Kamehameha gets coach
By Wes Nakama
Advertiser Staff Writer
The Kamehameha Schools selected Doss Tannehill yesterday afternoon to serve as interim varsity head football coach for its reigning state championship program this coming season.
Coach Years Clay Benham 1954-57
Tannehill, 54, will serve as interim assistant athletic director and interim varsity head football coach while Kanani Souza is on a leave of absence as a graduate assistant at Oregon State University for the next nine months.
Kamehameha football coaches since 1954
Cal Chai 1958-67 1973-84
George Naukana 1968-72
Bernard Silva 1985-87
Milton Holt 1988
Blane Gaison 1989-95
Kanani Souza 1996-2004
Kamehameha principal Anthony Ramos, who conducted the interviews for the interim positions, said Tannehill's term will expire on Dec. 31. Ramos expects Souza to then return to his former positions.
"That's the plan," Ramos said. "We expect Kanani to come back and be the (head) coach again."
Tannehill, a 1968 graduate of Kamehameha, was the Warriors' head coach for their intermediate football team in 1996, 1999 and 2000 and also was the JV head coach in 1997 and 1998. He coached the varsity defensive line and was special teams coordinator from 2001 to 2003, then was a part-time varsity assistant last season while recovering from knee replacement surgery.
Tannehill graduated from Colorado State and has a private business making ocular (eye-related) prosthetics.
"This is a great privilege and honor," he said. "There haven't been many head coaches at Kamehameha, so I'll be following in some big footsteps. Kanani has been my mentor and my friend, so this is a big opportunity and an exciting time for me."
Kamehameha, with a football history dating to 1903, has one of Hawai'i's most prominent and accomplished programs. It has won 23 Interscholastic League of Honolulu championships — only Waimea (Kaua'i Interscholastic Federation, 35), Saint Louis (ILH, 32) and Baldwin (Maui Interscholastic League, 24) have won more league titles.
The Warriors won their first state championship and first ILH crown since 1979 last season.
Souza, who had been the Warriors' head coach since 1996, accepted a graduate assistant position at Oregon State earlier this month. Tannehill said he hopes to retain most, if not all, of Souza's coaching staff from last season.
Ramos also said that will be a priority.
"The big issue was continuity in the program," Ramos said. "We had it all in place last year, and it showed in the season we had. It's important to maintain stability so that the players can feel secure for next season."
Reach Wes Nakama at wnakama@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2456.
