Salanoa leaves Radford on a high note

Fred Salanoa was a devoted football head coach for 13 seasons at Radford High School. Now, he wants to devote more time to his wife and seven daughters.

Salanoa, 38, told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser on Monday morning that he was stepping down. It’s been a little more than a week since the Rams wrapped up a 13-0 season that included the Division II state championship.

“It has come up the past several years where I tell people I might be leaving,” Salanoa said. “People would say, ‘You’re saying that again.’ It’s for real this time. It’s time for me to move forward and I feel I’m leaving the program at a high level. It’s time to repay my wife for the strong foundation she gave our family, even going back to my days playing in college.”

Salanoa, a 1996 Radford graduate, compiled an 81-53 record and also led the Rams to the 2005 Oahu Interscholastic Association D-II title. He played quarterback for the Rams and for Eastern Washington, where he graduated in 2001, two years before taking the Radford post.

“It was never about me, and it has always been about Radford High School, the athletic program and the student-athletes,” he said. “I am thankful to all the people who laid the foundation before me and all the people who have supported and sacrificed for our program along the way.”