 Hi, I'm Rusty Komori, and this is Beyond the Lines. I was the head coach for the Punahou Boys Varsity Tennis Team for 22 years, and we're fortunate to win 22 consecutive state championships. I retired as head coach in 2015 to write a book titled Beyond the Lines, which is about leadership, creating a superior culture of excellence, and finding greatness. This show is based on my book, and we are broadcasting live from the beautiful ThinkTek Hawaii TV studio in the Pioneer Plaza in downtown Honolulu. My special guest today is the head coach of the Kaimuki Varsity Football Team, who is a great leader and a fantastic person. He is David Taltofi, and today we are going beyond football. Coach David, great having you here. Great to be here, Rusty. Thank you for having me. You know, I know how busy you are, and I wanted to congratulate you on winning the OIA Division II Championships this year. Yeah, it's definitely a great experience, you know, and one that will live on with these boys for the rest of their lives, and for the coaches as well. For sure. Yeah. Now, you grew up in Palolo. How was it growing up in Palolo? You know, getting to look back at my life growing up in Palolo, it's humbling. You know, we definitely went through the struggles that most kids coming out of Palolo go through, from the emotional stress to the mental stress, into just the reality of having to get by day by day, not knowing when your meals are going to come. You know, wearing the same clothes from middle school, when you're in high school, and all that stuff, but definitely something I wouldn't change. You know, it definitely helped me to be the man that I am today. Coach David, when did you start playing football? I started playing football in the 10th grade. I was just inspired by a cousin of mine that was playing for the Chargers at the time, Junior Sale. Oh, yeah. And so the families always talked about it. Our families were all USC fans and now Charger fans. And so my dad grew up in Oceanside with Junior's dad. And when Junior was in, was middle school age, he grew up, he was raised by my dad. So the influence on that really played a big part of, you know, getting a shot at football. What inspired you about Junior Sale? Just the greatness that he represented. I mean, you know, to hear what people said about him, to hear what Chris Berman would always talk about, and just the big people that you hear on TV, and just the fame that he got, you know, more than inspired. It made me proud to know that, hey, that's my cousin. And so, you know, that set a good example for us. And knowing that he knew us personally, and he'd always come to visit us, really inspired us to want to strive for the best for us. Well, you know, the irony now, Coach David, is you're inspiring a lot of people. And I know that you played college football for UCLA. How was your experience playing for UCLA? You know, you can only, you can dream of it, but even your dreams, dreaming of it, doesn't really add up to, or doesn't really make out what it actually felt like when you actually stepped on the field. You know, I still remember the first day we had Game Day at Tuscaloosa. We played against Alabama at the time, and Alabama was second the nation. When I first stepped on the field, I almost froze, you know, because I'd never seen anything like it before. And just the intimidation of just the crowd and the energy that it was, just getting off of the airplane to the escorts with the police going into Tuscaloosa. And then just seeing just the, just the camaraderie that the Alabama fans had and just the excitement that that energy puts out for teams and for games like that, you know, coming out of Palo Alto, that's just something you don't come across every day. So those guys must have been like really huge too, huh? They were humongous. You know, I thought to myself like, do I really want to play football? When I got my first snap in, you know, during the second quarter of that game, and I still remember to this day, I still remember standing there as a defensive end, and I'm looking at this guy who's like six, eight, 320 pounds, and I'm like, maybe I'm in the wrong sport. But it's just, you know, it's just one of those memories that will always, you know, will always be in the back of my mind when I think about it. So speaking of Alabama, you know, in recent times, I mean with Coach Nick Saban, I mean, they're so dominant. Why are they so dominant? You know, Nick has been able to really get his team and everybody in the program that supports that football program to buy in to his philosophy. And, you know, he's been around some of the best coaches like Bill Belichick. Yeah. And he's had a share of time in the NFL to really sharpen up where he's at today. And, you know, there's no secret to his success other than he knows what he's doing and he knows how to get these kids to play. Yeah. So after graduating college, what jobs have you had since then? So, you know, right from college, I went out to, I started with law with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association and was a marine biologist actually here in Ireland. So I was out about two years as a marine observer, you know, working with the Long Line Fishery Services here. And I did that for a couple years and then I went back to Vegas on a vacation and never left a vacation there. And so I started doing stagehand things, you know, as I started getting my life ready for the mainland. And from there, I went on to work with Cirque du Soleil. So I did Cirque du Soleil for five years. I did everything from being a high-tech, safety technician, a rigger, to an artist and also to a musician at the show. Oh, you do it all? I did it. But it was just an experience that was like no other, you know. And that's when, you know, my life kind of went into a transition from that to teaching and coaching. When