2nd-year player emerges as leader

Things are always looking up for Tevita Lataimua. Rather, he’s always looking up.

The 5-foot-10 Hawaii middle linebacker rarely enjoys a height advantage on the field.

Lataimua laughed.

"I’m proud of it," he said.

The native of San Bruno, Calif., has reason to be. In his second and final season with the Rainbow Warriors out of the College of San Mateo, Lataimua is positioned in a leadership role in UH’s new 3-4 base defensive scheme. That’s saying something, considering he was a reserve for all of his junior season, finishing with 25 tackles.

"He’s definitely become a leader over that one-year span," said offensive lineman Leo Koloamatangi, who is a third cousin of Lataimua. "He’s taking on the role of leading his defense. He’s a leader, he’s the middle linebacker, he’s the core of that defense. He’s definitely owned up. I’d say he’s one of the most vocal leaders out there. And I’m proud to know him because he shows it in his actions as well."

He may be small in stature for a linebacker, but Lataimua finds ways to be seen. He’s known as one of the hardest-hitting Warriors.

"I’m 5-10, but I’m going to be a problem all game. That’s my attitude," Lataimua said.

Defensive coordinator Kevin Clune, who coaches the inside linebackers, admires Lataimua’s instincts and accountability to go along with his "very strong pop."

When Lataimua’s height came up, Clune chuckled like he expected the question.

"Arm length is huge in football. And the longer arms you got, the more you can hold off blocks," he said. "And so guys without arm length are usually at a disadvantage. You got to overcome that with more strength, more quickness, more pop, things like that."

Lataimua was of comparable size to his contemporaries at Mills High School, south of San Francisco. But once he enrolled at San Mateo, things changed.

"That’s when I learned," he said. "My (JUCO) coach told me, height-wise, that’s going to be a problem, but I gotta get better at all my other stuff. Quickness, I gotta be faster, stronger. Use my height, my low center of gravity as leverage. They’re going to be tall, and I’m going to be short, so I got a little more advantage (down there)."

He turned that technique into two straight all-conference selections, including all-state as a sophomore. When it came time to make the leap to Division I, Lataimua selected UH over BYU.

Lataimua’s Polynesian roots helped UH in that call, but he had no prior personal experience with Hawaii. NorCal is all he knew, which added to the learning curve last year.

It’s helped to have some transplanted family (distant relations though they may be) around in UH’s Koloamatangi brothers, Leo and Meffy. The Koloamatangis also hail from the Bay Area.

"We all came down here, which is good," Lataimua said. "We all kind of adjusted. It was hard at first. Leo came by himself. And then when I transferred from JUCO, me and Meffy came. It made things a lot easier for all of us."

Said Leo: "There’s a lot of us who came from Northern California. We all just seem to find ourselves together every day."

Because of the new base alignment and buy-in from his teammates, Lataimua feels it is possible for the Warriors to make a complete turnaround, from the 1-11 season of 2013 to Mountain West champion.

"I feel like everybody’s more committed this year. Last year … not everybody was in, jumping in the water. Now everybody’s committed (and) guys know what their roles are."

"We’ve got good linebacker depth right now. … So far I’ve been blessed in thinking ahead. At this level, injuries will shape your season. And I think if we do have an injury or two in certain places, we’ll be able to overcome and maintain a high level of defense." STRENGTHS / WEAKNESSES Plenty of new or largely untested faces at linebacker makes the position a proving ground of sorts in the new 3-4 scheme. Lataimua, Garcia-Williams and Taimatuia must set the tone. The Rainbow Warriors will have to make up for a relative lack of size at the position with smarts and heart.