KEAAU — As Kamehameha’s football players trickle out of the visiting locker room at Keaau High School, coach Dan Lyons is there to greet as many as he can before they shuffle off into the night.
KEAAU — As Kamehameha’s football players trickle out of the visiting locker room at Keaau High School, coach Dan Lyons is there to greet as many as he can before they shuffle off into the night.
Some played well, others didn’t get much playing time at all, but Lyons has the same farewell for each of them: I love you.
“I think of them as my kids,” Lyons said.
His paternalistic instincts take over when it comes to player safety.
Since taking the reins of the Warriors’ program in 2011, Lyons has made it his mission to make sure Kamehameha doesn’t merely abide by the state guidelines regarding concussion protocol, but become a trendsetter.
Consider:
• Kamehameha was one of the first schools in Hawaii to stop hitting during spring drills — a practice the state has since banned.
• All of Kamehameha’s coaches, Lyons said, are well-schooled in Heads Up Football, a USA Football program designed, in part, to educate players and coaches in proper tackling and concussion recognition and response.
The Warriors adopted Hawk Tackling, concepts introduced by Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll to take the head out of tackling, before Heads Up eventually entered it into its curriculum.
• In the summer, the Warriors won’t let a player begin non-contact conditioning until they’ve taken their baseline test.
Lyons believes in this philosophy so much that some players have missed preseason games because they haven’t participated in the mandatory number of practices in order to be eligible.
“I believe we’ve been a leader,” Lyons said. “We’ve seen the number of concussions or evaluations of concussions dramatically drop.”
The Warriors’ dedication to player safety starts at practice, where the weekly time spent on full-contact drills is much less than what is allowed by the Hawaii High School Athletic Administration.
On Oct. 5, Kamehameha was getting ready for it biggest game of the regular season, a contest at Konawaena, with one of its most important practices. All the drills were broken down and charted on a sheet labeled Hard Work Wednesday.
The Warriors spent some time working with bags — no player-to-player contact.
The next phase was called “control to quick to whistle,” a drill in which players weren’t taking each other to the ground — minimized contact.
Last, and possibly least, were the full-contact periods, which totaled about 15 minutes of a practice that lasted more than two hours.
“And this is Hard Work Wednesday,” Lyons said. “We’re constantly looking for ways to minimize hitting.”
Kamehameha also uses thud hitting, a no-takedown drill where players “give a good thud, but engage in minimal hitting.”
“It’s taken us a while to get guys to be aggressive and physical when we’re using thud hitting,” Lyons said, “but we’re getting kind of good at it.”
If players become too aggressive, they hear about it from their coaches.
When defensive back Kalilikea Kekuawela came up to make what could have been considered a nice tackle during a game at Hawaii Prep, his coaches didn’t celebrate because they noticed his head was down.
“Everyone of our coaches said, ‘See what you hit. See what you hit,’” Lyons said.
“We pulled him out, the emphasis being we want to make sure we’re tackling properly.”
Entering the final game of the regular season last Friday, Lyons said no member of the Warriors’ varsity team had suffered a concussion, while one member of the junior varsity team has been concussed.
One might be one too many, but Lyons points proudly to the number.
This season, hand injuries were the biggest hindrance for Kamehameha.
Last season, five Warriors players suffered broken collarbones, so in the offseason the school ordered high-tech shoulder pads, which seem to have had an effect.
The team also instituted tumbling drills because, Lyons said, “Kids don’t know how to fall anymore. They spend all their time playing video games.”
Concussions, he knows, aren’t to be toyed around with or taken lightly.
Still, he’s a proud father of many on the football field.
“Football is a violent sport, so injuries are going to happen,” he said. “But we’re doing everything we can in the industry to make the sport a wonderful source for teaching character, integrity, teamwork, work ethic and so many of the life skills we’re trying to instill.”
Email Matt Gerhart at mgerhart@hawaiitribune-herald.com.