Jim Nicholson’s Polynesian Hall of Fame induction lifts Duffy Daugherty to another milestone
PHOTO: Jim Nicholson as an All-Big Ten offensive lineman, in 1971.
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More on Michigan State recruiting Hawaii
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By TOM SHANAHAN
Michigan State coach Duffy Daugherty retired a half-century ago, but his legacy still lands on new milestones. The latest is through the Spartans’ Jim Nicholson entering the Polynesian Football Hall of Fame.
Nicholson, whose mother was Samoan, will be enshrined in the Polynesian Football Hall of Fame’s Class of 2025 on Saturday in Hawaii. He’ll join fellow Spartans Bob Apisa, Class of 2018, and Charlie Wedemeyer, Class of 2021. Daugherty recruited all three out of Hawaii high schools.
Daugherty’s three Polynesian Football Hall of Famers ties him with Brigham Young’s LaVell Edwards for the most by one coach at one school. Daugherty coached the Spartans from 1954 to 1972 and Edwards the Cougars from 1972-2000. The Hall was established in 2013 by Super Bowl champions Jesse Sapolu and Ma’a Tanuvasa.
“Duffy is the one who got us all to Michigan State,” said Nicholson. “One of the best parts of this is I’m going in with Bob and Charlie because of Duffy.”
Nicholson was an All-Big Ten offensive lineman in 1972 who went on to play six NFL seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs and also time with the San Diego Chargers and San Francisco 49ers. He was recruited out of Honolulu St. Louis.
Apisa was college football’s first Samoan All-American on the Spartans’ 1965 and 1966 national title teams. He was recruited out of Honolulu Farrington.
Wedemeyer, who was voted Hawaii’s best high school athlete of the 1960s, also played on the Spartans’ 1966 national title team (he was a freshman in 1965 before the NCAA permitted freshmen eligibility in 1972). He was recruited out of Honolulu Punahou. But Wedemeyer also was known for his courage told in national documentaries and books on his career coaching high school football at Los Gatos High in California. He continued to coach his team to championships after he was afflicted with Lou Gehrig’s Disease. He died in 2010.
Yes, that’s right. A coach from a Big Ten school in the Midwest coached as many Polynesian Hall of Famers as coaches at Hawaii, West Coast schools and the state of Utah that draws Polynesians to its Mormon-influenced campuses.
I had a hunch about Daugherty ranking among the leaders, so I did the research while I waited to hear back from Nicholson, who has lived in Hawaii since his NFL days. He returned home from his NFL career to a long career as a lawyer and working as a Hawaii labor relations leader.
Edwards coached three Hall of Famers at BYU: Kurt Gouveia, Vai Sikahea and Kalani Sitaki (who is now BYU’s head coach). Edwards recruited Reno Mahe, but Reno finished his career under Gary Crowton.
Dick Tomey coached three Hall of Famers if you count two at Hawaii (Sapolu and Niko Naga) and one at Arizona, Joe Salavea. He also recruited Al Noga and Ken Niumatalolo at Hawaii, but they finished their playing days under Bob Wagner.
Utah’s Ron McBride coached two Hall of Famers, Luther Elliss and Ma’ake Kemoeatu. He recruited Chris Kemoeatu, but he finished his career under Urban Meyer.
“It says a lot about Duffy and the Pineapple Express,” said Apisa, who makes the annual trip to Hawaii for the Hall of Fame ceremonies. “He recruited a lot of us, and we won two national titles.”
Hawaii and USC are tied with the most Hall of Famers with six.
Hawaii’s Jesse Sapolu and Niko Noga played for Dick Tomey and Maa Tanuvasa for Bob Wagner. Ken Niumatalolo and Al Noga were recruited by Tomey but finished under Wagner. Tommy Kaulukui played in the 1930s for Otto Klum before the program was elevated to Division I in 1974.
USC’s Junior Seau played for Larry Smith, Charles Ane for Jess Hill, Riki Ellison for John Robinson and Lafi Tatupu for Pete Carroll. Mosi Tatupu was recruited by John McKay but finished under Robinson. Troy Polamalu was recruited by Paul Hackett and finished for Carroll.
