When Don Botelho’s retirement was made known last week, it was no surprise. It will be one, however, if the erstwhile Interscholastic League of Honolulu executive director doesn’t keep his hand in the game in one way or another.
He turns 83 in a couple of days, but friends say Botelho’s mind remains as nimble as when he made all the right moves to coach players from a conglomerate of tiny schools into Prep Bowl champions — twice.
"It took a unique guy to make that happen," said star fullback Joe Onosai. "Halfway through the season we still didn’t know all of our teammates’ names because we went to different schools."
It got to the point that plaintive cries of "Break up the Pack" emanated from the traditional ILH powers. They must have forgotten about all those years before 1982 (Onosai’s team) and 1985 (Garrett Gabriel’s) when Pac-Five served as league punching bag. Usually, the Wolfpack were at or lower than the level of Damien — another underdog where Botelho had squeezed the most he could out of small kids and a small roster.
Botelho possessed an innovative offensive mind. But he shrugged off any genius label, insisting his recipes were just a little bit borrowed from here and a little bit from there.
"When you talk about creativity, everything you can think of was already thought of by someone else," Botelho told me in 2009, when we were documenting the top 100 players in University of Hawaii football history. The all-purpose two-way back checked in at No. 93. He might have been higher if he’d been allowed to throw the ball more often.
His teammate, Jimmy Asato, remembers Botelho having a strong arm. He didn’t throw it all 95 yards, but that’s how much turf the play covered in his still-standing UH-record touchdown pass to Colin Chock in 1957.
Botelho was one of 28 Rainbows who went to Nebraska in 1955 and returned home with the program’s biggest road upset.
But his biggest impact would come as a coach for 42 years and as an administrator.
After 28 years as the Mid-Pacific athletic director, Botelho was called upon to head up the ILH in 2003. It was just in time to help the young Hawaii High School Athletic Association’s executive director.
Keith Amemiya had plenty of good ideas, but he needed a strong ally for them to even be considered. He got that in Botelho, who had earned decades-worth of credibility and universal goodwill on the preps scene.
"He was one of my first mentors. He was so personable and nice to everyone, so he was well-liked," Amemiya said. "He was always fair-minded. He made decisions in the best interest of everyone, not just one particular school or league."
The team of Amemiya and Botelho accomplished what many had thought impossible: A football state tournament. Botelho was also instrumental in classification and more state championships, particularly for girls.
He did everything seemingly from the background, even while coaching those championship teams.
"His whole thing was just be humble," Onosai said. "No celebrating on the bus or field. He’d been on the losing end so many times at Damien, he said he’d never celebrate in the face of his opponents."
Reach Dave Reardon at dreardon@staradvertiser.com or 529-4783. His blog is at hawaiiwarriorworld.com/quick-reads.
