Feature on Bryant Moniz and his experience at Fresno City College

About how he had 2 bulldog puppies, 2 poi dogs and 4 rabbits in Fall 2007 when he was at Fresno City College, Bryant Moniz said:
"I lived in a studio with all eight of my animals. I was a real student-athlete at Fresno. I had a 4.0 (grade-point average) in my one semester there. I didn't have a car. My girlfriend was there, so I didn't go to too many parties. I pretty much went to school and played football." (HSA)


About how his experience at Fresno City helped him become the starting QB at UH, Moniz said:
"It was a great time. It got me to where I am today." (HSA)


About how his mother paid for his tuition and living expenses and he shared his first apartment with 4 other guys (California JCs do not give football scholarships), Moniz said:
"There was a month where we didn't have electricity. The guy didn't pay the bill. It was 100-something degrees. We had to take cold showers. There was no light. No refrigerator. It was an exciting time." (HSA)


About how he eventually moved into the studio with his girlfriend, Kiley Kealoha, and they agreed to watch the puppies and rabbits, Moniz said:
"We like dogs, and it gave us something to take care of while we were there." (HSA)


About how they shopped for food at a nearby dollar store, Moniz said:
"It was nice living on your own. We went grocery shopping. We made our own meals. I made spaghetti once with corned beef. I forgot to get meat. I just had the sauce and noodles. I looked in the cabinet, and I had some corned beef, so I used that. It was pretty good. I've got some chef skills." (HA)


About how they moved back to Wahiawa after that semester because Kiley was pregnant and they named their daughter Cali because she was conceived when they were in Fresno, Moniz said:
"It sounds better than Fresno.There were so me (names) I thought of that my girlfriend didn't like right off the bat. Cali has a nice ring to it." (HSA)


About how he won't feel any sense of nostalgia going back to Fresno to fact Fresno State, Moniz said:
"I went to Fresno City not Fresno State. Besides, our JC games didn't have too big of a crowd. Everybody was at Fresno State's games. Our games were on Saturdays, too. All of the people who went to our games were the families of players from that area. We had, maybe, two hundred or so, a thousand at the most, at our games. At that level, you're playing football to play football." (HSA)


About how he grew a lot as a person during his short time living in Fresno, Moniz said:
"I learned to become independent there. There were a lot of life's lessons learned in Fresno." (HSA)


Not surprised that Moniz is the starting QB for UH and leaders the country in passing and total offense, Fresno City head coach Tony Caviglia said:
"From the time he got here (at FCC) he'd watch film and write down the plays and notes on these index cards. He watched a bunch of film -- our games, our opponents games, past years' games, everything. And he'd write it all down on the cards and study it. We'd come to work in the morning and he'd be waiting at the coaches' door to watch film." (HSA)

"He had a stack of those cards that must have been six inches thick." (HSA)


About how the walk-on Moniz immediately earned the starting QB job, Caviglia said:
"It was amazing, really. He got here in July and by the start of August he'd learned our offense and was our team leader and team captain. The players really took to him and he emerged as a leader." (HSA)


HSA Note: "What Moniz found when he got there was 6-foot-4, 205-pound Derek Shaw of Oceanside, Calif., a five-star recruit who had committed to Miami and eventually signed a national letter of intent to Arizona State but was initially unable to gain entry. Shaw was the can't-miss prospect on the Rams' campus. Moniz? He was the unknown from Hawaii."


About how Moniz earned the starting QB job even though he was a freshman, Caviglia said:
"After that first month, watching him pick up the offense and win over the team, I said, 'We've got something here.' " (HSA)


HSA Note: "And Moniz made the most of it, passing for 2,268 yards and 18 touchdowns to lead the Rams to a 7-4 record and the Silicon Valley Bowl."


About how Moniz never gave up on his goals, Caviglia said:
"He had a hard, tough road to get to where he wanted to go. But Mo was a survivor who refused to give up his dream." (HSA)


About how Fresno City cannot watch Moniz play against Fresno State because they have a game at the same time, Caviglia said:
"We'd like to see him and see him do well because he carries our name." (HSA)


About how he shows Moniz's games to his Fresno City players, Caviglia said:
"We're proud of him and where he's at," Caviglia said. "We tape his games and show them to the team. What he's done is what lessons are made of and our players have adopted him as their own, even though they don't know him (personally)." (HSA)


About how UH called him for an evaluation of Moniz when Moniz wanted to walk on to UH, Caviglia said:
"I told (associate head coach) Rich Miano: 'He's going to be the best quarterback to have.' " (HSA)


http://www.staradvertiser.com/sports/sportsnews/20101007_Moniz_grew_up_while_in_Fresno.html

http://www.staradvertiser.com/sports/ferdswords/20101007_Monizs_success_surprises_no_one_at_Fresno_City_College.html