Michigan State is third with four. Damato Peko was enshrined in the Class of 2024. He played for John L. Smith in 2004 and 2005 and was recruited out of College of the Canyons Community College in the Los Angeles area.
PHOTO: Jim Nicholson played six years with the Kansas City Chiefs.
If that sounds odd to you Daugherty tops the coaching list of Polynesian Hall of Famers, you’re unaware of the College Football Hall of Fame coach’s history changing the face of college football. He was ahead of peers with college football’s first fully integrated rosters, the Underground Railroad that recruited the segregated South and ahead of them with his Pineapple Express or Hawaiian Pipeline.
Barry Switzer, whose 1970s Oklahoma teams were models of integration, gave me this quote on Page 1 of Chapter 1 of my book, “THE RIGHT THING TO DO, The True Pioneers of College Football Integration in the 1960s.”
“Duffy did more for integration than any other coach in college football. He had players from all over the south. There were great Black players in the state of Texas that were passing over Oklahoma to play for Duffy. He had all those players from the Houston area. And Duffy also was the first one to recruit Samoan players.”
Nicholson, a 6-foot-6, 270-pounder, was one of Daugherty’s better recruiting jobs. Nicholson was a high school football star as a tight end and a basketball star who scored 60 points in a game to set a then-Hawaii state scoring record.
Daugherty had to beat out Notre Dame football coach Ara Parseghian and UCLA basketball coach John Wooden for Nicholson’s commitment.
Nicholson graduated from St. Louis in the 1967-68 school year. Freshmen weren’t eligible for the college varsity in those days, but he would have been a sophomore on the 1969 title team led by Lew Alcindor/Kareem Abdul Jabbar’s 1969 and a junior and senior on the 1970 and 1971 titles teams led by All-Americans forwards Sidney Wicks and Curtis Rowe.
But Nicholson thought he had a better future in football.
“I was set on Notre Dame,” he said, “until that charming Irishman showed up at our door.”
In those days, Daugherty’s advantage was his good friend, Hawaii football legend Tommy Kaululukui Sr., who was enshrined in the Polynesian Hall in the Class of 2022. They met in 1947 when Kaulukukui was Hawaii’s coach and Michigan State played in Hawaii. Daugherty was a Biggie Munn assistant at the time.
When Daugherty was named Michigan State’s head coach in 1954, he asked Kaululukui to inform him of Big Ten-caliber players. Daugherty landed 10 recruits between 1954 and 1972. This was before Hawaii’s population and football talent base grew in the 1990s forward.
But with the exception of Muddy Waters (1980-82) signing Carter Kamana out of Honolulu Kamehameha, Daugherty’s successors abandoned the recruiting foothold Daugherty gifted them.
The drought continued until Jonathan Smith re-tapped the Hawaiian Pipeline with his first class in 2024 and second in 2025. Smith has relied on his contacts from his days as Oregon State’s head coach. Defensive line coach Legi Suiaunoa, a Samoan from Oceanside, California, has recruited Hawaii talent with Smith.
“I’m glad to hear they’re recruiting Hawaii again,” Nicholson said.
Nicholson arrived in the fall of 1968, but he was plagued by injuries. He thought his football career was over until it was rejuvenated when he was moved to the offensive line.
Although Nicholson’s surname is English and Irish, many Samoan football players have English-sounding names. See: Thompson, Jack, The Throwin’ Samoan. Thompson also is in the Polynesian Football Hall of Fame. There were many English ships sailing the South Pacific and some sailors stayed.
Nicholson said his father was from Des Moines, Iowa, and served in World War II. After WWII, he spent time at the U.S Navy base in American Samoa and met his future bride, who was from Fagaalu in American Samoa. They married and later settled in Honolulu.
Once again, we’re reminded no coach in college football can match Duffy Daugherty’s history changing the face of the game.
However, much of it, sadly, has been lost in the fog of the media blinded by Bear Bryant hagiography claiming the segregationist coach launched college football integration in 1970 with the USC-Alabama game. Nationally known media members have regurgitated myths, although Bryant dragged his feet as the seventh Southeastern Conference coach to integrate.
