Courtesy Tupu Alualu

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Just as he did as a player in his days at Saint Louis, Tupu Alualu is ready to hit the ground running. 

Alualu, a 1990 Saint Louis graduate who went on to play collegiately at both Oregon and Hawaii, was tabbed as the head coach at his alma mater earlier this month. 

"As an alumni of the school, I'm very excited about this opportunity," Alualu said when reached by phone Tuesday night. 

Alualu replaces Ron Lee, who was relieved of coaching duties in December. Alualu played for, and later coached alongside, legendary coach Cal Lee, the winningest prep football coach in the state. 

"There's some big shoes to fill. It's going to be hard to fill their shoes and as much as I look up to them, those shoes are not going to be filled right away, but with the coaches that I've hired it's a big expectation of what we're trying to do. We're trying to start a new regime and it's not about coach Tupu, but it's about all my coaches and players from the top to the bottom," Alualu said. 

After his playing days concluded at UH, Alualu had a brief stint with the BC Lions, as well as the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League. Alualu eventually returned to Hawaii and became a youth counselor. He has been a realtor since 2002. 

He coached with the Kalani Falcons Pop Warner program for many years and has been coaching running backs at Saint Louis for more than a dozen years, but this will be Alualu's first high school head coaching job. 

"This is something different for me. I've been a running backs coach here at Saint Louis for fourteen years and to be here and to see things how they've evolved and to kind of know some of the stuff that we can do, it's going to be different the way we practice and with the offseason, but we're just going to do our best to lift the kids," Alualu said. 

Alualu was on Kauai, assisting with a free football camp that was put on by brothers and former Saint Louis standouts Nate and Nick Herbig, when his hiring was announced by school president Glenn Medeiros. 

"It's not just the varsity, but I've been hiring JV and intermediate coaches so it's been exciting, but I'm just trying to make sure that I've got the right people to follow the game plan for the kids and just trying to put Saint Louis back on the map, get back to the culture so we can start doing positive things for the community and the school," said Alualu, who was selected by a nine-member search committee. 

With the 2024 prep football season about five months away, Alualu is well aware that the Crusaders have some catching up to do.

"I feel like we're behind schedule, but I just got hired two weeks ago and it's been very exciting, at the same time it's not easy and I knew that coming into this that it wouldn't be easy, but I'm happy for the opportunity and happy to be here. I want to help Saint Louis and bring coaches to do what we want to do for the program, not what Tupu Alualu wants to do. It's going to take time, but we want to compete," Alualu said. 

As a player in his days at Kalaepohaku, Alualu never lost a game. His expectations of his players are just as clear cut. 

"Being disciplined, listening to their parents first and then coming to school and respecting their teachers — just all the little things the kids need to work with: taking care of themselves first, thanking God that they woke up in the morning and appreciating that, doing chores at home, being respectful to their teachers and at the end of the day, they gotta have the grades if you're going to call yourself a student-athlete," Alualu said. 

He went on: "If you don't do the school work, you can't come here and do sports, that's how I was raised. Just staying positive with the kids and I have a hundred percent faith in my coaches that we're all gonna be on the same page and we have a lot of hurdles in front of us, but we're just going to take it one day at a time."

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One of those coaches Alualu has brought on is former University of Hawaii defensive coordinator Thom Kaumeyer, who most recently spent the last two seasons as head coach at Waianae. Kaumeyer, whose ties to Alualu go back to his days at UH, will fill the role of defensive coordinator. 

"To be able to work with Tupu is going to be really awesome," Kaumeyer said. "He kind of has that whole philosophy of discipline and hard work and not only are these kids hopefully gonna be successful on the field, but also with the academics so that when they go to college, they're ready to go — we're on the same page as that goes."

Kaumeyer disclosed that the Crusaders will utilize multiple fronts with an attacking defense.

"We want to have a disciplined, but attacking defense. We want to try and change things up where they don't just see one defense, one coverage, one front, but be able to do different things, but the number one thing is putting our players in positions where they can be successful," he said. 

Kaumeyer said that he has brought on a "great blend of older and younger coaches" on his defensive staff. 

"Our defensive coaches are fantastic. We've talked about this probably the last eight, nine years and now it's become a reality and I'm excited. I'm very thankful that Tupu is trusting me to come in and be a part of his staff, so I look forward to everything this year and in the future," Kaumeyer expressed. 

Alualu, who grew up in Mayor Wright Housing in Kalihi, said he is dedicating the season to his hanai mother, Susie Cook, whom Alualu first met while participating in sports and after school programs at Palama Settlement. Cook passed away on Oct. 27, 2022. 

"She was a big supporter for the Lee brothers back in the 80s when we came in," he said. "I also appreciate the Saint Louis president, the board, the faculty members for the opportunity and trusting in me in the vision I had — it's all God's plan," Alualu said.

As grateful as he is for the chance to lead one of the state's most storied prep football program, he's just as eager to hit the field for game No. 1. 

"When we play Kahuku in that first game, we're gonna be ready. Kahuku is the team to beat and we're humbled to have that opportunity and we'll be ready to go," Alualu said. 

Saint Louis is coming off a 4-5 overall record in 2023, including a 2-2 mark in the Interscholastic League of Honolulu.