Duffy Daugherty's legacy lives on for Michigan State with Jim Nicholson entering Polynesian Football Hall of Fame

Legendary Michigan State football coach Duffy Daugherty retired a half-century ago, but his legacy continues to shine with each additional milestone. The latest comes in the form of Jim Nicholson, one of Daugherty’s top linemen, entering the Polynesian Football Hall of Fame.

Nicholson, whose mother was Samoan, will be enshrined in the Polynesian Football Hall of Fame’s Class of 2025 on Saturday in Hawaii. He will join fellow Spartans Bob Apisa (Class of 2018), and Charlie Wedemeyer (Class of 2021) in the Polynesian Hall. Daugherty recruited all three out of Hawaii high schools.

Daugherty’s three Polynesian Football Hall of Famers ties him with Brigham Young’s LaVell Edwards for the most by one coach at one school. Daugherty coached the Spartans from 1954 to 1972 and Edwards led the Cougars from 1972-2000. The Hall was established in 2013 by Super Bowl champions Jesse Sapolu and Ma’a Tanuvasa.

“Duffy is the one who got us all to Michigan State,” said Nicholson. “One of the best parts of this is I’m going in with Bob and Charlie because of Duffy.”

Nicholson was an All-Big Ten offensive lineman in 1972. He went on to play six NFL seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs and also spent time with the San Diego Chargers and San Francisco 49ers. He was recruited out of Honolulu St. Louis School.

Apisa was college football’s first Samoan All-American. He was a member of the Spartans’ 1965 and 1966 National Championship teams. He came to Michigan State out of Honolulu Farrington High School.

Wedemeyer, who was voted Hawaii’s best high school athlete of the 1960s, also played on the Spartans’ 1966 National Championship team (he was a freshman in 1965 before the NCAA permitted freshman eligibility in 1972). 

He was recruited out of Honolulu Punahou School. But Wedemeyer also was known for his courage, as told in national documentaries and books on his career coaching high school football at Los Gatos High in California. He continued to coach his team to championships after he was afflicted with Lou Gehrig’s Disease. He died in 2010.

As for Daugherty, his impact on spearheading the breakthrough of Polynesian talent into college football is unquestioned. One might not think that a coach from a Big Ten school in the Midwest would send as many or more of his players to the Polynesian Hall of Fame as any West Coast coach, but that’s the case.

BREAKING IT DOWN

I had a hunch about Daugherty ranking among the leaders, so I did the research while working to get in contact with Nicholson.

I found that Edwards coached three Hall of Famers at BYU: Kurt Gouveia, Vai Sikahea and Kalani Sitaki (who is now BYU’s head coach). Edwards recruited Reno Mahe, but Reno finished his career under Gary Crowton.

Dick Tomey coached three Hall of Famers – two at Hawaii (Sapolu and Niko Naga) and one at Arizona, Joe Salavea. He also recruited Al Noga and Ken Niumatalolo at Hawaii, but they finished their playing days under Bob Wagner.

Utah’s Ron McBride coached two Hall of Famers, Luther Elliss and Ma’ake Kemoeatu. He recruited Chris Kemoeatu, but he finished his career under Urban Meyer.

“It says a lot about Duffy and the Pineapple Express,” said Apisa, who makes the annual trip to Hawaii for the Hall of Fame ceremonies. “He recruited a lot of us, and we won two national titles.”

Hawaii and USC are tied with the most Hall of Famers with six.

Hawaii’s Jesse Sapolu and Niko Noga played for Dick Tomey and Maa Tanuvasa for Bob Wagner. Ken Niumatalolo and Al Noga were recruited by Tomey but finished under Wagner. Tommy Kaulukui played in the 1930s for Otto Klum before the program was elevated to Division I in 1974.

USC’s Junior Seau played for Larry Smith, Charles Ane for Jess Hill, Riki Ellison for John Robinson and Lafi Tatupu for Pete Carroll. Mosi Tatupu was recruited by John McKay but finished under Robinson. Troy Polamalu was recruited by Paul Hackett and finished for Carroll.

Michigan State is third with four. Damato Peko was enshrined in the Class of 2024. He played for John L. Smith in 2004 and 2005 and was recruited out of College of the Canyons Community College in the Los Angeles area.

If it sounds odd to you that Daugherty tops the coaching list of Polynesian Hall of Famers, you’re unaware of the College Football Hall of Fame coach’s impact in changing the face of college football. Daugherty established what would later be called college football’s Underground Railroad, by being the first to fully integrate a college football roster. 

Barry Switzer, whose 1970s Oklahoma teams were models of integration, gave me this quote on Page 1 of Chapter 1 of my book, “THE RIGHT THING TO DO, The True Pioneers of College Football Integration in the 1960s.”:

“Duffy did more for integration than any other coach in college football,” Switzer said. “He had players from all over the South. There were great Black players in the state of Texas that were passing over Oklahoma to play for Duffy. He had all those players from the Houston area. And Duffy also was the first one to recruit Samoan players.”

Nicholson, a 6-foot-6, 270-pounder, was one of Daugherty’s better recruiting jobs. Nicholson was a high school football star as a tight end and a basketball star who scored 60 points in a game to set a Hawaii state scoring record.

Daugherty had to beat out Notre Dame football coach Ara Parseghian and UCLA basketball coach John Wooden for Nicholson’s commitment.

Nicholson graduated from St. Louis (High) School in the 1968 school year. Freshmen weren’t eligible for the college varsity in those days, but if he had chosen UCLA for basketball, he would have been a sophomore on the 1969 title team led by Lew Alcindor/Kareem Abdul Jabbar, and a junior and senior on the 1970 and 1971 titles teams led by All-American forwards Sidney Wicks and Curtis Rowe.

