GILMAN ANOTHER GEM FROM HAWAII
Navy safety, coach from same town
Usually, you have to get up pretty early on Saturdays in Hawaii to watch Navy football games. But in the town of Laie, located near the northernmost part of Oahu, a lot of proud residents are willing to do it.
For one thing, it’s the hometown of highly successful Midshipmen coach Ken Niumatalolo. But there was another reason for Laie to tune in this year. Alohi Gilman shares the same hometown as the coach, and the safety has become a key contributor in the secondary in his freshman year at the academy.
“Every week whenever I call home, I get a bunch of texts that say, ‘Tell Coach Ken I said hi,’ ” Gilman says. “They’re all rooting for Navy. They’re all pretty excited to see us on a stage this big, so they’re willing to get up early.”
Niumatalolo said he knew Gilman’s mother when they were growing up. “Laie (pronounced la–EE-ay) is a pretty small town, so you’re excited to see someone from your hometown do well,” the coach says.
In a year in which young players needed to step up for Navy, Gilman made the most of his chance. He is second on the team in total tackles with 62 and among the leaders in pass breakups. “I worked hard in the offseason and just prepared myself for the mental side of things,” he says. “I just tried to show the coaches and the guys in the upper class that I could make plays.”
Niumatalolo says Gilman earned it.
“You don’t have too many freshmen who come in and play, much less start, but he was one of our best special teams players to start the season,” the coach says. “He’s still a freshman, so he still makes freshman mistakes, but he’s playing as well as anybody we have on defense.”
Gilman is relatively new to the defensive side of the ball. He says growing up he played primarily offense as a scatback and receiver.
“I didn’t start playing defensive back until my junior year of high school,” he says. “I wasn’t sure if I’d like it at first. Now I love it.”
A three-sport athlete in high school who also played basketball and track, Gilman flashed his playmaking ability immediately. In Week 2, he earned American Athletic Conference defensive player of the week honors after the Mids’ 28-24 win against Connecticut in which he forced a fumble and returned it for a touchdown.
“I just remember UConn was stuck on their goal line,” he says. “They ran a QB sneak, and I saw him holding the ball kind of loose. I just managed to reach in there and grab it.”
That play, and the defense’s performance overall for that matter, was pivotal in an early stretch of the season while the offense was battling inexperience and injuries. In November, it was the offense’s turn to carry the team.
“As a defense we’re still not at our full potential,” Gilman says. “We can still get better.”
If the defense does get better, the Mids have a good chance to make it 15 wins in a row against Army on Saturday. That should make the town of Laie happy.