The University of Hawaii football team’s new defensive coordinator has worked at a junior college, devised schemes in the Big Sky, battled SEC opponents on the field and recruiting trail, and turned a Florida Atlantic disaster into an 11-victory league champion.
But to figure out how Corey Batoon will get the Rainbow Warriors to play, push the “play” button.
“When you watch the tape, from Arkansas State to Ole Miss to FAU, the thing you see is players playing with great effort,” Batoon said. “You see guys with a great passion for the game and a love for each other. It’s team chemistry, a camaraderie, it’s playing for your brother. That’s where you start, especially with defensive football. It’s an emotional game. You have to play with tremendous zeal. But your attitude and your effort, those are the things … (that) it takes to be successful. It’s controlling the controllables.”
Batoon was named a successor to Legi Suiaunoa, who resigned last month to accept a coaching job at Oregon State. Batoon is the Warriors’ seventh defensive coordinator since 2013 — but the only one born and raised in Hawaii. Batoon, 49, is a Saint Louis School graduate and the eldest son of long-time basketball coach Sol Batoon.
His style is part heart, part Sol.
“Corey loves coaching,” Sol Batoon said. “I wanted him to be an attorney — he’s bright — but he chose to coach.”
Corey Batoon said: “I got bit by the coaching bug early on. Just being able to have an occupation where you don’t ever feel like you’re going to work. I tell people all the time: ‘I haven’t worked a day in my life.’ I’m blessed. Every day I wake up, I hit the ground and can’t wait to get to the office.”
Batoon has crisscrossed the country during a 26-year coaching career. It was at Arkansas State in 2011 when Batoon formed a bond with Chris Kiffin, son of Monte Kiffin, the creator of the Tampa-2 defense. Chris Kiffin coached the defensive line, Batoon directed the secondary. They developed a pressure defense that worked with either an even or odd front. After that, Kiffin and Batoon worked at Mississippi for five seasons.
Last year, Lane Kiffin, in his first year as Florida Atlantic head coach, hired his brother and Batoon. The Owls were coming off three consecutive 3-9 seasons. “A lot of the players had been with two, three coaches in their time,” Batoon said. “They were a selfless group. They took us in with open arms and committed to the task at hand. That’s where the turnaround started.”
Chris Kiffin, who was now working with the linebackers, and Batoon were co-defensive coordinators. They were united in implementing defensive packages with multiple fronts, gap-clogging assignments, and the ability to blitz from any point.
“Multiple?” Batoon said. “You hear that all the time. What does that mean? For us, we’ve been able to morph this thing over the years based on our personnel. … (It’s) being able to shape the system to the talent that’s there. It doesn’t make any sense to say ‘This is what we’re going to do,’ if you don’t have the players for it. It’s a players’ game. It’s about the players.”
Batoon said the key is to teach each player the basic concepts and coverages, then expand the responsibilities if needed. “For your players, the concepts are all the same,” Batoon said. “For the offense, it’s a totally different look.”
Of the defensive versatility he seeks, Batoon said, “you want to be the cat, not the mouse.”
Batoon will take the same approach at UH, evaluating the personnel, matching schemes to the players’ skills, and implementing a base that can easily expand. Batoon said he was pleased with UH’s 2018 commitments, noting the defensive players have multiple skills.
Batoon said he favors a progression-oriented method for teaching defensive players “what it takes to be successful in one-on-one matchups. … You want to focus on each play. It has a life of its own. You want to be successful at the end of that play. If you get 11 guys doing that … the scoreboard and result, those things will take care of (themselves).”
Batoon has connections in Mississippi, Texas, Georgia and Florida, where “there are a lot more players than there are scholarships. Those opportunities are always available, especially, I think, for perimeter players.”
But Batoon noted Hawaii and the West Coast should be UH’s recruiting “footprint” because “that’s your market and those are the people who know about you.”
As for returning to Hawaii, Batoon said, “It’s awesome. I’ve always followed the program. It’s a chance to fulfill a life-long dream.”
