Contrite Kahuku football coach resumes his post after suspension

Thirty-three days can be a long time, but Reggie Torres is just thankful.

The longtime Kahuku wrestling and judo coach is heading back to the sidelines today as football head coach after a month-long suspension. Principal Donna Lindsey met with Torres on Monday, and Torres wrote a letter to players and parents that was distributed by interim coach Walter Santiago Tuesday afternoon.

"Reggie met with Donna on Monday and he came to the field to let me know that he’ll be back on Wednesday. Donna called me, too, on Monday," Santiago said Tuesday. "The players are taking home a letter (from Torres) to their parents today," Santiago said.

Lindsey was unavailable for comment.

Torres was suspended indefinitely on July 29 because he did not inform Lindsey that one of the JV players had brought an illegal substance to a preseason football camp. Instead, JV coach Ikaika Plunkett disciplined the entire team after the substance was discovered, ordering players to run for 90 minutes after midnight, sources told the Star-Advertiser.

Plunkett also was suspended but he was reinstated a few weeks ago.

Torres remained on campus in his job, but was barred from the football field.

"Once we knew what happened, we should’ve reported it. I should’ve still advised the administrators about that," Torres said.

"I want to apologize for all this situation. I’m responsible for this program, whatever happens, it’s on my shoulders. I’m thankful for the opportunity to spend time with the boys on their journey. Every season is a new journey."

Torres was grateful for another opportunity.

"I tell you what, I’m just excited to get back with the kids," he said. "I miss them. I miss them so much. I still love coaching, that’s what I love. It’s been a tough, tough 32 days. But that’s the process."

The weight of off-field issues has been an enormous burden for the football program. Last year, the team was booted from the Oahu Interscholastic Association playoffs due to questions about the eligibility of a player who was never officially ruled ineligible by the league.

That was followed by the death by apparent suicide of senior linebacker Keoni Tafuna.

Then came the new season, plenty of optimism, and the incident at preseason camp. As one varsity player wrote on Facebook after Torres was suspended: "Just when you think you’ve seen everything."

Since then, the Red Raiders have held down the fort, returning to the No. 1 ranking in the Star-Advertiser Football Top 10. Santiago and the coaching staff have guided the team to a 3-0 mark, including wins over Waianae and Kamehameha.

"Me and the assistant coaches pulled together in the interim and kept the kids focused away from distractions," Santiago said. "For these young kids, we had to keep them working, focused on goals in the classroom and on the playing field.

"It’ll get back to what we were doing, nothing different. I’ve coached with Reggie for many years and I know what his philosophy is."

Now Torres is hoping the school and community keep moving forward.

"We’re trying to be united," he said. "The administration is there for us and will work with us. The biggest thing was communication. We’re going to meet regularly, every week, and make sure the communication is open. Bottom line is, come to me, we’re here to help each other."

Torres was empathetic in support of Lindsey.

"She wants to support the program. The biggest thing we talked about is we want to move forward and put the attention on the kids and at the same time let the kids know she’s a vital supporter of the program. We need her as a vital supporter," he said.

"We’ve got to get the administrators involved. In the past, it used to be the less work for the administrators, the better. But now, they want us to know, they can help too," Torres said.

He had some basic, valuable advice for other coaches.

"Make sure you keep open communication with your administrators. If anything happens, make sure they know. Leave some kind of message, a text, an email. You might not want to call at 1 o’clock in the morning, but when she gets up, she sees it right away. I’ll be the one to let her know, not someone anonymous.

"It’s not fair to her she gets hit on the blind side."

Kahuku defensive back/wide receiver Kawe Johnson said, "I would’ve been surprised if they didn’t reinstate (Torres.) Coach Walt (Santiago) was there for us and it was great that he stepped in. But it’s a good thing Coach Reggie is back. He’s always there for us any time of the year for our workouts.

"I think we’re all going to go up to Coach Walt before practice and thank him for stepping in."

Hawaii News Now video: Kahuku’s Torres to return Wednesday