Quotes about Vaugh Meatoga

About Meatoga, JR said:
"He's got a great first step, he's got great quickness off the line of scrimmage, which is what you need in a tackle." (HSB)


About how the upperclassmen helped him adjust to being at UH, Meatoga said:
"I thought it was going to be harder, especially being the rookie here. But a lot of the upperclassmen took me under their wing and helped me a lot." (HSB)


About Meatoga, who participated in their offseason workout program, Mike Lafaele said:
"He's like one of the boys now, we're showing him how things are done. He's learning real fast." (HSB)


About Meatoga, JR said:
"He can be a special player. He can be in the line of all those before him if he wants to work and stays focused and pushes himself. He got the respect of the older guys like Mike and Keala (Watson) because he came in and worked. He didn't come in with his chest puffed up, he was 'let me show you I want to be a part of this.' That speaks volumes about the character of the kid." (HSB)

HSB Note: "Meatoga wasn't on the UH coaching staff's radar until Reinebold happened upon the Kamehameha senior-to-be while working at last year's Big Man Camp at Moanalua High School. By the end of the week, Reinebold was ready to offer Meatoga a scholarship.

Meatoga went on to earn second-team All-State honors last fall and drew interest from Washington, Colorado, Boise State, New Mexico State and Utah and was offered a scholarship by UNLV. He picked Hawaii without visiting any of the other campuses, declaring his commitment midway through his senior season. "


About how he wanted to be a part of the Warriors, Meatoga said:
"I wanted to be a part of the program and with the team being made up of Polynesian players it's like we're representing the state wherever we go. We represent something a lot bigger than ourselves." (HSB)

HSB Note: "Meatoga reported for camp at 6-foot-2, 286 pounds and has shown he has the strength to hold his ground. But he's already learned that brute power is only part of the equation as he works on mastering some of the subtleties of line play."


About how he needs to improve, Meatoga said:
"I just need to get better habits. Something different (from high school) is they expect perfection here. A lot of the upperclassmen have been practicing that for four years and I just need to start as soon as I can perfecting my moves." (HSB)