But Nicholson thought he had a better future in football.

“I was set on Notre Dame,” he said, “until that charming Irishman showed up at our door.”

In those days, Daugherty’s advantage was his good friend, Tommy Kaululukui Sr., a Hawaii football legend. Kaululukui was enshrined in the Polynesian Hall in the Class of 2022. They met in 1947 when Kaulukukui was Hawaii’s coach and Michigan State played in Hawaii. Daugherty was a Biggie Munn assistant at the time.

When Daugherty was named Michigan State’s head coach in 1954, he asked Kaululukui to inform him of Big Ten-caliber players in Hawaii. Daugherty landed 10 recruits between 1954 and 1972. This was before Hawaii’s population and football talent base grew in the 1980s and ‘90s.

With the exception of Muddy Waters (1980-82) signing Carter Kamana out of Honolulu Kamehameha, Daugherty’s successors at Michigan State abandoned the recruiting foothold Daugherty gifted them.

The drought continued until Jonathan Smith re-tapped the Hawaiian Pipeline with his first class in 2024 and second in 2025. Smith has relied on his contacts from his days as Oregon State’s head coach. Defensive line coach Legi Suiaunoa, a Samoan from Oceanside, Calif., has recruited Hawaii talent with Smith – including offensive lineman Rustin Young (Honolulu St. Louis) and defensive end Kekai Burnett (Honolulu Punahou High School) from the 2024 recruiting class.

“I’m glad to hear they’re recruiting Hawaii again,” Nicholson said.

This week, Michigan State welcomed mid-year transfers of Polynesian descent, Aisea Moa (BYU/Ogden, Utah) and Anelu Lafaele (Wisconsin/Honolulu Farrington), joining 2024 transfer Ben Roberts (Oregon/Lakewood, Wash.)

They join a Michigan State program with a rich legacy of inclusion which could benefit by tapping back into the Spartans’ history in the South Pacific.

Nicholson arrived in the fall of 1968, but he was plagued by injuries. At one point, he thought his football career was over, but his fortunes became rejuvenated when he was moved to the offensive line.

Although Nicholson’s surname is English and Irish, many Samoan football players have English-sounding names, such as Jack Thompson, The Throwin’ Samoan. Thompson, who became a standout quarterback at Washington State, is also in the Polynesian Football Hall of Fame. 

There were many English ships sailing the South Pacific in the mid-1900’s, and some sailors stayed. Nicholson said his father was from Des Moines, Iowa, and served in World War II. After WWII, he spent time at the U.S Navy base in American Samoa and met his future bride, who was from Fagaalu in American Samoa. They married and later settled in Honolulu.

Nicholson has lived in Hawaii since retiring from the NFL. He returned home to a long career as a lawyer, working as a Hawaii labor relations leader.

This week, with Nicholson’s induction into the Polynesian Football Hall of Fame, we’re reminded that no coach in college football can match Duffy Daugherty’s contributions in changing the face of the game.

Tom Shanahan is an award-winning sportswriter and author of two books on college football integration: RAYE OF LIGHT and THE RIGHT THING TO DO. Both books include chapters on Duffy Daugherty’s Hawaiian Pipeline. Shanahan’s 2022 story on Alabama, the Rose Bowl and segregation won first place from the Football Writers Association of America.

Polynesian Football Hall of Famers by School

ARIZONA: Joe Salavea (Dick Tomey)

ARIZONA STATE: Junior Ah You, Danny Saleaumua, David Dixon,

BOISE STATE: Kimo Von Oelhoffen

BYU: Kurt Gouveia (LaVell Edwards), Vai Sikahea (Edwards), Reno Mahe (Edwards/Gary Crowton), Kalani Sitaki (Edwards)

COLORADO: Chris Naeole

HAWAII (6): Ken Niumatalolo, (Dick Tomey/Bob Wagner) Jesse Sapolu (Tomey), Maa Tanuvasa (Wagner), Al Noga (Tomey/Wagner), Niko Noga (Tomey), Tommy Kalaukukui (Otto Klum)

IDAHO: Mike Iupati

KENTUCKY: Larry Warford

LSU: Kevin Mawae

MIAMI: Dewayne Johnson

MICHIGAN STATE (4): Bob Apisa (Duffy Daugherty), Charlie Wedemeyer (Daugherty), Domato Peko (John L. Smith), Jim Nicholson (Daugherty).

NEBRASKA: Dominic Raiola

NOTRE DAME: Manti Te’o

OREGON: Russ Francis, Buddy Clark, Haloti Ngata,

OREGON STATE: Rockne Frietas, Harry Montague Field

SAN JOSE STATE: Frank Manumaleuga

SMU: Ray Schoenke

ST. MARY’S: Herman Wedemeyer

UCLA: Mark Tuinei, Manu Tuisassopo

USC (6): Junior Seau (Larry Smith) Mosi Tatupu (John McKay/John Robinson), Charles Ane (Jess Hill), Troy Polamalu (Paul Hackett/Pete Carroll), Riki Ellison (John Robinson), Lafo Tatupu (Pete Carroll),

UTAH: Luther Elliss (Ron McBride), Ma’ake Kemoeatu (McBride), Chris Kemoeatu (McBride/Urban Meyer).

WASHINGTON: Olin Kreutz, Marques Tuiasosopo.

WASHINGTON STATE: Jack Thompson

WEBER: Al Lolotai

WYOMING: Malcolm Floyd