Saturday, July 31, 1999
Tanaka taking
over for ‘Skippa’
at Farrington
The school's new head football
By Pat Bigold
coach didn't play football in school,
but he's following a legend
Star-BulletinHarold Tanaka never played a lick of football in high school or college, but he now finds himself in charge of one of Hawaii's most visible prep gridiron programs.
And if that doesn't seem improbable enough, the 38-year-old guidance counselor must follow the act of a man who is a prep football coaching legend in this state: Edward "Skippa" Diaz.
It isn't just that Diaz coached 16 years at Farrington and won more than 100 games between stints with the Governors and the Waialua Bulldogs. It's the endless stories swapped on campus and around Kalihi about the man-mountain with the gravelly voice, bullish strength and heart of gold.
"Well, you won't see me rip off any locks to the locker room," said Tanaka with a chuckle. He was referring to a fabled Diaz incident a decade ago.
Finding himself trapped in the locker room one night after doing his paper work, Diaz used his powerful ex-lineman mitts to rattle and shake the door until the master lock cracked and fell off outside.
Farrington Athletic Director Agenhart Ellis kept the busted lock on his desk as a conversation piece.
Tanaka, who is dwarfed when he stands next to Diaz, makes one thing clear.
He won't try to be the man he succeeds.
In fact, he said he was hoping no one would even notice he was taking over at Farrington.
"Then Agenhart told me I have to speak at the Quarterback Club on Monday, and I was like, 'Oh no.' "
Diaz laughed when he heard that and gave Tanaka his saltiest endorsement.
"He's a helluva good football coach," he said.
"It's big shoes to fill," said Tanaka. "I really owe my career to Skippa Diaz. He has helped me out so much. He's like a dad to me. He took care of me and took me under his wing."
Tanaka said he gave up football for the beach when he was in high school.
"I was a surfer," he said. "At that time, the beach was just more important."
But when Tanaka got out of college, one of his friends asked him to help out with the Kaimuki High football staff in 1982. Realizing education was his major, and that he would be in the school system the rest of his working career, he decided to take the plunge into learning to coach football.
Assuming the helm of the Governors in football-mad Kalihi was not in his wildest dreams. But one thing led to another.
After his years with Kaimuki, Tanaka knew he had a love for coaching and accepted the opportunity to coach in Diaz's program at Farrington. He was junior varsity head coach from 1990 to 1995. He then assisted Diaz on the varsity from 1996 to 1998, sharing the offensive coordinator job with Aaron Kamau.
Diaz said he was impressed that Tanaka wanted to spend time with the Rainbows' football staff, learning their system with the intention of incorprating facets of it into the Farrington game plan.
"I asked (head Hawaii football coach) June (Jones) when he was recruiting a couple of our kids if there was a way I could come over and learn his offense," said Tanaka. "I was interested in the passing game and coverages. He was more than happy to help. And Dan Morrison (quarterbacks coach), Ron Lee (receivers coach) and Wes Suan (offensive coordinator) were also really good about it."
Starting in March, he went to classroom meetings, looked at film and was invited to just sit and chat with the Rainbow coaches. He even picked the brain of former Seattle Seahawks defensive guru Greg McMackin, who is now Jones's defensive coordinator.
"He invited me back," said Tanaka.
"I tell you, that staff June Jones has put together will turn things around," said Tanaka.
"I asked coach Skippa before spring ball, 'What if we introduce some of June's run-and-shoot?' and he said, 'Go for it.' "
Tanaka said Farrington will not have a pure run-and-shoot, but the Governors' offense will indeed look different.
