Highland defensive coordinator Kautai Olevao has a lot of playing experience to draw from to design gameplans and give Highland players technique. He can’t exactly teach them to punish their opponents like he did, because what used to be a clean hit when he played would likely draw a flag today.
For example, when he played for the University of Utah, he became YouTube famous when he absolutely destroyed BYU running back Ronney Jenkins. The two were in the open-field and Jenkins thought that he was going to run through Olevao; but Olevao had something else in mind.
Next thing Jenkins knew, he was on the ground and Olevao was a hero. In the blink of an eye, Jenkins went from carrying the ball on his feet, to being on the ground not knowing what happened. As Olevao hit him, the ball came loose and Utah recovered it.
“It stands out but for me I just enjoyed playing football,” Olevao said. “Although it’s one of those hits that you’re remembered for. I remember the good times with my teammates and having played football there at the university.”
The clip has since become a YouTube sensation, one that his children, other coaches, and players enjoy watching. It wasn’t just limited to those people, but fans from all over which means a lot of people wanting to talk about the “hit”.
“Yes! I get A LOT of comments about his hit,” his son and Highland quarterback Bronson Olevao said.
Plays that people are remembered for are largely based around when and how it happened. Maybe if that hit hadn’t been in the same circumstances — a rivalry game– it might not have been remembered the way that it is today.
“Everybody knows my dad for that hit but honestly, looking at all my dad’s old film he’s always hitting like that,” Bronson said. “I guess that’s the one that got featured and also because it was a big rivalry game.”
This type of hit is wanted by so many football players including the guys that he coaches. He wants to teach them how to hit properly to destroy their opponents but sometimes players just want to go out and hit the same way he did.
“Yeah, I try to hit like he did all the time but then I injured my shoulder and he yelled at me,” Highland linebacker Tevita Tuha said.
When people try and hit like that, it goes against what he is coaching them to do and what he wants them to get from their time as a football player.
People wait for years to have the recognition of being remembered for some amazing play in a big game. But not for Olevao what most people would look at as the highest point of his career is merely a little point in his football journey.
“I’ve always loved playing football ever since I was young and those kind of hits you always dream of,” Olevao said. “But it’s the four years I spent there with my teammates that I enjoyed most.”
Olevao’s highlights would scare anyone who watched them, but the person making those hits has made a career being the opposite off the field is anything but dangerous. His family owns a business that is called Pioneer Youth, their objective is to help troubled youth find a foster home or give counseling to them. This aspect of his life has been a big help in his coaching of this team giving counsel directly to players who struggle or how coaches should approach certain situations with players.
Olevao loved the aspect of the team that was there at the University of Utah and that aspect guided him into the next part of his life. His career after the NFL and indoor football has been counseling at-risk youth, trying to help them find that place they feel like they belong in the world.
The Highland team has a huge aspect of family built into the program football and he has embraced this, obviously he has two sons on the team, but he tries to treat them all as the same.
“I’ve connected with all of them in a way, I have made it to where they’re all my sons,” Olevao said.
This connection has really paid off in their play as it seems that Highland’s defense are all on the exact same page playing really well the whole season. The have allowed an average of 13 points scored on their team per game, absolutely dominating every team that they play.
Ever since his playing days he’s loved the team aspect of the sport, and he brought that to this team. Making sure that every kid has a place to feel like they are a part of a family. So that even if they never get that one hit, they will always have the fond memories of their brothers on the team.