Randall Okimoto will carry the lessons he learned from the late Skippa Diaz with him for the rest of his life and he hopes he has successfully passed those lessons on.
Okimoto followed in Diaz’s footsteps as the head coach at Farrington, his alma mater. He spent 16 years at the helm until Monday, when he informed the school administration that he wouldn’t be back for a 17th season.
“I have kids, 4 and 9 years old, and I don’t want to miss this part of their lives,” Okimoto said. “It was a very tough decision. I will miss it. There are so many great memories of my time coaching here, 21 years (including five as an assistant).”
Okimoto played for the Govs under Diaz from 1988 through 1991 and he is still remembered for having the second-best rushing total for a Hawaii high school running back in a season — 2,149 yards and 33 touchdowns in 14 games in 1991. He went on to play for the University of Hawaii before returning to his alma mater.
He went 116-67-3 as the head coach, but more than the wins, Okimoto will be remembered for the year-in, year-out consistency he brought to the Kalihi kids.
“One time, Coach Diaz was up at a podium talking about coaching and he pointed to us players and said, ‘It’s those guys out there. They’re the ones who have made me a better person,’ ” Okimoto said. “I always remembered that and I took that with me. It made me want to be the best role model I could possibly be. Those kids, my players, they’re watching me. They see how I respond to things. If I don’t respond the right way, they won’t respond the right way. I’m aware of how important it is to do the right things. They keep me accountable. And being from the area, there are some (disadvantages and challenges) for them. I am aware of what they go through, and I want to help them.”
Okimoto was unable to get the Govs’ first OIA championship since when he was a junior in 1990, but Farrington was always right in the thick of the race and usually a state qualifier.
“Not too bad,” Okimoto said about his team’s on-field performance. “I wish we could have brought home the trophies, but it didn’t work out that way. We made a true effort. We tried.”
Within the past six years, Okimoto said he thought about stepping down due to the time away from his family, but wanted to see Skippa Diaz Stadium — which opened last year and brought games to the school campus for the first time — through the planning, building and opening process.
“We’re going to miss Randall,” Aiea head coach Wendell Say said. “He is a good coach, represented the school well, and he coached the right way. Everything was about the kids.”
