Wong returns to Kailua as head coach

Former Kailua High lineman and NFL player Joseph Hau’oli L. Wong has been hired as the high school football coach at his alma mater.

Wong, 37, succeeds Gary Rosolowich, who stepped down after 10 years. Wong is a Waimanalo native who played for the Surfriders under Alex Kane before moving on to the University of Hawaii, then to BYU.

Then a 6-foot-6, 315-pound guard-tackle, he was drafted in the seventh round by the Miami Dolphins in 1999. He also played for the Philadelphia Eagles (2001), the Amsterdam Admirals of NFL Europe (’01) and the Oakland Raiders (’02-03).

Wong played at Kailua during a time when ground-and-pound football was the norm. The I-formation eventually gave way to the shotgun, four-wide offense installed a few years ago.