KAILUA-KONA — Sam Kekuaokalani will no longer continue as the head football coach at Kealakehe, ending his five-year tenure at the helm for the Waveriders.
Kealakehe confirmed the move, but did not have a comment at this time. The school is expected to open up the application process for the position in the coming weeks.
Kekuaokalani had held the post since 2014, but was never been able to get over the hurdle of Hilo, with the Vikings winning all the BIIF titles during his time as head coach. The Waveriders were 22-17 under Kekuaokalani. The program played for the Division I title all but one year, when Waiakea took the No. 2 spot in 2016.
Kekuaokalani did win a BIIF title as an interim head coach in 2011, filling in for Gary Clark, garnering him coach of the year honors.
The coaching spot with the Waveriders will be one of the more high-profile positions in the BIIF, with a large student population to pull talent from and a history of competing for league titles. The Waveriders won eight BIIF D-I titles from 2004-12, although one championship was vacated due to the use of an illegal player.
There have only been five head coaches in program history at Kealakehe.
There is still much to be decided on what the BIIF as a whole will look like next year. With Kohala, Pahoa and Ka‘u moving up to the 11-man game, league athletic directors will decide on division alignments, as well as how state tournament berths are decided in the coming weeks.