I brought my brother Desmond, who was at the time, you know, one of the, considered a high recruit from Hawaii, who was in Palo Alto, growing up in Palo Alto, I brought him up there to help him to get his life together so that he could have a chance. And, you know, and so that's, I thank my brother for me being where I'm at today, because I remember leaving UCLA. I never wanted to have anything to do with football, you know. I didn't want to have anything to do with kids. I just didn't think I had the patience to. And now it's just, you know, it's been the biggest part of my life. Yeah, for sure. So what led you back to Hawaii? Five years ago, I came back for Christmas. And so in new years, just spent time with the family. And I heard things that were going on with the school, you know, the enrollment dropping toward it was. And then just things that were growing up in the housing, because that's where I grew up. And so when I went up to the housing or visit my brother, I saw things that just blew my mind. Because back in our time, that would never happen. And it really was like a village raising kids back in that time where your uncles and aunts, they lived down the street, could slap you for something stupid, right? Nowadays, it doesn't happen that way. You know what I'm saying? In fact, you can live next to your neighbor for years and don't even have any conversations with the neighbors. And so I saw things that were happening. I saw just how much it affected me, you know, with the kids smoking and drinking. And to a certain extent, even adults being okay with it. And that really hit me. And I didn't realize how much it was going to hit me until I went on the plane to go back home to Vegas. And I thought, you know what, let me just get back into the swing of things that work at the school. It'll drop. And it didn't. So it was heavy on my heart. I prayed about it and really considered it for a long time. And, you know, just a few months later, I felt like this is where I needed to be. Well, I'm glad you're here. Now, Coach David, let's talk about you, your team winning the OIA Division II football championship this year. And you must be so proud of your players and coaches. Absolutely. You know, and it's like yourself. You're the only one that really knows the trials and the tribulations behind the scenes, you know, that these kids have to deal with. And then us as coaches having to really deal with when they come back, you know, from their environment at home or what they have to deal with in school. So they've gone through a lot, especially over the last years, you know, and a lot of these kids that have been a part of the program since they started school. And just seeing the accomplishment that most of the times these kids, they don't have the confidence in themselves to think that they're worthy or they're capable of doing it. And now for them to actually do it, you know, I know it's not only going to be a life changer for them now, I'm sure that it changed their lives as well as the coaches. Now, Coach David, how many players do most football teams have? And how many players do you have on your team? Most teams, you know, on average is about 35 plus. The bigger programs, you see 50 roster teams. And in the Division II, there's quite a few teams that have about 40 to 50 plus kids. But we've suited up as little as 18 kids a couple of times this season. And right now we have about 27 on the roster, but we don't get to suit up all of them because, you know, they're either recovering from injuries or other things that they have to deal with academically. But right now, technically about 20, 21 kids that we suit up. Geez, well, you know, the good thing, Coach David, is at least they get to play a lot. You're absolutely right. You know, and sometimes it's a joke amongst me and the coaches like, hey, be careful what you wish for. So the kids, I mean, they're playing offense, defense and special teams often. Absolutely. And, you know, it hasn't been easy in the first few years that I was here, because this perception that a lot of these kids get that, you know, especially with special teams, and you talk about the phase of the game, a lot of these kids are very influenced by the culture and what they hear and see outside of the reality in which they live in, where special teams, you know, is really a time for them to take off. And, you know, it's really, it took a little bit for me to get that through the heads of the players that it's not a time off, you know, that it actually is a big part of our success. And, you know, if we can hit it in all three phases, you know, it'll save you in the end. And, you know, in the last three games, our special teams has become, has come up big time for us. So definitely big too, because our star players are on special teams. And it's hard to see that. Most programs that have a lot of kids, they put in their backups and all the other kids that don't get much time playing. At Akami Key, you know, we treat special teams the same way we treat offense and defense. And I mean, we work on special teams every single day. And it's just, it's cute. And I run it to see how it all ended up, you know, winning by a field goal. We practice those situations every day since beginning of season, you know, since the summer. Never had to come down to that, you know, and sometimes it never will come down to that, but it came down to that on the biggest stage. And these boys went out there confident enough to do it because they've done it enough. And it just showed a lot of the maturity in it. So really, it's a, you know, it's been a blessing. Well, you know, within these past five years of you coaching, I mean, you've, you've been earning some great respect among the coaches in the Hawaii community. Now I want to ask you, what is your, what is your coaching philosophy? You know, my, when