University Southern California Trojans
Players Mentioned
Photo by: John McGillen
Tackling New Challenges
November 10, 2018 | Football
by Katie Ryan, USC Assistant Sports Information Director
It's a fall day in Aiea, Hawaii. Fourteen-year-old Palaie Gaoteote and his buddy Vavae Malepeai make their way to the field for their youth football game. Gaoteote takes off his USC hoodie that he wears everywhere and starts warming up. He just recently started playing tackle football and hasn't gotten the hang of hitting other players yet.
On the other hand, his buddy Malepeai plays aggressively and tackles the opposing players…hard. Gaoteote remembers watching his friend and realizing that this is how he needed to play to take his game to the next level.
"Vae and I were on the same team," said Gaoteote. "Vae was advanced. More advanced than everyone else. He was the best kid in the league. I was just starting my first season of tackle, and I didn't know how to hit. My dad would come watch the games, watch Vae hit and see how he wasn't scared. And then he'd see that I was scared."
Gaoteote had been playing football since he was five years old, and his father saw his potential, but knew that this jump to tackle football would require him to have a different mindset than before.
"Vae would hit someone and just run through him," he said. "My dad would tell me, 'See, that's how you're supposed to hit. Like a wrecking ball! You need to run through the other player.' Ever since that day, I took that and ran with it…literally. I tried to run through people."
Gaoteote's father took him home that night and they practiced.
"After that practice, my dad and I went home and we started hitting. He strapped it up with me and started cranking me. Then, I started hitting him back. When it clicked, it was crazy! My first Oklahoma drill after that day was when I started blowing up kids. I was more confident in myself."
Today, Gaoteote and Malepeai are both dominating players on the Trojan football team. Redshirt sophomore running back Malepeai is USC's scoring leader with seven touchdowns. On the defensive side of the ball, true freshman inside linebacker Gaoteote has tallied 29 tackles including three tackles for loss for seven yards and one sack.
With the recent absence of senior captain and middle linebacker Cameron Smith due to injury, Gaoteote has had to step up and become the quarterback of the defense.
"Cam has really helped me on the field," he said. "He's taught me how to be the leader and taught me the ins and outs of the defense."
During his first start in this season's Colorado game, Gaoteote came out hot leading the team in tackles, tallying nine with two for loss for four yards.
"Palaie is a great player and instinctually has the ability to play the game at a high level," said Smith. "I told him, 'No one is asking you to organize the defense like I do. No one is asking you to do anything other than just be yourself, make plays and have fun.' In the overall scheme of things, I tried my best to keep his mind at ease.
"Playing MIKE in this defense requires a lot of experience and time put into studying and understanding how things are supposed to work. I told him I'm always here for him, and I want him to be the best linebacker to ever come through here. And at this point, it's my job to get his mind as ready as possible to take over when I'm gone."
"I love playing linebacker," said Gaoteote. "You're in the middle of the field. All eyes are on you. You're the quarterback of the defense. You have to be the best athlete on the field. Everything has to be twice as fast for you mentally. You have to be very vocal, get all the calls out and make sure everybody is in their spots doing their job while you're doing your job at the same time."
Today as he dons the cardinal and gold, it appears as if everything has come full circle. Gaoteote grew up a USC fan, and playing for the Trojans was always his dream.
"This has been my dream school since I was five," he said. "My dad and I would watch when Pete Carroll was coaching and we would watch Reggie Bush. I would write papers in middle school about coming to USC. I would wear SC hoodies everywhere. It was always a family dream."
Gaoteote was born in Hawaii, but spend the first five years of his life living on a military base in American Samoa. When his father got stationed back in Hawaii, the family moved to the islands again.
His family lived in Hawaii through his freshman year of high school at Mililani High School. As Gaoteote continued to progress on the field, his family decided that moving to Las Vegas and attending Bishop Gorman High School would provide him with more opportunities to play at the next level.
