Jamm Aquino / [email protected] / 2025
Hawaii defensive tackles coach Jeff Reinebold watched during Hawaii’s final spring football practice, dubbed “Pau Hana,” at the Ching Complex on March 9, 2025.
Citing personal and financial reasons, ace recruiter Jeff Reinebold has resigned as the University of Hawaii football team’s defensive line coach to accept a position as co-special teams coordinator with the Ottawa Redblacks of the Canadian Football League.
“Wearing that ‘H’ is so important to me,” Reinebold said in a telephone interview with the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. “But eventually you have to say what’s the most important thing. It always has to be your family.”
Reinebold said the deal with Ottawa allows him and his wife Leslie, who has dual citizenship, to live together in Canada during the CFL season and on Hawaii island during the offseason. This past season, Reinebold was couch hopping in Honolulu while his wife lived in the family home near Hilo.
“The reality is, my love for that school and that state and that football team and that program will never go away,” Reinebold said. “That’s part of who I am. It breaks my heart I have to leave. But I have to take care of my family. And I do not want to live apart from my wife anymore. … That’s not what she signed up for and that’s not what I want.”
Reinebold announced his resignation to head coach Timmy Chang and UH coaching staff last week.
Affectionately nicknamed the “Sun God” for his enthusiastic personality and post-practice yoga routines, Reinebold was instrumental in building the Warriors’ interior defensive line this past season. Among the players he recruited and developed were De’Jon Benton, Luther McCoy, Jamar Sekona, Carsen Stocklinski and Qwyn Williams.
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This was Reinebold’s second stint with the Warriors in a 44-year coaching career that included stops at several universities, as well as with pro teams in Canada and Germany.
Reinebold was the Warriors’ defensive line coach in 2006 and 2007, guiding Michael Lafaele, Melila Purcell, David Veikune, Rocky Savaiigaea and Fale Laeli. Reinebold also recruited the core of the 2007 Warriors’ secondary: Jacob Patek, Myron Newberry, Gerard Lewis, Erik Robinson and Ryan Mouton. The Warriors had a 12-0 regular season in 2007, leading to an invitation to the 2008 Sugar Bowl.
In 2022, Reinebold left the CFL and accepted a reduced role with Sky Sports NFL, a London-based multi-media network, to join the Warriors as director of player personnel. In 2024, he was promoted to assistant coach.
“When the opportunity came to go to UH in 2022 and leave pro football, my wife said: ‘go do that because that’s your dream. I know how much you love that place and how much you want to see it succeed. We would be wrong if you didn’t give it a try. She put everything on hold so I could go over there and help Timmy get it back to the way it should be.”
The Warriors were 9-4 this past season, the fourth year under Chang. Reinebold proclaimed Chang as the “coach of the decade.”
“They’ve got a guy in Timmy who’s the right guy, and he’s the right guy for the long term,” Reinebold said. “He’s proven he can build it. And if they’re willing to commit to him the resources they need, they can sustain this level of success and more going forward.”