a 1979 engineering graduate of University of the Pacific in Stockton, Calif. “I don’t see myself stopping coaching. I have always been coaching and I love coaching. When I was head JV coach, I enjoyed that a lot, too. I am real excited. I love coaching and I love Maui High School – that’s my alma mater and I want to give back to the school.’’
Quarterback Jordan Inamasu, who will be a senior in the fall, will be one of the returnees. Inamasu had the second-most passing yards in the MIL last season (805), completing 68 of 162 throws with three touchdowns and 10 interceptions.
Fong emerged as the hands-down choice from the pool of applicants, Soldwisch said.
“He came in and took the interview to us,’’ Soldwisch said. “He laid out his plan prior to us even asking him questions. He is a businessman who runs his own business. He manages people, he manages respect. He just came in and took control – I was impressed.’’
Fong said that he is not planning on a return to the Lee era, but said some of the fundamental thoughts will be like those of his mentor.
“I wouldn’t want to say that it needs to return to Curtis’ program because I believe all football programs have to find their own road to success, but there is a general way that programs should run and that is how Curtis ran his program,’’ Fong said. “And it is how a lot of coaches in the MIL, in the state, and in the nation run their programs.’’
Fong said he wants to have a staff in place by March before spring drills start. He said continuity is the key.
“The thing with coach Lee’s staff and (Lahainaluna coach) Bobby Watson’s staff is continuity,’’ Fong said. “We are hoping to find young and experienced coaches to fill those roles. I have plan A, plan B, and plan Cof ideas.’’
Fong said he will handle the offense, but also has done his share of coaching defense. The defensive plan will be up to the new coordinator, however.
“I will find a defensive coach and see what they want to work with,’’ Fong said. “I have a (4-3) defense that I like, and I will give them a book of about 60 pages, but they will have the freedom to throw it away if they want to and decide what they want to run.’’
Fong said that being the JV head coach, and thus knowing many of the players who will be varsity in the fall, was a key factor for him.
“That rarely happens, where you can work with the JV team and the next year you can work with the varsity as a head coach,’’ he said. “I see that as very important.’’
Fong knows what is ahead of him.
“I think it is a big challenge,’’ he said. “I don’t totally have all the answers, but I just feel we have to run a program, run a program and give it a chance to be successful.
“I don’t think wins and losses is the goal right now, but rather working individually to make each player better, and progressing as a group and as a team.’’
Soldwisch said the hire may be the most important he has made in his two years as the Maui High AD.
“Well, I think it is critical in that turning around our football program helps turn around the entire athletic program,’’ Soldwisch said. “It is really important that we get our athletic program turned around. It is almost as the football program goes, the whole school year goes. I know coach Fong and I are both committed to getting things turned around.
“The thing we need more than anything else is experience. The fact that coach Fong has a lot of experience and that he has a lot of experience at Maui High was a key factor in Roderick getting the job.’’
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