Gaoteote was nationally recruited as the No. 1 inside linebacker in the 2018 recruiting class, and he received offers from 32 universities. However, USC had captured his heart many years before.
"I spoke to many schools, but USC was my only official visit," he said. "My recruiting process was all USC since the beginning. When I received the offer, I was going to commit on the spot, but my dad wanted me to wait it out to be sure this was what I wanted. Then we decided as a family that since all my hard work was done to get an offer to USC, it was finally time to make it official."
Gaoteote was immediately drawn to head coach Clay Helton and his philosophy that he preaches: Faith, family, football.
"All of those things really fit in any Poly kid's life," he said. "Those are the three biggest aspects. I'm really strong in my faith. Everything we do is God-driven. Going to Vegas was God-driven.
Coming to SC was God-driven. Then of course, football has always been important to me. Football is the way for kids to leave Hawaii and experience new things. And finally, family is everything to us. I love my family, and I love being around a group of people that are like family here."
The Polynesian community on the Trojan football team has embraced Gaoteote.
"They made my transition really easy," he said. "I came here not knowing anyone besides Vae and Jordan. I didn't even know there was a bigger family in Brandon Pili, Jay Tufele, and all the other Poly kids. I've never been homesick because it's hard to feel that way when you have family here."
Currently repping jersey No. 1, Gaoteote wears the number with pride, but hopes to one day earn USC's prestigious No. 55 jersey.
"If I had the opportunity to wear No. 55 someday, that would mean the world to me," he said. "It would mean the world to my community. I think it might bring tears to some people. No. 55 represents more than just Junior Seau. It represents the Polynesian community. It represents every Polynesian kid who plays football. Wearing 55 would definitely be the centerpiece of my life and of my family's life."
Fast. Instinctive. Intense. Those are the three words Gaoteote used to self-describe his playing style. Though just a freshman, he is already making an impact on the Trojan squad. Someday soon, USC fans may see Gaoteote wearing No. 55 in the Coliseum as the next great Trojan linebacker.
It's a fall day in Aiea, Hawaii. Fourteen-year-old Palaie Gaoteote and his buddy Vavae Malepeai make their way to the field for their youth football game. Gaoteote takes off his USC hoodie that he wears everywhere and starts warming up. He just recently started playing tackle football and hasn't gotten the hang of hitting other players yet.
On the other hand, his buddy Malepeai plays aggressively and tackles the opposing players…hard. Gaoteote remembers watching his friend and realizing that this is how he needed to play to take his game to the next level.
"Vae and I were on the same team," said Gaoteote. "Vae was advanced. More advanced than everyone else. He was the best kid in the league. I was just starting my first season of tackle, and I didn't know how to hit. My dad would come watch the games, watch Vae hit and see how he wasn't scared. And then he'd see that I was scared."
Gaoteote had been playing football since he was five years old, and his father saw his potential, but knew that this jump to tackle football would require him to have a different mindset than before.
"Vae would hit someone and just run through him," he said. "My dad would tell me, 'See, that's how you're supposed to hit. Like a wrecking ball! You need to run through the other player.' Ever since that day, I took that and ran with it…literally. I tried to run through people."
Gaoteote's father took him home that night and they practiced.
"After that practice, my dad and I went home and we started hitting. He strapped it up with me and started cranking me. Then, I started hitting him back. When it clicked, it was crazy! My first Oklahoma drill after that day was when I started blowing up kids. I was more confident in myself."
Today, Gaoteote and Malepeai are both dominating players on the Trojan football team. Redshirt sophomore running back Malepeai is USC's scoring leader with seven touchdowns. On the defensive side of the ball, true freshman inside linebacker Gaoteote has tallied 29 tackles including three tackles for loss for seven yards and one sack.
With the recent absence of senior captain and middle linebacker Cameron Smith due to injury, Gaoteote has had to step up and become the quarterback of the defense.