I think about that, it's, it's really not, I mean, it just feels like a broad kind of answer that I would give. Yeah. But my philosophy isn't so much about the X's and O's of the game, but really paying attention to the heart of what our duties are as a coach, especially at the high school level to, to, to become and be for these kids. And, and, and that's being a mentor. And that's the definition of a coach being a mentor. And you know, setting that example, you know, especially in a place where a lot of these kids come from broken homes, you know, and they don't have the fathers that should be the fathers. And a lot of these kids are, are, are not being raised to be the men that, that we kind of grew up being. And it's not often that you see these kids you know, wanting to be like their father, you know, where I remember growing up, I always wanted to be my father. My father was always that. And so that gave me a lot of experience and understanding that part. But my philosophy really just, it starts with the heart of these kids and really trying to understand where they come from and understanding that you're not going to teach these kids as much as, you know, any more than what they're going to teach you. Yeah. And so, you know, and when they, when they know that, that, when they know that there's a difference between that and they know that you'll, you know, that you understand and that they can trust you, you'll get the most out of these kids. Well, Coach David, you know, talking with you before the show, I mean, we have so many similarities between us. The way I, I say it is I say that I, and my first priority is coaching champion athletes of character first, and then great tennis players second. And that's exactly what you do. I mean, you're, you're helping them develop champion athletes of character as your first priority, and then building great football players second. I mean, that's exactly what you're doing. I love it. Now, who are some coaches that you admire greatly? Man, there's a lot of coaches that admire greatly. One of the coaches that really stood out to me, Coach Cliff Frazier, he was a coach that really had influence on my life when I was in Las Vegas. He's one of the, he's in the coaching hall of fame out in Las Vegas, an archer in the state of Nevada. You walk into a stadium out there where, you know, he plays, he has, there's a big picture of him amongst all of these other great coaches of the past that's, that's in the hallways. And he took me on his wing and really showed me a different part of coaching that, you know, me coming from a big school like UCLA, you come out and all of a sudden you think you know everything I'm saying. And you think that if I've been to this program, then there's not much that these other schools can like tell me. But he really brought me into understanding the mentorship of coaching and the purpose in our duty as coaches. He's been a big influence on my character as a coach. Doug Lee, former NBA player, also out in Las Vegas, basketball coach, also had a big influence on my life. And then, you know, right now Bill Belichick, Bill Belichick, you just, you know, how he's been able to do what he's done for so long. You know, he's, he's done things with the least amount of resources, you know. And I mean, every single year, it just seems like he's just creating players from nothing. And so, you know, his philosophy and his determination and his focus, and making sure that his team is focused really inspires me to do that at this level. And I really do believe you can do that at any level, you know, as long as you understand that, you know, it starts with the heart and the character of these kids. I love it. Coach David, we're going to take a quick break. And when we come back, we're going to continue going beyond football. Sounds great. You're watching Beyond the Lines on Think Tech Hawaii with my special guest, Coach David Taltofi. We will be back in a quick minute. Aloha. My name is Duretian. You are watching Think Tech Hawaii. I will be hosting a show here every other Wednesday at 1 p.m. And we will be talking to a lot of experts and guests around sustainability, social justice, the future here in Hawaii, progressive politics, and a whole lot more. So please tune in and thank you for watching Think Tech Hawaii. Hey, aloha everyone and welcome to the Think Tech Hawaii studio. My name is Andrew Lanning. I'm the host of Pretty Matters Hawaii. We air here every Tuesday at 10 a.m. Hawaii time trying to bring you issues about security that you may not know, issues that can protect your family, protect yourself, protect our community, protect our companies, the folks we work with. Please join us and I hope you can maybe get a little different perspective on how to live a little safer. Aloha. Welcome back to Beyond the Lines on Think Tech Hawaii. My special guest today is the head coach of the OIA Division II Championship Kaimuki Varsity Football team, David Taltofi. And today we are going beyond football. Coach David, you know, coaching teenagers, I've done that for many years and you're doing it now. How do you get them to buy in? You know, when it comes to getting these seniors to buy in, it has to be bigger than the sport. It has to be beyond the sport, which is just ironic how the title of this game is beyond the lines. Because there's a bigger message in this sport of football as there is with tennis and you know that. I mean, you have probably one of the more decorated coaching careers in the state of Hawaii. And getting these kids to buy in really comes from the time that you actually take to get to know these kids, getting your hands dirty in what they really are going through in life. Empathy. Empathy. Absolutely. Empathy and being able to relate, but at the same time make them feel like, you know, you don't feel like you're better than them, which