Hilo didn’t have to look very far for a new head football coach. He was right there all along.
The Vikings hired Kaeo Drummondo as the head man, athletic director Kurt Kawachi told Hawaii Prep World on Thursday.
Drummondo spent last season with Lisa Pana as co-head coaches and led Hilo to its third straight Big Island Interscholastic Federation championship and a spot in the Division I state tournament.
Previously, Drummondo, who is a Big Island police officer, was an assistant under former Vikings head coach David Baldwin, who was placed on indefinite leave for the whole season and then officially released after the season.
Baldwin had been the subject of an investigation that began due to a complaint to the Department of Education. The nature of the complaint was never revealed by the DOE, which has a privacy policy in place for personnel matters.
Kawachi said a handful of candidates applied for the position.
“We felt Kaeo was the best person to take us forward and to continue the success we’ve had the last few years,” Kawachi said.
Check out Paul Honda‘s video interview of Drummondo after the Vikings’ 62-18 loss to Mililani in the first round of the D-I state tournament last year: http://bit.ly/1V0HndZ.
Kaeo Drummondo is a great choice for that program. He spent the past three years as the defensive coordinator and last year had to pull the team together during a very difficult time. He made hard decisions after taking over the program that involved discipline that weren’t popular but necessary, and in the end gained the trust and confidence from the kids and their parents and of course the AD and school administrators. Good luck Head Coach Drummondo!