Christopher Kealoha Naeole ([nəeˈolɛ]; born December 25, 1974) is an American former professional football player who was an offensive guard in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Colorado Buffaloes, earning All-American honors in 1996. He was selected 10th overall by the New Orleans Saints in the 1997 NFL draft. Naeole also played for the Jacksonville Jaguars. After his playing career, he became a high school football coach by 2010, later serving as the offensive line coach for the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors.
 Naeole in 2014 | |||||||||
| No. 65 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position: | Guard | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born: | December 25, 1974 Kailua, Hawaii, U.S. | ||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | ||||||||
| Weight: | 328 lb (149 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school: | Kahuku (Kahuku, Hawaii) | ||||||||
| College: | Colorado | ||||||||
| NFL draft: | 1997 / round: 1 / pick: 10 | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
| As a player: | |||||||||
| As a coach: | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||
| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Head coaching record | |||||||||
| Regular season: | 1–3 (.250) (College) | ||||||||
Early life
editNaeole was born in Kailua, Hawaii. He attended Kahuku High School in Kahuku, Hawaii, and earned two letters in football and one in wrestling. 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 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
editNaeole 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 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.
Professional career
edit1997 NFL Draft
editNaeole was drafted tenth overall in the 1997 NFL draft by the New Orleans Saints.[1] Retrieved February 2, 2012.</ref> He was the highest selected guard since Eric Moore in 1988, and the first Colorado offensive lineman selected in the first round since Stan Brock was drafted by the Saints in 1980.
New Orleans Saints
editOn 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.[2] He played for the team through 2001, and was a starter throughout his time with the Saints.
Jacksonville Jaguars
editNaeole was signed by the Jacksonville Jaguars 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.[3]
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.[4]
Coaching career
editNaeole was hired as an assistant football coach for ʻIolani School in Honolulu.[4] He began his duties in the 2010 season. After three years with 'Iolani, Naeole was named the offensive line coach for the Hawaii Warriors.[5] On November 1, 2015, Naeole was named Hawaii's interim head coach following the firing of Norm Chow and finished the season with a 1–3 record.[6]
Naeole was retained as offensive line coach by new Hawaii head coach Nick Rolovich.[7] On October 6, 2017, Naeole resigned, due to what he called "philosophical differences with the handling of disciplinary matters in the program."[8]
Head coaching record
edit| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hawaii Rainbow Warriors (Mountain West Conference) (2015) | |||||||||
| 2015 | Hawaii | 1–3[n 1] | 0–3 | 6th (West) | |||||
| Hawaii: | 1–3 | 0–3 | |||||||
| Total: | 1–3 | ||||||||
| National championship Conference title Conference division title or championship game berth | |||||||||
Notes
editExecutive career
editPhiladelphia Eagles
editAs of 2024, Naeole is listed as an international scout for the Philadelphia Eagles on the team's front office roster page.[9] Naeole was tasked with teaching football to undrafted free agent signing Laekin Vakalahi of New Zealand, who was learning to play on the offensive line after only being experienced in junior rugby.[10]
References
edit- ^ "1997 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved March 30, 2023.
- ^ "Kahuku's Naeole signs for $8 million". Honolulu Star-Bulletin. July 17, 1997.
- ^ Chris Naeole Archived June 25, 2009, at the Wayback Machine Jacksonville Jaguars bio
- ^ a b Tsai, Stephen (June 18, 2010). "Naeole returns home, retired, set for new role". Honolulu Star-Advertiser. Archived from the original on June 22, 2010. Retrieved June 18, 2010.
- ^ Tsai, Stephen (February 13, 2013). "Naeole joins UH staff". Honolulu Star-Advertiser. Retrieved February 13, 2013.
- ^ "Chow let go by University of Hawaii". Honolulu Star-Advertiser. Retrieved November 1, 2015.
- ^ "Rolovich adds four to Rainbow Warriors coaching staff". December 31, 2015.
- ^ Tsai, Stephen (October 6, 2017). "Naeole resigns as UH offensive line coach". Honolulu Star-Advertiser. Retrieved September 25, 2018.
- ^ "Philadelphia Eagles Front Office Roster". PhiladelphiaEagles.com. Retrieved May 3, 2024.
- ^ Horesh, Laurence (May 3, 2024). "Eagles at it again, sign raw 300-pound Aussie Laekin Vakalahi". ESPN Australia. Retrieved May 3, 2024.