oftentimes, you know, these kids already put you on a platform to where like, wow, you're the coach, you know. But when they understand it, you know, that you really do care about them and that you've been there, you know, it changes their heart. It changes the way that they think and it gives them a lot more strength to be able to battle the things that every single day they face. And sometimes they don't realize they're facing those things every single day. And just from natural instinct, they instantly go through a negative mentality about things or perspectives as we spoke about earlier. It really comes down to your personal relationship and how much of it are you, how much time you're willing to invest in the personal relationships. And you invest, you're investing a ton because I know that. I want to ask you, Coach David, why do you love coaching so much? You know what, there's so many reasons that I love coaching, but the biggest reason has never been about championships, but to build championship character, you know, championship leaders. And it just, I mean, there's just a joy and a fulfillment, as you know, that you get from coaching that you don't get from anywhere else, you know, because you really are building the leaders of tomorrow. And whether people want to admit it or not, sports has such a big influence on every school regardless. And we've heard about the battles with education over sports and sports, you know, all that sensitivity about that. But the reality is, you know, you have just as much or probably more influence on these kids than regular teachers do. And it's not a battle on anybody's part. That's just where it's at with sports. And so, you know, it's just being able to plant those seeds and hoping and praying that those seeds are going to come back in return. I mean, with all the seeds that were planted in me from when I was coming out of the housing, not knowing that I'd be doing what I'd be doing today, and that people would be influenced by what you do, how much more greater now would these kids possibly be? You know, because honestly, I wish I had somebody like me. And I'm not saying I'm anything, you know, I just wish somebody woke me up. I wish somebody was hard on me, but in a loving way, you know what I'm saying? And not there to blow smoke up, you know, my rear, but to really tell me what I need to know, to tell me the things that I need to understand that's going to help me in life. And so, you know, to see what these leaders will become and could become, the potential that they have is exciting, you know, and I'm sure you miss coaching, you know, I'm sure you miss the heck out of coaching, but I know also that you probably run into former athletes and get calls and so forth from former athletes, and they continuously thank you for a lot of things that now they are able to do now as a leader in their families, as a leader in their businesses, as a leader in the community. Nonetheless, I mean, you know, we're all leaders. We're all leaders at some point in our lives. And, and, you know, if these boys can understand that they actually are the authors of their own life. Exactly. That they have the pen in their own hands and nobody can tell them, you know, otherwise, you know, it's going to change, it'll change the future for tomorrow. And we know the challenges and the issues now that our youth face. So, you know, speaking about being an author, you know, the book, you know, the, you know, that famous book Beyond the Lines. Absolutely. Absolutely. You know, so in there, I'm talking a lot about, you know, leadership and how great leaders build other great leaders. And that's what you're doing. What do you feel the best leaders do, Coach David? I feel like the best, what the best leaders do is they don't, they don't tell you once you want to hear. They tell you what you need to hear and what you need to understand. But they uplift you. They lift you up in a place to where, you know, where, where it's going to promote your, your faith and your growth and, and, and what your potential is. And, and also inspire you. You know, leaders inspire you to be like a leader or better, you know, and, and so there's, there's just so much about what leaders can do. It's a loaded question. Absolutely. Absolutely. Now, Coach David, you know, you're very authentic. You're very genuine. I want to tell you something right now. I want to do a book donation to your, to your entire boys team. Wow. For you. That's powerful. That's powerful. I know the influence that it already had on a lot of big people. And I'm sure we're not going to go over those people on the show. But I mean, to have that kind of influence on people across the, across the nation, you know, it's going to do some big things for these boys. No, but I love what you're doing to inspire them. And I want to do my part to help in any way I can. So you send me their names and I'll sign each book to them specifically. That is awesome. Thank you so much for that. I mean, we talked about it earlier, reading books has almost become a lost art, you know, because phones and all these other things take in place of it. But, you know, this is a blessing. This is a blessing that these boys can not only read, but just what they will hand off to other people because of the inspiration that this book has made in their lives. Just like myself, I've read so many books that inspired me, inspires me to give it to certain people like, Hey, your book is one of those books. So definitely excited about that. Thank you so much for that. You're welcome. So Coach David, what's been the biggest challenge you have to deal with in your own life? The biggest challenge that I had to deal with in my own life really came down to, you know, my upbringing, you know, the challenges that I had to deal with emotionally and mentally, especially coming from a