Joe Paopao (born June 30, 1955) is a former professional

Canadian football Canadian football () is a sport played in Canada in which two teams of 12 players each compete for territorial control of a field of play long and wide attempting to advance a pointed oval-shaped ball into the opposing team's scoring area ( ...

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

and coach in the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

(CFL). Paopao played 11 seasons in the CFL and was a member of the

BC Lions The BC Lions are a professional Canadian football team based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Lions compete in the West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), and play their home games at BC Place. The Lions played their first seas ...

Saskatchewan Roughriders The Saskatchewan Roughriders are a professional Canadian football team based in Regina, Saskatchewan. The Roughriders compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division. The Roughriders were founded in ...

and the Ottawa Rough Riders. He began his coaching career with the

and has coached with five CFL organizations, including stints as head coach with the

in 1996 and the

Ottawa Renegades The Ottawa Renegades were a Canadian Football League franchise based in Ottawa, Ontario founded in 2002, six years after the storied Ottawa Rough Riders folded. After four seasons, the Renegades franchise was suspended indefinitely by the league d ...

from 2002–2005. He most recently served as the quarterbacks coach for the

Ottawa Redblacks The Ottawa Redblacks (officially stylized as REDBLACKS) (French: Le Rouge et Noir d'Ottawa) are a professional Canadian football team based in Ottawa, Ontario. The team plays in the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). Starting ...

Professional playing career

Paopao began his CFL career as a

for the

in 1978. He was nicknamed the "Throwin' Samoan" for his great ability to pass, as he led the Lions in passing for the next three seasons and set a CFL record in

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the '' International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the '' Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the so ...

for pass completions in a single game. By

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning ...

, he had lost the starting job to

Roy Dewalt Roy Dewalt (born September 4, 1956) is a former Canadian Football League quarterback who, in a career lasting nine years, played for the BC Lions between 1980 and 1987, and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Ottawa Rough Riders in 1988. He led the Lion ...

. In

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

he signed with the

and again led that team in passing. He was traded to the Ottawa Rough Riders in

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, ...

, and the following year to the

Winnipeg Blue Bombers The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are a professional Canadian football team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Blue Bombers compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West division. They play their home games at IG Fie ...

. That year, he was named the offensive backfield coach of the BC Lions, thus beginning his CFL coaching career. The next year however, he went back to his old position of quarterback for the Lions, backing up

Doug Flutie Douglas Richard Flutie (born October 23, 1962) is an American former football quarterback whose professional career spanned 21 seasons. He played 12 seasons in the National Football League (NFL), eight seasons in the Canadian Football League (CF ...

, in his last season.

Coaching career

Early CFL coaching career

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phi ...

, Paopao was made the quarterback coach of the Lions. In 1992 he was promoted to offensive coordinator. Paopao was with the Lions for four seasons to begin his coaching career. Paopao then left to be the offensive coordinator for the Edmonton Eskimos in

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nelson ...

. In 1996 Paopao returned to BC to be the head coach, but he only managed to win 5 games and lost 13 during his only season as the Lions head coach. Following his first stint as a head coach Paopao was hired by the Blue Bombers as the team's offensive coordinator, a position which he held for two seasons. He once again returned to the Lions in

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...

and as the offensive coordinator and assistant head coach.

San Francisco Demons

Paopao was hired as the offensive coordinator for the

San Francisco Demons The San Francisco Demons (originally named San Jose Demons) were a short-lived springtime American football team based in San Francisco, California. This team was part of the failed XFL begun by Vince McMahon of World Wrestling Entertainment and ...

of the XFL. The league was operational for only one season, and thus Paopao was once again looking for work.

Ontario

In 2001 Paopao was hired as the head coach of the new

franchise where he coached for four seasons from 2002-2005. However, the Renegades struggled, winning only 23 games and losing 49, the team folded following the 2005 season. Paopao was then hired by the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and named offensive coordinator for the 2006 season. He was later relieved of his duties with the Tiger-Cats on August 28, 2006.

University of Waterloo

Paopao joined the

University of Waterloo The University of Waterloo (UWaterloo, UW, or Waterloo) is a public research university with a main campus in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is on of land adjacent to "Uptown" Waterloo and Waterloo Park. The university also operates ...

Warriors as the team's offensive coordinator and assistant head coach in 2007, a position he would hold for five years. He was named the team's interim

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

for the 2012 season after Dennis McPhee's resignation, and then full-time head coach in February 2013. In two seasons with the Warriors, Paopao had a 3-13 record.

Return to BC

On February 6, 2014, the

announced Paopao would be re-joining the organization as its receivers coach.

Simon Fraser University

On March 27, 2015 Joe Paopao was named offensive coordinator of the

Simon Fraser University Simon Fraser University (SFU) is a public research university in British Columbia, Canada, with three campuses, all in Greater Vancouver: Burnaby (main campus), Surrey, and Vancouver. The main Burnaby campus on Burnaby Mountain, located ...

Clan football team in the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

's Division II Great Northwest Athletic Conference.

Return to Ottawa

On April 15, 2019 Paopao was hired by the

as a running backs coach. Midway through the 2019 season, with the offense sputtering and the team having lost six of their last seven matches, head coach Rick Campbell turned over the role of offensive play-calling to Paopao: His responsibilities with the team also changed from running backs coach to quarterbacks coach. Following a head coaching change, Paopao was not retained by the Redblacks for the 2020 season.

Personal life

Paopao is a longtime resident of Oceanside, California. He was added to the BC Lions Wall of Fame in 2007.

CFL coaching record

CIS coaching record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Paopao, Joe 1955 births Living people American sportspeople of Samoan descent BC Lions players California State University, Long Beach alumni Canadian football quarterbacks Edmonton Elks coaches Winnipeg Blue Bombers coaches Ottawa Renegades coaches BC Lions coaches Long Beach State 49ers football players Ottawa Rough Riders players Sportspeople from Honolulu Saskatchewan Roughriders players Players of American football from Honolulu Winnipeg Blue Bombers players Sportspeople from Oceanside, California American players of Canadian football San Francisco Demons coaches Simon Fraser Clan football coaches Waterloo Warriors football coaches Players of Canadian football from Honolulu