'Eat it, sleep it, walk it, talk it'

SANDPOINT — He’s back.

After an eight-year hiatus, Satini Puailoa is taking back the reigns of the Sandpoint football program, bringing with him a healthy dose of passion, positive energy and discipline that helped mold the school’s lone state championship team in 1997.

During his first 10-year stint, Puailoa rebuilt a struggling program into a state power, and he has every intention of repeating history. Last year’s team, under the stewardship of Mike Mitchell, won just one game during a tough 2011 campaign.

On Tuesday, the Bulldog football players got a first-hand glimpse of their new coach, and what the new regime will hold. The team already has a new motto: EMAD, which stands for Every Man A Dog. The credo speaks to Puailoa’s philosophy that every single player is part of the program and if you join his ranks, you will play.

For better or for worse, things will be markedly different under Puailoa than they were under his more quiet and calm predecessor. One of his first items of business will be to infuse the program with passion for both the players and the game.

“You eat it, sleep it, walk it, talk it, live it and breathe it,” says Puailoa, who boasts 18 years of head coaching experience. “They need to play for the guy next to them.”

While he officially stepped down in 2004, he’s never stopped coaching, joining the high school staff of Bears great Dick Butkus for an ESPN reality show in 2005, and helping the Sandpoint Junior Tackle 8th grade team last fall, where he made an immediate impact.

Sandpoint High School Athletic Director Tom Albertson said the hiring committee was ultimately swayed by Puailoa’s past experience and successful track record.

“He coaches kids football, instead of coaching football to kids,” describes Albertson of Puailoa’s style. “Kids are always first, and his energy is contagious.”

Puailoa has already named a handful of assistant coaches, many of whom were part of his original staff. Crosby Tajan, whom Puailoa calls a college-level offensive line coach, Chris Lassen, a former SHS head coach from the late ’70s and early ’80s, John Knowles and Steve Miller are already on board, with the remainder of the staff yet to be named.

Collectively, the group of coaches boast more than 100 years experience and Lassen, known for instilling much of the discipline, calls his fellow coaches a band of brothers.

“We want to do it together, if not, it’s no fun for us,” he says. “We’ve been doing it a long time.”

Many, if not most of the current Sandpoint all-time football records were established during the decade Puailoa coached. His 1994 team laid the sod at the current practice field, then proceeded to lay the groundwork for success. Puailoa has made a point of imparting a healthy dose of program history to his new squad.

One of the hallmarks of Puailoa football is a potent running game, and a man-blocking scheme that stresses accountability. In 1994, Rusty Irish broke the school’s rushing record, which was broken the next year by Jeremy Thielbahr, who then passed the torch to Kurt Berkley, before Isao Puailoa averaged more than 10 yards a carry and re-wrote all of the rushing records.

It wasn’t uncommon for more than 150 players to be in the SHS football program in any given year under Puailoa, and one of his primary tasks will be to return to those type of numbers.

“I wish I had one more year so bad,” says senior lineman Bill Myers after watching a recent team meeting. “I’m jealous of these kids.”

One of Puailoa’s goals is to empower the kids to do things they don’t think they can do, and teach them the tools to succeed. He wants linemen to be like rock stars, and says it’s never his or my touchdown, it’s always our touchdown.

Building team unity comes natural for the charismatic Puailoa, who has a zero tolerance for bullying or mockery. One of the prime allures that drew him back to coaching was another chance to take what he calls the journey.

“You take a group of kids that start here, and it’s how far can you take them?” says Puailoa. “It’s no fun by yourself. What’s fun is what you do with your bros.”