Hawaii O-line coach Roman Sapolu has a place in his heart for Fresno

For Roman Sapolu, it will be a meeting of football families old and new when Hawaii plays Fresno State this Saturday at Valley Children’s Stadium.

In January, Sapolu resigned from Fresno State’s coaching staff to become the Rainbow Warriors’ offensive line coach.

“I thought I grew up as a coach there,” said Sapolu, who coached the Bulldogs’ O-line for three seasons. “I have a lot of good memories of Fresno. I got married while I was in Fresno. I had two of my girls there.”

Sapolu also felt the Bulldogs were his hanai family.

“I only know how to run an O-line room one way, and it’s through relationships, love and hard work,” Sapolu said. “I love those (FSU) guys. They know that. It’s a fraternity. Just like I love these (UH) guys. They’re part of my O-line fraternity, too. Hopefully down the line, years from now, we can all get together.”

Sapolu said he had an opportunity to remain at Fresno State after the coaching change in which Jeff Tedford returned in January to succeed Kalen DeBoer, who accepted the head job at Washington. It was a full-circle move: Tedford was the Bulldogs’ head coach through 2019, when he stepped down because of health reasons. DeBoer then replaced Tedford.

“I was going to stay with Coach Tedford and continue to learn under him,” Sapolu said. “I have a lot of respect for him. But I had an opportunity to come here when Coach (Timmy) Chang called me, and it was a good opportunity.”

Chang, who was hired as Todd Graham’s replacement in January, and Sapolu knew each other on the recruiting trail. “And, obviously, we had the background with the University of Hawaii,” Sapolu said.

Chang was a record-setting quarterback for the Warriors in the early 2000s. Sapolu’s father, Jesse Sapolu, was a standout UH offensive lineman who played 15 seasons with the San Francisco 49ers.

“He retired (in 1998) when I was 6 years old,” the younger Sapolu said of growing up with a legendary parent. “Honestly, it’s all I’ve ever known.”

While many sons play catch with their fathers, the Sapolus worked on blocking techniques.

“I’ve been doing O-line plays since I was 8 or 9,” Roman Sapolu said. “Going to the park and doing those things, it’s all I’ve really known. That part comes natural to me, and I think I got a headstart because of the household I grew up in.”

He recalled backyard battles with his older siblings. “We were doing one-on-ones all the time,” he said.

The Sapolu brothers also were able to handle their father’s four Super Bowl rings.

“Those things are really cool,” Roman Sapolu said. “We used to play around with them as toys. They’re not toys anymore.”

Sapolu played at Oregon State. He was Idaho State’s O-line coach before joining Fresno State’s staff in 2019. After being hired at UH, he told the linemen: “Everybody gets a clean slate.”

That meant rewarding Stephan Bernal-Wendt, who earned a starting job — and a scholarship — as a fifth-year senior. It also meant preparing developing players for extended roles. Sergio Muasau, Maurice Ta‘ala and Arasi Mose are among the linemen who have been used as injury replacements.

“The message we talked about all season is next man up is going to have to step up,” Sapolu said. “You hardly go through a season where all five guys stay healthy the whole time. I thought guys have stepped up. We haven’t skipped a beat.”