For the past two seasons, Kauha'aha'a
has been tutoring some difference-makers in Utah's defensive line. Among his
pupils has been Star Lotulelei, an AllAmerica tackle. Lotulelei is projected
to be a high first-round NFL draft pick.
Defensive end Joe Kruger, an underclassmen, could go in the second round.
From what he saw during the Rose
Bowl practices, Kauha'aha'a said, "I've
got a bunch of studs coming back. I'm
super fired up and I look forward to
working with these guys. It might be a
little tougher for me because they lost a
coach (Charlie Partridge) that they had
for five years.
"So I have to make sure I take the
right steps with them as I come in. My
message? I understand that they're a
veteran group, but, at the same time,
I'm veteran coach. We both have to adjust to each other. They'll feel me out,
and I'll feel them out.''
On the white board in his office, he
has spelled out Kauha'aha'a phonetically: Cow-ha-a-ha-a. "Call me Coach
Chad or Coach K,'' he said, grinning.
The music coming from his computer
is from a radio station in Maui, where
he was raised. "All my family is there.
I'm the only person on the mainland.''
Kauka'aha'a's younger brother, Kendall Grove, has been representing the
island on the mixed martial arts stage.
Grove, a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, trained
under the legendary Tito Ortiz, a former UFC
champion. Grove, 30, was the winner of The Ultimate Fighter 3 on Spike TV.
Kauha'aha'a was a successful coach at Baldwin
High School in Maui. That's how he got started in
the business. "I left the rock to pursue my dreams
and my goals of becoming a college football coach,''
he said. "Everywhere I went, I set a goal, and my
goal was to get back to the University of Utah.''
Kauha'aha'a landed his "dream job'' with the
Utes after coaching two years for Andersen at Utah
42 ยป VARSITY
JANUA RY 31, 2013
State. "But when I was gone, I kind of realized how
important Gary was to me,'' he said. "When this
opportunity came up (at Wisconsin), I knew that I
wanted to work for him again.''
Andersen seems to inspire that level of loyalty in
all of his assistants.
Kauha'aha'a, like Aranda, is soft-spoken. But you
can tell he also has a switch that flips on automatically. "Right now, I'm pretty calm,'' he said from
his office. "When you see me at practice, I'm not
Mr. Yell-and-Scream-Guy. But I'll get their attention right away.''
He probably already has.
