Thursday, July 19, 2001
WHEN David Pila talks about Farrington High School football, one word crops up repeatedly in the conversation: Tradition.
Farrington's new football coach's
roots at the school are deepBy Jason Kaneshiro
jkaneshiro@starbulletin.comThe Governors' new head varsity football coach knows better than most the significance of the position he will assume this fall and understands the challenges inherent in claiming stewardship over one of the state's storied programs.
"There's a lot of pressure, a lot of expectations and a lot of anxiety, actually, trying to just keep the tradition alive," Pila said.
Pila takes over for Harold Tanaka, the Governors' coach the past two seasons. Tanaka is slated to assume the school's athletic director position from the retiring Agenhart Ellis. Final approval for both promotions are mere formalities and should be finalized by September.
Pila has taught at Farrington for six years, and Tanaka said his rapport with the student-athletes will be one of his greatest assets as a head coach.
"He's able to motivate the kids and get them to play," Tanaka said of Pila. "But he's also a disciplinarian in terms of making sure they take care of their schoolwork and getting them to be better adults."
Pila, the only newcomer among Oahu Interscholastic Association coaches this season, has been immersed in Kalihi's sporting scene almost since birth. His parents, Henry and Harriet Pila, have run the baseball and basketball programs for the Kalakaua Athletic Club for nearly three decades. David grew up playing both sports with the club and played football with Palama Settlement.
He played wide receiver and defensive back for Farrington before graduating in 1985. He started coaching youth baseball and basketball with Kalakaua before being invited to join the Governors' junior varsity football coaching staff just two years out of high school.
He worked his way up to JV head coach in 1996 and '97 and coached the varsity defensive backs the past three seasons. He is also entering his third season as the varsity boys basketball coach.
And his experience in the Farrington program as a player and coach has instilled in Pila an appreciation of the legacy he will inherit.
"I just picked things up from the different coaches who were here -- coach Al Espinda, Harry Pacarro, Skippa Diaz, Harold Tanaka -- just bits and pieces of things," he said. "We'll try to put those things together and continue the tradition."
Tanaka, who was in Pila's situation in 1999 when he took over the program after Diaz retired, passed on some advice to his former assistant.
"I said, 'You're not going to fill Coach Diaz's shoes. So just do your best and just make sure you teach the kids the right things and that's where the success rate will show,' " Tanaka said. "Don't be so worried about wins and losses. It'll come once you get your philosophy set."
Pila plans to return the Governors to their roots this season by putting more emphasis on the ground game after two seasons with the run-and-shoot.
Senior quarterback Gilbert Sa, who led the OIA Red Conference in passing last year, returns, along with receiver Chad Mock. But to reach Pila's goal of posting a 1,000-yard rusher this season, returning running backs Paul Laga and Chris Faavesi will have to shoulder the offensive load for the Governors.
"We expect to be competitive," said Pila, who will also handle defensive coordinator duties. "I'm not going to say we're going to take the whole thing, no one can say that. But we're going to try to be competitive and try to teach the kids not only wins and losses but about being good people. That's the whole thing about being in athletics, it helps you to build character.
"We're going to play hard, but we're also going to show some class."
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