"Cam has really helped me on the field," he said. "He's taught me how to be the leader and taught me the ins and outs of the defense."
During his first start in this season's Colorado game, Gaoteote came out hot leading the team in tackles, tallying nine with two for loss for four yards.
"Palaie is a great player and instinctually has the ability to play the game at a high level," said Smith. "I told him, 'No one is asking you to organize the defense like I do. No one is asking you to do anything other than just be yourself, make plays and have fun.' In the overall scheme of things, I tried my best to keep his mind at ease.
"Playing MIKE in this defense requires a lot of experience and time put into studying and understanding how things are supposed to work. I told him I'm always here for him, and I want him to be the best linebacker to ever come through here. And at this point, it's my job to get his mind as ready as possible to take over when I'm gone."
"I love playing linebacker," said Gaoteote. "You're in the middle of the field. All eyes are on you. You're the quarterback of the defense. You have to be the best athlete on the field. Everything has to be twice as fast for you mentally. You have to be very vocal, get all the calls out and make sure everybody is in their spots doing their job while you're doing your job at the same time."
Today as he dons the cardinal and gold, it appears as if everything has come full circle. Gaoteote grew up a USC fan, and playing for the Trojans was always his dream.
"This has been my dream school since I was five," he said. "My dad and I would watch when Pete Carroll was coaching and we would watch Reggie Bush. I would write papers in middle school about coming to USC. I would wear SC hoodies everywhere. It was always a family dream."
Gaoteote was born in Hawaii, but spend the first five years of his life living on a military base in American Samoa. When his father got stationed back in Hawaii, the family moved to the islands again.
His family lived in Hawaii through his freshman year of high school at Mililani High School. As Gaoteote continued to progress on the field, his family decided that moving to Las Vegas and attending Bishop Gorman High School would provide him with more opportunities to play at the next level.
Gaoteote was nationally recruited as the No. 1 inside linebacker in the 2018 recruiting class, and he received offers from 32 universities. However, USC had captured his heart many years before.
"I spoke to many schools, but USC was my only official visit," he said. "My recruiting process was all USC since the beginning. When I received the offer, I was going to commit on the spot, but my dad wanted me to wait it out to be sure this was what I wanted. Then we decided as a family that since all my hard work was done to get an offer to USC, it was finally time to make it official."
Gaoteote was immediately drawn to head coach Clay Helton and his philosophy that he preaches: Faith, family, football.
"All of those things really fit in any Poly kid's life," he said. "Those are the three biggest aspects. I'm really strong in my faith. Everything we do is God-driven. Going to Vegas was God-driven.
Coming to SC was God-driven. Then of course, football has always been important to me. Football is the way for kids to leave Hawaii and experience new things. And finally, family is everything to us. I love my family, and I love being around a group of people that are like family here."
The Polynesian community on the Trojan football team has embraced Gaoteote.
"They made my transition really easy," he said. "I came here not knowing anyone besides Vae and Jordan. I didn't even know there was a bigger family in Brandon Pili, Jay Tufele, and all the other Poly kids. I've never been homesick because it's hard to feel that way when you have family here."
Currently repping jersey No. 1, Gaoteote wears the number with pride, but hopes to one day earn USC's prestigious No. 55 jersey.
"If I had the opportunity to wear No. 55 someday, that would mean the world to me," he said. "It would mean the world to my community. I think it might bring tears to some people. No. 55 represents more than just Junior Seau. It represents the Polynesian community. It represents every Polynesian kid who plays football. Wearing 55 would definitely be the centerpiece of my life and of my family's life."
Fast. Instinctive. Intense. Those are the three words Gaoteote used to self-describe his playing style. Though just a freshman, he is already making an impact on the Trojan squad. Someday soon, USC fans may see Gaoteote wearing No. 55 in the Coliseum as the next great Trojan linebacker.
Tuesday, August 11
Tuesday, August 11
Tuesday, August 11
Tuesday, August 11
