When former offensive line coach Roman Sapolu departed in the middle of spring ball in order to take a job with the Miami Dolphins, the University of Hawaii football team and head coach Timmy Chang were left in scramble mode.
Former offensive line coach Dennis McKnight, as well as former Hawaii standout center Derek Faavi were brought in as consultants to finish out the rest of the spring. Faavi has since stuck around as the offensive line coach on a full-time basis, passing down the knowledge that made him the anchor of the unit two decades ago.
All the latest sports news from Hawaii’s sports station
In his playing days, Faavi joined the team as a walk-on out of Campbell in 2001. He eventually became a starter and earned a scholarship by his third year and earned team MVP honors in 2005. Over the course of his college career, he snapped for both Chang and Colt Brennan.
Faavi joined Chang’s initial Hawaii staff in 2022 as the director of player personnel but his stay was brief, choosing to join USC as an offensive analyst instead. In 2024, Faavi is back in full force and committed to the responsibility attached to his position.
“It’s really been a dream come true,” Faavi told KHON2.com. “Just from the time I got here, it starts up top with coach Chang and the staff and everybody down to the players. The players are great and welcoming. It was on me to come in and earn it again. A lot of it in so many ways is full circle. Coming back where you played at and all that as a coach and being here with the guys, it’s been great.”
Faavi’s coaching career began at Campbell in 2008 for two years. After that, he had a six-year stint in Japan with Keio University and the Nojima Sagamihara Rise of the X-League.
His first foray into college coaching was at Adams State from 2016 to 2020, where he was the offensive coordinator and offensive line coach, earning his masters degree in the process.
Faavi is one of three coaching additions to the 2024 staff with built-in knowledge of the run-and-shoot offense, joining quarterbacks coach Dan Morrison and running backs coach Anthony Arceneaux. Of the three, Faavi is the only one who played for Hawaii. The sport has evolved since his time as a player, but some crucial concepts both on and off the field remain the same.
“The game’s evolved and a lot of the techniques and stuff, there’s a lot of carryover, but there’s a lot of different things,” Faavi said. “Again, it’s just evolving with the times and the guys across from us are getting better. They’re getting bigger, faster, stronger. Well, we gotta be able to keep up with that and dominate on our end.
“One of the biggest things when I got here and one of the biggest lessons is the love of the ‘braddahhood’ and what that means. Letting the older guys know there’s an unwritten code for the older guys to take the younger guys and take them under their wings. What that translates to on the field is the difference between the 1s and the 2s and the 2s and the 3s, it shouldn’t be that much different. There’s an obligation. There’s a starter and you gotta help the guy behind you. When their time comes up, they’re helping the guy behind them. That just cultivates a great culture of braddahhood and what it means to look after your brothers and leave your legacy, leave your mark.”
The fact that Faavi has intimate knowledge of both the offense and the program’s history is not lost upon his current players.
“It’s interesting. From a legacy standpoint, just him being in this run-and-shoot that we’re running right now and being in that golden era of Hawaii football, we’re putting on old tape in the film room right now as well. We’re watching Colt Brennan, all those legends run it themselves. Kind of playing into that legacy and trying to leave my own legacy behind, and the value that coach Faavi gives to us is just great,” right tackle Luke Felix-Fualalo said. “It’s all legacy knowledge, that Hawaii football knowledge. It’s not just a great O-line coach from, say, Oklahoma that knows O-line. It’s great Hawaii football (knowledge), and that’s what I love about it.”
In 2024, Faavi will coach an experienced unit that features players who have starting expericne in Felix-Fualalo, Sergio Muasau, Ka’ena Decambra and Maurice Ta’ala.
Additionally, Faavi mentioned Zhen Sotelo and Kuao Peihopa, who makes the move from defensive tackle to interior offensive lineman, as intriguing options. Due to an influx of newcomers, there are a total of 19 listed offensive lineman on Hawaii’s fall camp roster.
“That’s to be determined,” said Faavi when asked to evaluate his group. “You kind of get glimpses of the returners, and you get glimpses of the guys who haven’t played but have been here. New guys that entered the room, and so it’s still a work in progress. I hope that by the end of training camp, we have guys that separate themselves from others in the form of being ready and the guys that are ready to represent us come gameday. I think that’s still a work in progress.”