Thirty-three years after one of the program’s biggest recruiting blunders, the University of Hawaii football team has made amends in triplicate.
In 1982, the Rainbow Warriors declined to extend a scholarship offer to Waianae High quarterback/ safety Kurt Gouveia, who went on to win a national championship with Brigham Young University and two Super Bowl rings with the Washington Redskins as a linebacker.
"I’ve played football since I was little, and it’s always been my dream to follow my father’s footsteps. This was just the next step. I have to work hard, be humble, and try to be the best.”
Dalton Gouveia
On joining the UH football team as an inside linebacker
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Now Gouveia is starting his second season as the Warriors’ outside linebackers coach. One of his sons, Jeron, who played linebacker at Virginia Tech, was hired recently as an intern for defense. On Monday, another son, Dalton, joins the Warriors as an inside linebacker.
“It’s a great opportunity to be offered (a scholarship) by Coach (Norm) Chow,” said Dalton Gouveia, who was an offensive guard and linebacker at Charlotte Christian High in North Carolina. The Warriors “have extremely intelligent coaches who know the game. I’m looking forward to being part of the team.”
Dalton Gouveia said he is 6 feet 1 and 230 pounds.
He lived in Hawaii in 2003 and 2004, attending Saint Patrick School and Holy Nativity School, while his father worked as a student manager at UH. Another brother, Landon, was a UH wideout during that period.
“I was little, but I still remember everything about that time,” Dalton Gouveia said.
Kurt Gouveia and his wife still own a house in North Carolina. The snowy winters served as a training exercise for Dalton.
“Our driveway is really hilly,” Dalton said. “We can’t really get the cars out when it’s really icy. Dad will have me out shoveling all the snow. Of course, it’s a good workout.”
Dalton, who has a 3.5 grade-point average, received offers from Ball State and two military academies — The Citadel and Virginia Military Institute. He said the decision was easy.
“I’ve played football since I was little, and it’s always been my dream to follow my father’s footsteps,” he said of his decision to choose UH. “This was just the next step. I have to work hard, be humble, and try to be the best.”
Gouveia arrived in Honolulu on Saturday. There was an orientation session on Sunday. On Monday, he starts the bridge program — a two-class period that leads to the start of the Warriors’ training camp in August.
