Salt Lake City West Head Coach Olossa Solovi Talks His Two Players Committed to OSU
STILLWATER – We live in a day and age where high school football coaches in many situations aren’t as involved in the recruiting process with their players as they were when I was in high school and for many years that I’ve covered the recruiting landscape. It used to be tht high school coaches really controlled which schools got to their players. The high school coach had more of an influence in the process and the decision. Social media, changes in rules, and the recruiting calendar being sped up has changed that, but not necessarily at Salt Lake City West where Oklahoma State just received commitments this past weekend from two very talented and highly recruited offensive linemen in Nuku Mafi (6-5, 295) and Semisi Tonga (6-4, 320). Their head coach Olossa Solovi, who goes by “Junior” is involved. He took those two and a van full of some of his other players on a cross country trip last spring visiting various colleges and universities including Oklahoma State.
Coach Solovi has been involved in coaching for a long time, but he has also been a child advocate. He is involved with his players on more than a football level. He knows his guys. In an interview on Monday, the day after Mafi and Tonga committed before leaving their official visit to Oklahoma State. Coach told me he had a feeling.
“They both loved it so much,” he said. “They just didn’t want to wait anymore.”
Before you start thinking Coach Solovi is one of those new breed coaches that cares about the whole life of his players and not the football, let me set you straight. He does care about all aspects of his players’ lives, but that includes football. Yes, the West Panthers win and they win by hard work and design.
They started this season 0-3 but then in their regional schedule they breezed through 6-0.
“Yes, we’re really excited for our guys,” Coach Solovi said. “We always schedule tough. Last year we played Mater Dei (California) and this year we played St. Francis and another top five program in California. We think it is beneficial for us in preparing our guys for a late season playoff run. That also gets them more exposure (for recruiting). It’s been a great experience.”
Coach Solovi has a connection to Oklahoma State. His nephew is former Cowboys running back and current Pittsburgh Steelers back Jaylen Warren.
“Yes, that’s my nephew, my sister’s boy. We are really excited and I know that was a big part of these guys’ commitments and their experience (on the visit) in Stillwater,” Coach Solovi relayed. “We’re excitied for him and it’s bben great. He’s been a good example and came and spoke to our guys before our game on Wednesday and then he was heading there (Stillwater) this weekend. Oklahoma State is definitely in our blood.”
The players and their families got to see Warren in Salt Lake City speaking before their regular season finale, a hard fought 31-24 win over Brighton to clinch the Region 6 title and a bye in the first round of the Utah Class 5A playoffs. They will face the winner of Alta and Highlands on Oct. 27 in the second round.
Back to Warren, both players and their families were imprpessed when Warren was introduced to the crowd at Boone Pickens Stadium on Saturday at the win over Kansas, the crowd went crazy. They were impressed. Parents see that andhave the vision on their son developing that kind of admiration playing in that uniform, that stadium, in front of those fans.
Solovi says Oklahoma State is getting two very good players. I asked him first about Semisi Tonga, who turned down the likes of Oregon, USC, Colorado, Arizona, and Arizona State.
“Well Semisi is a dog,” Coach said in a complimentary way. “He got rolled up in an earlier game in the season and we’ve been really conservative with him. I told him that I was not going to risk his future to try to get him back in a game. He probably could play in this coming playoff game (Oct. 27), but I’m going to play it by ear with the doctors and I don’t want to risk anything in the future. He is definitely missed by our team. I’m really happy for him. I’m really excited and I know this was a big decison for him. He was getting a lot of pressure from different angles. Our visit (to Oklahoma State) in the spring and him coming back. He just loved it so much that he didn’t want to wait anymore.”
Solovi knows about Tonga’s loyalty. He was recruited by high schools to leave West.
“He is definitely a big piece and big schools like IMG recruited him and wanted him to go there,” added Solovi. “Mater Dei offered him to go there this season. He wanted to stay. We are just real proud of him and you are getting a real dog. He is a dog in those trenches.”
The other pledge was seeing interest from the likes of Alabama, Notre Dame, and Ohio State to go along with UCLA, Tennessee, Washington State, BYU, and others.
“Nuku is a gifted, talented guy. He has grown another inch this year and I could see him being 6-6 and a half or 6-7 for you guys,” Coach Solovi said of Mafi. “He is just so talented but it goes hand-in-hand with the hard work. He is another guy that will do whatever it takes. We have schools recruiting him on defense. He is an offensive lineman and he wants to play O-line. He is just a great player and a good leader.”
Solovi would not be this enthusiastic if he didn’t believe, know that Oklahoma State will take care of his guys. They will develop as men, get their education, and be coached up hard and right in football.
Oklahoma State director of player development Beni Tonga is a huge reason. Tonga has so many connections in his own culture and he has grown the Polynesian influence as part of the Cowboy culture.
“The Poly culture is based on family and respect, so these kids can be pushed,” Coach Solovi stated. “They know how to handle themselves. They know they can be pushed really hard. The families are blue collar families and fit with a lot of families in Oklahoma. Beni Tonga being there at Oklahoma State is a key part of this. These families are comnfortable that their boys are going to be in a good place. It (Stillwater) is a good hard working community and it is a great fit for our kids. They have a lot of pride there and I had a great feeling they were going to commit this weekend. I know USC, Notre Dame and a lot of schools were after them. These kids grow up differently and all that stuff at some of those schools doesn’t mean a lot to them. They want to be in a safe atmsophere and Stillwater is a good place. I’m happy for them.”
Oklahoma State fans can be happy because they are getting two very talented players that have a strong background thanks to their families and their high school coach.
