As a high school football coach, his success was continual, almost a given here on the Big Island.
Kaeo Drummondo led Hilo High to BIIF championships just falling out of bed in the morning.
OK, it wasn’t that easy, but five in a row made a statement about the Vikings’ commitment to winning.
These days, Drummondo is the athletic director and in that position, his world has changed. The program has been in a state of flux owing mostly to the tug away from school that happens when the head coach is also a politician, as was the case when Chris Todd was named head coach in May of 2021.
A state representative, Todd was pulled in different directions and the team was in a musical chairs-type coaching situation with Lave Suiaunoa named to the position, then family issues caused him to step down and Todd took over, but his time was limited and so Ed Rocha was called in as interim coach.
The 2020 season was canceled by the pandemic. Drummondo had resigned after the 2019 season to pursue a coaching opportunity at Kamehameha-Kapalama on Oahu, but he returned to Hilo last year to assume the role of athletic director where he had led the school to title after title.
Now, Drummondo needs to solidify the position, and despite the winning history, that could be a challenge.
For one, Hilo collapsed in the BIIF championship game last week when it was swamped by Konawaena, 51-0 as the Vikings were reduced to a one-dimensional offense due to their inability to run the ball.
To be clear, nobody beat those Drummondo-coached teams by 51 points, but the program has a new reality, and getting back on top won’t be easily achieved.
“Coaches are hard to find, period,” Drummondo said in a telephone interview this week. “It doesn’t really matter the sport, it’s not easy to find the right fit.”
The BIIF observes a three-week dead period after each season in which no jobs searches are instituted, but finding the right, full time replacement in football will be at or near the top of his list of duties.
“This year, Chris had to step out and I didn’t feel comfortable opening the position, not really knowing if he would be back full time or part time or whatever, but now, there’s a definite need to get some stability (in the position), so that’s what we’ll be considering.”
Stability, as seen with a qualified, successful coach, is elusive at the high school level on the Big Island where the pool of candidates isn’t overflowing with possibilities.
“The last time we opened it, I think we had two applicants from the outside,” he said. “Ideally? It would be great to hire someone well qualified who is in the school, walks the halls, has conversations with kids and can generate some interest, but I don’t know how realistic that is.”
It’s fair to say he isn’t looking for someone to replicate his offensive and defensive approach. Any system can be successful given the right situation, but there are larger issues than what the new coach might see as a pass/balance on offense.
“Honestly, that part doesn’t matter much to me,” Drummondo said. “What matters is the staff (the new coach) might have in mind, and what the plans are for the off-season, the training schedule, the physical conditioning, the speed and agility training. Are they going to be a good teacher? What’s the background on that? There’s so much that goes into it.
“It’s a very demanding position — the time involved is a serious part of it. Some like to take the off-season off, some like to grind whenever they can. We have, I think, four coaches in our 21 sports who are on campus, so you have to be open-minded and judge the applicants as best as you can.”
In recent years, this has been the dominant football program on the Big Island, and whoever Drummondo selects, it will be with the intent of continuing that wave of success, even after a lopsided defeat for a championship.