poverty shock area like Polo, you know, in the housing growing up in a humbling way. As we hear about star athletes throughout the nation that are now big time players in the NFL, NBA or whatever professional sports, a lot of them have inspiring stories because they started from nothing. But, you know, those stories are very powerful and inspiring. What a lot of them also probably touch up on is really the mental and the emotional well-being of kids growing up from when they're young to now. I mean, there's still moments in my life that I remember when I was one years old, you know, that took place and I'm like, how do you remember that? And I'm sure you have some of those memories too that like, you know, you can just remember there's just certain pockets of memories that just stick with you. And so a lot of the challenges were just the confidence that I know these boys are challenged with today, confidence in who they are, the confidence in knowing who they are, the challenge of being positive and the challenges of believing that, you know, you're worth something, you're worth it, you know, that you can and that you're capable of doing it. And, you know, and like yourself, you know, when it comes to businesses and all these things that your dreams aspire to do, you know, you write in your book, you start in your show, there's always this other voice that always this opposition voice that tells you you can't, you know, and it's louder, a lot louder for kids to come up in the way that we've come up. And these boys are going up, especially in today's society. But it's still been a challenge today. But at the same time, you know, I've been able to surround myself with the right people and God's blessed me with good people. Not like yourself, you know, in my life that even in moments time crossing paths, like those moments are powerful moments, you know, that really shift the way that you can think about yourself and the way that you can think about the things that like the opportunities that come in front of you. It's been that. It's been that. So, you know, and so just taking a piece of that gem that I've been that I'm that that I'm still learning that I'm still cultivating in my own life, I can still share these things with these kids. And you know what, and I feel like society dummies down these kids too much, you know. And so because of that, we don't feel like these kids are capable of understanding that level of what we speak of, you know, but they they're more than what they're more than capable of doing that. I mean, these kids are three years old, they know how to turn an iPad and they work everything on the phone that I'm so like, how did you learn that? You know, and so, so, you know, it's it's it's been it's just been, I mean, we can talk about this. But it definitely is. Yeah, it's just too much to talk about. I hear you. I hear you. Coach David, what's what's the best advice you've ever received? The best advice that I've ever received, man, there's a million different advice pieces of advice that I've gotten. And I thought about the best advice that I received is just being true, being true to yourself and being real, being real. And that's what that's really what it comes down to. And it almost seems like something that is commonly shot out in text or post or whatever you see on social media or on the internet. But there is truth to that, you know, because a lot of us, a lot of these kids find their their self worth in what they put on social media. And when they show these things of money that they really don't have on social media or they start to identify their character with something that they really aren't, you know, it sets you it sets you up for failure and disappointment, depression. And because of that is such a greater risk for the kids that I deal with. And for our kids nationwide, you know, drugs and alcohol become a big factor in their lives. Because there's no other people, you know, no one else is really showing them how to deal with those things. And a lot of these kids, what they miss is the emotional and the mental investment, you know, that starts at home and starts with us as coaches, they get praised for all the things that they do, they get praised for for how good they look. And so they miss everything else because all they think are like, okay, I need to look like this, I need to do this, I need to perform like this in order for my parents or somebody to accept me. And sometimes these kids just want to cry, but they don't know how to, they don't know how to show that they're hurting. Society today tells you that, hey, you're not tough if you cry, you know, you're not tough if you're dealing with these things. And so, you know, it goes back to all of that and understanding that we can we can cry. Absolutely, man. It's crazy, you know, I don't I don't cry much, you know, and I think with the, you know, the boys are, I'm sure they'll see this interview and they'll be like, well, coach talks a lot, you know, I might talk a lot to them, but they don't see me smile too much, you know, and there's, it's not because like I'm hard on them or anything. I just, you know, that's just how it was. As I was growing up, always looking serious. Coach David, I got to say, you are so authentic. I mean, you are definitely making a positive difference, a big impact at Kaimuki and in our community. And I really want to thank you for being on my show and sharing your insights. It's an honor. It's an honor, Rusty. Thank you so much. Awesome. And thank you for watching Beyond the Lines on Think Tech Hawaii. For more information, please visit RustyKamori.com and my book is available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble. I hope that Coach David and I will inspire you to create your own superior culture of excellence and to find your greatness and help others find theirs. Aloha.