At Linfield in the late 1970s, at one time 24 players on Wildcat football team from Hawaii

 























Mike Riley, Oregon State University head football coach, is a former assistant coach of the same sport at Linfield. 

His OSU coaching bio says, "Riley’s first full-time appointment came at NAIA powerhouse Linfield College in McMinnville, Ore.  From 1977-82 he served as the program’s defensive coordinator and secondary coach, as well as assistant athletic director. Riley assisted head coach Ad Rutschman’s Wildcats to a six-year record of 52-7-1, which included five conference titles and the 1982 undefeated NAIA" national championship.  


Photos: OSU coach from university's athletics website.  Linfield coach by photographer Rusty Rae. 
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Hawaii Bowl: Beavers and Mike Riley have long history of  recruiting in Hawaii

By Lindsay Schnell, Oregonian

2013: Dec. 21 online, Dec. 22 print

HONOLULU — Long before he ever took the head coaching job at Oregon State, Mike Riley liked to recruit in Hawaii.

Before Riley, the Beavers’ 13-year head coach, got familiar with big-time recruiting, the former Linfield assistant was already known around the islands, because he used to travel there to talk up the Wildcats’ Division-III program.

“When I was coaching at Linfield in the late 70s, at one time we had 24 guys on our team from Hawaii,” Riley recalled. “And that was just one team, one year. If I remember … 10 of them were starters, seven were all conference and one of them was an All-American. That’s when I started learning about football in Hawaii.”

It’s remarkable to think that the Linfield athletic department had the budget to send Riley all the way to Hawaii — getting here isn’t cheap — but when a reporter pointed this out Riley laughed and said he used to travel with people from the Linfield admissions office.

The guess here is that they all squeezed into one hotel room.

Currently, there are five players from Hawaii on the Beavers roster: defensive tackles Ali’i Robins and Mana Rosa (who Riley said is playing the best football of his life after an eligibility scare in the offseason), defensive ends Titus Failauga and Devon Kell (who has a very cool story), and linebacker Manase Hungalu. Sixth-year senior cornerback Steven Christian calls Sacramento, Calif., home but used to play at Hawaii before transferring to Oregon State.

Already, the Beavers have commitments from two Hawaiian natives: Fitou Fisiiahi is a 6-foot-2, 240-pound athlete from Honolulu, and Kalani Vakemeilalo is a 6-foot-4, 300-pound defensive tackle from Kapolei. Both are expected to make their commitments official on national signing day in early February. Per NCAA rules, coaches cannot comment on verbal commitments; because it is a no contact period, neither 

Vakameilalo or Fisiiahi can come to practice. They could go to the Hawaii Bowl game on Dec. 24 at Aloha Stadium, but cannot receive tickets from Oregon State coaches.

“We’ve always liked to recruit Hawaii for multiple reasons. Many of our coaches have backgrounds here,” said Riley, pointing to the fact that offensive line coach Mike Cavanaugh, defensive line coach Joe Seumalo, receivers coach Brent Brennan and defensive coordinator Mark Banker all previously coached at Hawaii. A few OSU graduate assistants also have Hawaii ties.

“I like to recruit here because kids are well coached. Football is very important here. They play with a passion that is special, and they bring to us a sense of family. They’re very loyal to wherever they are and they’ve added to our program in numerous ways.”