Fred Salanoa is going out on top, stepping down as head coach of the Radford football team after 13 seasons.
Salanoa’s Rams won the Division II state championship with a 30-16 victory over Kapaa on Nov. 20 at Aloha Stadium.
Salanoa said he wants to spend more time with his family that includes seven daughters.
“It’s time to move forward,” Salanoa said. “Any coach would probably be lying if he told you that he wouldn’t miss coaching. It’s time to repay my wife for the strong foundation she gave our family, even going back to my days playing in college.”
This season, the Rams won the Oahu Interscholastic Association’s D-II regular-season and playoff championships and finished off a 13-0 season by charging back from a 10-point deficit to beat the Kauai Interscholastic Federation champion Warriors in the state final .
In his 13 seasons at Radford, where he graduated from in 1996, Salanoa compiled an 81-53 record, including marks of 73-27 in D-II and 8-26 in D-I.
Whoever is tabbed to coach Radford next season will likely be leading the Rams at the upper level. It’s not official yet, but two OIA teams — Radford and Nanakuli — appear to be headed up to D-I, with Waipahu and McKinley going down to D-II.
Salanoa was a water boy on the Radford team in 1981 that defeated Saint Louis 14-2 in the Oahu Prep Bowl (the precursor to the state tournament).
In addition, Salanoa, 38, was a quarterback at Radford and at Eastern Washington, where he graduated from in 2001. Two years later, in 2003, he took over as head coach of the Rams.
“It’s refreshing and rewarding to see players I’ve coached return to help out in our community or be part of the football program,” he said. “It was never about me, and it has always been about Radford High School, the athletic program and the student-athletes. I am thankful to all the people who laid the foundation before me and all the people that have supported and sacrificed for our program along the way.”
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