Wyoming’s Smiley Samoan Slides Into Potential Starting Role

LARAMIE -- Standing 6-foot-1 and weighing in at 210 pounds, Josiah Pataia was one of the top prep blockers in Southern California.

He was naturally strong, powerful and the spring in his vertical leap displayed that raw athleticism.

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He wasn't just masterful on one side of the ball, either -- he could also defend.

If you search the World Wide Web for his football stats, pack a lunch. Petaia didn't have any stars behind his name. He didn't earn all-conference honors. Recruiters weren't beating down his door.

Why?

"No, I didn't play high school football," the now-6-foot-3, 313-pound junior said, that ever-present smile creasing his face.

Petaia was a standout volleyball player at Cabrillo High School. His specialty? Middle hitter. He was crafty on the right side of the net, too.

"Jumping," he joked, referring to his strength. "It was hit the ball, block the ball."

Those days, admittedly, are behind him now. That is unless there's sand, a net and a ball. Petaia has the relaxed, laidback demeanor of a beach bum and the quips to match.

For instance, is he ever not grinning? Does he get angry?

"I try to stay away from that," he said, again flashing that big, wide grin.

You might be asking yourself: How does a person not play high school football yet Wednesday during Wyoming's initial practice of fall camp, put his hand in the dirt with the first team at the left guard spot?

Another easygoing answer incoming.

Petaia said he simply had an older brother and two cousins playing down the road at Long Beach City College. They asked him if he wanted to play, like it was a rec league. It wasn't, yet the smiley Samoan treated it that way.

All he did, after a year of learning the ropes -- sometimes the hard way -- was start all 11 games during his sophomore season, earning First Team All-Conference honors. This from a guy who admitted he didn't even enjoy run blocking, a cardinal sin for an interior lineman.

College scouts took notice. Hawaii offered. So did Cal Poly.

"We had to beat a couple people to get Josiah," Wyoming head coach Jay Sawvel said on Wednesday. "I mean, it wasn't like he was just a nobody and nobody recruited him and he just showed up here, we had to legitimately work on that recruitment."

That part is still hard to believe, Petaia added.

During his first practice in junior college his assignment was to entertain a soon-to-be Division-1 tackle and arguably the top defensive player in the state. How did that go?

"It helped me," he said with a deep breath, adding he had zero technique.

His first game was similar. Riverside City College featured a pair of dynamic edge rushers. You might have heard of them: Esaia Bogar and Peter Eyabi. The latter spent one season in Laramie before transferring to Indiana State. The other? Well, he was giving tight ends and tackles fits throughout Wednesday's two-hour workout inside War Memorial Stadium.

"That was an eye-opener," Petaia said with a slight head shake.

There have been other welcome-to-college-football moments since. When he arrived on campus, he tipped the scales at just 286. He wasn't exactly impressive in the weight room, either. Sawvel said last fall Petaia maxed in the power clean at 265. Now that number hovers around 335. That's not one up and one down. He's referring to reps.

Petaia, who this summer earned the "most improved award" for linemen in the program, said he could only squat around 400. Twelve months later, the iron plates add up to 500-plus pounds -- and counting.

"This is like an entirely different person," Sawvel said. "So, I think he's on an accelerated upside, and I think that the fact that he's going to be around here for a while longer is a really, really positive thing."

So does Joe Tripodi.

Wyoming's offensive line coach said the body is now finely tuned. The mentality, he added, has followed.

"He loves football," Tripodi continued. "His favorite thing is when he gets to down block and just go. That's shown. You know, he lived with (Caden) Barnett last year -- that's his mindset. His mindset has been great.

"He's a football guy. We were talking after practice and he's always wanting more. Guys like that, they have a shot."

Presumed starter at left guard, Chandler Donaway, was MIA at the team's first practice. Sawvel said he is back home in Texas for "personal reasons." With his return to the lineup unknown, the staff turned to Petaia, who appeared in just one game last fall. That equated to five snaps in Boulder, including one pass-blocking opportunity.

Experience at this level, he does not have. Intensity between the white lines, he possesses in spades.

"You kind of just turn it on," he said, referring to the stereotype about Polynesian football players and the "switch" they can flip. "I can't explain it, either. I'd hope others look at me and say that."

That's quite the compliment for a guy Tripodi said was maybe "too nice" when he arrived.

He can beam all he wants, as long as it's at the opponents' expense.

"Smile when you're grilling someone," Tripodi joked.

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