Satele’s ability
gets noticed

The Hawaii guard joins
Tennessee DT Jesse Mahelona
on Outland watch list

Samson Satele is getting bigger in reputation and physical stature.

Samson Satele

The Hawaii junior offensive lineman was named to the 36-player watch list for the Outland Trophy yesterday. That means he -- and Tennessee defensive tackle Jesse Mahelona from Kealakehe, another nominee -- are considered by the Football Writers Association of America to be among the best three dozen interior linemen going into the upcoming season.

"It's an honor," Satele said. "Anytime I'm on a list like that it's a surprise."

Satele is also literally getting bigger. He's up to 300 pounds on his 6-foot-2 frame. He played at around 280 last year.

He said it's not bad weight acquired while recovering from February's surgery to his left shoulder that kept him out of spring practice.

"No, everything's good now," the junior from Kailua said. "I'm getting back to where I was and more."

Offensive line coach Wes Suan said he trusts Satele to get himself to the weight that's right for him.

Jesse Mahelona

"All linemen want to be as big as they can without sacrificing speed. If that weight's not a detriment, the more the better. If he gets to heavy I'm sure he'll drop," Suan said. "He's never had a problem with it. He's a pretty athletic guy who's always been in control of his weight."

Satele is UH's starting left guard, and has been the past two seasons. That could change this fall, though. He could end up playing center instead of three-year starter Derek Fa'avi if Hercules Satele, Keith Ah Soon or Marques Kaonohi emerges at left guard.

"Everything's still based on who steps up," Suan said. "Right now he's still penciled in at left guard. We'll see how it goes. There's a lot of nice potential."

Satele is a two-time Western Athletic Conference second-teamer. He said he will consider leaving UH early for the NFL if he has a good year.

"I told my mom and dad that I would wait until after the season," Satele said. "I don't want to say something and then something happens to change everything. If the time's right, I find the right agent and the money is there, we'll know then."

In just one season of Division I football, Mahelona has established himself as one of the game's best defensive linemen. He was named first-team All-America by The Sporting News after posting 18 1/2 tackles-for-loss last fall. He is also on the watch list for the Bronko Nagurski Award, which goes to the nation's best defensive player.

Mahelona is a central figure in a bizarre offseason story.

In March, the apartment he shared with teammate Arron Sears burned, and in anger at the situation, Mahelona knocked a handrail off a fire engine. He avoided criminal charges by paying for the damage, writing a letter of apology and visiting a fire station.

But that didn't end it.

According to documents acquired by the Associated Press on Tuesday, Mahelona and Sears are ineligible for competition until they pay $95.84 each for the value of one month's use of furniture they got in a special deal to replace items lost in the fire. They also must speak to the Tennessee team about breaking NCAA rules.

» UH defensive line coach Vantz Singletary will have an NFL Minority Coaching Fellowship internship this summer with the San Francisco 49ers.

He will work closely with 49ers head coach Mike Nolan, defensive coordinator Billy Davis and defensive line coach Gary Emanuel. Singletary will be reunited with his uncle, Mike Singletary (assistant head coachlinebackers) and his former player, Isaac Sopoaga (second-year defensive tackle).

This is the seventh internship for Singletary, who is going into his seventh season on June Jones' UH staff. He leaves for San Francisco in mid-July and returns Aug. 3, one day before the start of Hawaii preseason camp.

"The contacts you make at these camps and the chance to improve your craft are invaluable," Singletary said. "It is almost like being a graduate assistant in college as you are actively participating in practices, staff meetings and evaluations."