But at the Polynesian Football Hall of Fame, Daugherty’s name still reaches milestones more than a half-century after he coached his final game.
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Polynesian Football Hall of Famers by school.
ARIZONA: Joe Salavea (Dick Tomey)
ARIZONA STATE: Junior Ah You, Danny Saleaumua, David Dixon,
BOISE STATE: Kimo Von Oelhoffen
BYU: Kurt Gouveia (LaVell Edwards), Vai Sikahea (Edwards), Reno Mahe (Edwards/Gary Crowton), Kalani Sitaki (Edwards)
COLORADO: Chris Naeole
HAWAII (6): Ken Niumatalolo, (Dick Tomey/Bob Wagner) Jesse Sapolu (Tomey), Maa Tanuvasa (Wagner), Al Noga (Tomey/Wagner), Niko Noga (Tomey), Tommy Kalaukukui (Otto Klum)
IDAHO: Mike Iupati
KENTUCKY: Larry Warford
LSU: Kevin Mawae
MIAMI: Dewayne Johnson
MICHIGAN STATE (4): Bob Apisa (Duffy Daugherty), Charlie Wedemeyer (Daugherty), Domato Peko (John L. Smith), Jim Nicholson (Daugherty).
NEBRASKA: Dominic Raiola
NOTRE DAME: Manti Te’o
OREGON: Russ Francis, Buddy Clark, Haloti Ngata,
OREGON STATE: Rockne Frietas, Harry Montague Field
SAN JOSE STATE: Frank Manumaleuga
SMU: Ray Schoenke
ST. MARY’S: Herman Wedemeyer
UCLA: Mark Tuinei, Manu Tuisassopo
USC (6): Junior Seau (Larry Smith) Mosi Tatupu (John McKay/John Robinson), Charles Ane (Jess Hill), Troy Polamalu (Paul Hackett/Pete Carroll), Riki Ellison (John Robinson), Lafo Tatupu (Pete Carroll),
UTAH: Luther Elliss (Ron McBride), Ma’ake Kemoeatu (McBride), Chris Kemoeatu (McBride/Urban Meyer).
WASHINGTON: Olin Kreutz, Marques Tuiasosopo.
WASHINGTON STATE: Jack Thompson
WEBER: Al Lolotai
WYOMING: Malcolm Floyd
Source: Tom Shanahan.Report
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Tom Shanahan is an award-winning sportswriter and frequent contributor to Spartanamag.com. His new book on Michigan State leading college football integration is, “THE RIGHT THING TO DO, The True Pioneers of College Football Integration in the 1960s.” His first book was “RAYE OF LIGHT, Jimmy Raye, Duffy Daugherty, the Integration of College Football and the 1965-66 Michigan State Spartans.”
I invite you to follow me on Twitter @shanny4055
Below are links to click on to purchase my books focused.
My books tell the true story of college football integration in the 1960s and address the myths and fiction that allowed a false narrative surrounding the 1970 USC-Alabama game to usurp the credit from the true pioneers. As I said when I spoke at the National Sports Media Association book festival, no two books provide an accurate portrayal more than RAYE OF LIGHT and THE RIGHT THING TO DO.
I’ll put my facts up against anybody, anytime, anywhere. Watch here.
Click here for my story on the 1962 Rose Bowl and Segregation awarded first place by the Football Writers Association of America. I tell untold stories on Michigan State’s leading role and the true pioneers of college football integration. Click here to read the summary as a first-place story.
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Click here to purchase The Right Thing To Do
THE RIGHT THING TO DO
The True Pioneers of College Football Integration in the 1960s
Foreword by Ruffin McNeill
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Click here to purchase Raye of Light.
RAYE OF LIGHT
Jimmy Raye, Duffy Daugherty, the 1ntegration of College Football and the 1965-66 Michigan State Spartans
Foreword by Tony Dungy
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Click here to purchase my children’s book, Bubba’s Dad, Duffy and College Football’s Underground Railroad
The book for now is only a Kindle version on Amazon. Print and audio platforms available soon.
