As an offensive lineman at Kailua High in the early 1960s, Bob Richardson thought Surfriders’ football coach Joe Kahahawai "seemed like he was six-feet, six inches tall."

When he came back years later for homecoming, Richardson said he suddenly realized Kahahawai was of more average height.

"But in our lives he always seemed to stand tall," Richardson said. "That was the kind of teacher, coach and man he was."

In testament, a group of his former players will unveil a bronze plaque in the late coach’s honor at the school in ceremonies after Saturday’s homecoming game against Moanalua. 

Coming on the 50th anniversary homecoming of the class of ’64, it will pay tribute to not only Kahahawai’s 100 victories, two Oahu Interscholastic Association football championships and a state track title, but what he meant to the players, the school and the community.

"As a person, Joe Kahahawai inspired us as a role model," Richardson said in an email to alums. "He instilled pride and the discipline to work hard every day. Most of all, he was an example to get the most out of life. He truly had a passion for life. We want to show our aloha and respect…"

So, in addition to the plaque, nearly 100 alums, covering the breadth of Kahahawai’s head coaching career (1959-64 and 1971-79),  also are helping finance an extension of the concessions area at Kane Field.

Kailua athletic director  Ramona Takahashi OK’d the plans, saying it was a "nice way to honor him as I had heard that Coach Kahahawai had made a great impact to Kailua athletics."

"You realize over time how much influence he had," said Glenn Andresen, a two-way lineman on the undefeated 1963 team. "He valued education, self respect, preparation, understanding and excellence."

What Kahahawai is best known for at Kailua was bringing together a disparate band of players and forging a remarkable team that the community rallied around. "He developed the ability for us to want to make him proud of us," Richardson said. "He drove you to a different level of performance. He had that ability and what a wonderful characteristic to have."

With Alex Kane and Merv Lopes as assistant coaches and a young Russ Francis as waterboy, the 1963 edition of the Surfriders went 12-0 and outscored opponents by an average of 28-4, delivering the school’s first football title after 10 years in the then-Rural OIA.

The championship run had a galvanizing impact on Kailua, then a town of fewer than 25,000. It lured overflow crowds that news reports of the day say sometimes topped 6,800 and might have reached as many 10,000.

When a group of ’64 alums was sitting around having coffee a while back, it was memories of the energy and spirit of those times that initially sparked the idea of a project to remember the coach who helped make it possible, the one they reverently call "Coach Joe."

"We were honored to have been part of those times and wanted to find a way to honor him," Andresen said. 

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.