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Jason Cauley is leaving his job as the Moanalua football coach and moving back to Alabama, he told the Star-Advertiser on Monday.
Cauley, who grew up in Mobile, Ala., spent two years as Na Mehehune’s head man and compiled a 7-11 mark. A 58-22 win over Leilehua in the Oahu Interscholastic Association Division I playoffs two weeks ago that was followed by a 48-13 loss to No. 4 Mililani last week typified Moanalua’s up-and-down motif under Cauley.
Above all, Cauley said, he will miss his players and Hawaii’s aloha spirit.
“The kids here will give the shirts off their backs to their teammates,” Cauley said. “It’s not like that (in Alabama). They truly love each other here. If they have food, they will share half of it with teammates without even thinking twice about it. So many people around the world could learn from Hawaii, and if they took a chance to try and do things the way people here do them, the world would be a much better place. The aloha spirit is real, even if some people say it isn’t real.”
Cauley said he would try to spread some of the things that make Hawaii special in his endeavors in his home state. Cauley’s brother, Rick, is a head coach at Murphy High in Mobile, Ala., but it’s not in his plans at this time to go back to being an assistant there. He plans to settle with his wife and family in Montgomery, Ala., and eventually return to coaching.
After moving to Hawaii, Cauley was an assistant under Arnold Martinez at Moanalua in 2011. He then spent two years as Kapolei’s offensive coordinator under Darren Hernandez before taking over for Martinez with Na Menehune in 2014.
