Christopher Kealoha Naeole (; born December 25, 1974) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

coach and player. He played

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as an

offensive guard Offensive may refer to: * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative (Netherlands), Socialist Alternative * Offensive (military), an attack * Offensive language ** Fighting words or insulting language, words that ...

for the

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: University of Colorado Boulder, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, University of Colorado Denver, and the University o ...

, where he was recognized as an All-American in 1996 and was drafted tenth overall by the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

in the

1997 NFL Draft The 1997 NFL Draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 19–20, 1997, at the Paramount T ...

. Naeole also played for the

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team pla ...

prior to becoming a high school football coach by 2010, later serving as the offensive line coach for the

Hawaii Rainbow Warriors The Hawaii Rainbow Warriors and Rainbow Wāhine are the athletic teams that represent the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (UH), in Honolulu, Hawaii. The UH athletics program is a member of the Big West Conference in most sports and competes a ...

Early years

Naeole was born in

Kailua, Hawaii Kailua () is a census-designated place (CDP) in Honolulu County, Hawaii, United States. It lies in the Koolaupoko District of the island of Oahu on the windward coast at Kailua Bay. It is in the judicial district and the ahupua'a named Ko'ol ...

. He attended

Kahuku High School Kahuku High & Intermediate School, located in Kahuku CDP, City and County of Honolulu, Hawaii, United States, on the island of Oahu, serves approximately 1,850 students in grades seven through twelve and is part of the Windward District on the is ...

Kahuku, Hawaii Kahuku () is a census-designated place (CDP) in Honolulu, Hawaii, United States. In the Hawaiian language, ''ka huku'' means "the projection", presumably a reference to Kahuku Point nearby, the northernmost point of land on the island of Oahu. As ...

, and earned two

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football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

and one in

wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat s ...

. In football, he was a high school All-America first-team selection by Prep Football Report, and received second-team accolades from Blue Chip Report and an honorable mention from ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...

'' as a senior. As a two-way tackle, he made 56 tackles, five sacks, eight passes deflected, four forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries as a senior.

College career

Naeole attended the University of Colorado-Boulder, where he was a three-year starter for the Colorado Buffaloes football team at right guard. In three seasons, he allowed only one sack. As a senior in 1996, he was recognized as a consensus first-team All-American and was an All-

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its ...

first-team selection. Naeole was the recipient of the John Mack Award, given to the team's Most Outstanding Offensive Player. He graduated from the university with a degree in

sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of empirical investigation an ...

Professional career

1997 NFL Draft

Naeole was drafted tenth overall in the

by the

. He was the highest selected guard since Eric Moore in

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Bicenten ...

, and the first Colorado offensive lineman selected in the first round since

Stan Brock Stanley James Brock (born June 8, 1958) is a former American football player and coach. He played as a Tackle (American football), tackle at the University of Colorado at Boulder and in the National Football League for the New Orleans Saints an ...

was drafted by the Saints in

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC. * January 9 ...

New Orleans Saints

On July 17, 1997, Naeole signed a five-year, $8 million deal with the New Orleans Saints, and soon afterwards bought a 4,000-square-foot house in

Metairie, Louisiana Metairie ( ) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, United States, and is part of the New Orleans metropolitan area. With a population of 143,507 in 2020, Metairie is the largest community in Jefferson Parish and was (a ...

. He played for the team through 2001, and was a starter throughout his time with the Saints.

Jacksonville Jaguars

Naeole was signed by the

as an unrestricted free agent in 2002. In Week 8 of the 2007 season he suffered a torn quadriceps tendon and was placed on injured reserve. Until this injury, Naeole had missed only one game in his 11 years as a pro, and had started 150 of 154 games in his pro career.Chris Naeole
Jacksonville Jaguars bio On March 3, 2008, Naeole was released by the Jaguars. He was re-signed on September 17 but did not play again. Naeole later indicated in 2010 that he had retired from professional football.

Coaching career

Naeole was hired as an assistant football coach for

Iolani School Iolani is a masculine Hawaiian name meaning "royal ''hawk''." It comes from the Hawaiian words ''ʻio'', meaning "Hawaiian hawk," and ''lani'', meaning "royal." It may refer to: *ʻIolani School, a private school located in Hawaii *ʻIolani Palac ...

Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the isla ...

. He began his duties in the 2010 season. After three years with 'Iolani, Naeole was named the offensive line coach for the

Hawaii Warriors The Hawaii Rainbow Warriors and Rainbow Wāhine are the athletic teams that represent the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (UH), in Honolulu, Hawaii. The UH athletics program is a member of the Big West Conference in most sports and compete ...

. On November 1, 2015, Naeole was named Hawaii's interim head coach following the firing of

Norm Chow Norman Yew Heen Chow (born May 3, 1946) is an American football coach and former player. He is currently the head coach for the Helvetic Guards in the European League of Football. He was the head football coach at the University of Hawaii at Ma ...

and finished the season with a 1–3 record. Naeole was retained as offensive line coach by new Hawaii head coach

Nick Rolovich Nicholas Robert Rolovich ( ; born February 16, 1979) is an American football coach and former player, who was most recently the head football coach at Washington State University (WSU). Rolovich majored in economics at the University of Hawaii, ...

. On October 6, 2017, Naeole resigned, due to what he called "philosophical differences with the handling of disciplinary matters in the program."

Head coaching record

Notes

References

External links

Hawaii profile

Jacksonville Jaguars profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Naeole, Chris 1974 births Living people All-American college football players American football offensive guards Colorado Buffaloes football players Hawaii Rainbow Warriors football coaches Jacksonville Jaguars players New Orleans Saints players High school football coaches in Hawaii People from Laie Players of American football from Hawaii