Vaioleti to join
Leahey in booth
Former Hawaii offensive lineman Doug Vaioleti replaces Dick Tomey this season as Jim Leahey's color analyst on UH football broadcasts for KFVE-TV (Channel 5).
Vaioleti played his last game for Hawaii in the Rainbows' 1992 Holiday Bowl win over Illinois. He was originally a walk-on under coach Bob Wagner, perhaps best known for scoring a touchdown against Wyoming in 1992 and as a first-team All-Western Athletic Conference selection. He is currently a union carpenter with Sunrise Construction.
He and Leahey struck up a relationship that goes back to Vaioleti's playing days.
"I was always impressed by his intellect," Leahey said.
Vaioleti graduated with a degree in journalism from UH, and had previously interned at KHNL (Channel 8). He said he plans to attend UH's morning practices when he can and will start practicing with videotape soon.
Leahey said the Kahuku High School graduate's football knowledge and personality should make Vaioleti a strong color commentator.
"He will have a viewpoint," Leahey said.
Vaioleti said he hopes to convey "extreme passion for the game," and "some inside knowledge."
"I want to get close to Jim's energy on TV," Vaioleti said. "I want to keep people in the game for four hours."
Vaioleti said he enjoyed Tomey's coaching insight these past two seasons, and hopes to develop a similar talent for breaking down the strategy and emotion of football.
Tomey, UH's all-time winningest coach, moves on after two seasons in the KFVE broadcast booth to take a position as an assistant with the San Francisco 49ers.
KFVE is currently scheduled to broadcast up to nine games this season -- those not claimed by regional or national television -- on delayed broadcast or live pay-per-view, with road games broadcast live.