Salt Lake Trappers 2022 Media

Head Coach Uati Mulipola addressed the press and was asked about their win against San Diego:

"To come away with a victory against a quality team like the Breakers is always something to build off of. With that said, we'll try to file that one away and prepare for the Maroons this week.

"We're excited to take to our home field for the first time and try to give our fans a performance they'll be proud of. Trap City has been wanting a professional team and we want to respond to their enthusiasm with a beneficial outcome."

Coach Mulipola was asked about who has stood out for the team over the past two weeks:

"First of all, my hat goes off to Davis Four Feathers. He has played well and has led the team both with his arm and his legs. He ran the Pistol under Coach Davies in New Mexico and has led they way for us on the field. He says it all starts and stops with him. Second, gotta give credit to the bigs for their protection and opening up holes for the Pounders coming out of the backfield.

"On the defensive side, the guys with their hands in the dirt have played out of their minds! Andrew Rigby and Kaelo 'Otukolo have done everything we've asked of them and more. Throw in Knaresborough, Drake and Faieseame'a'apua'aelo off the bench, they've gotten the push allowing the rest of the defense to work."

A reporter asked Coach Mulipola to spell Faieseame'a'apua'aelo, which the coach responded, "No. You have the roster, figure it out." [Laughter]

Asked about his game plan this week:

"Do more of the same and not give up 20 in a quarter like we did last week. I know we had our second string out there, but it's always 'next man up' in this league. They were the guys that were up and we need them to tighten things up if we're going to have any success in the future. We've been busting our behinds out there this week in altitude and we hope to use that to our advantage."

Drew Abernathy wrote:
A reporter asked Coach Mulipola to spell Faieseame'a'apua'aelo, which the coach responded, "No. You have the roster, figure it out." [Laughter]

That's the correct way to answer that question hahaha

Austin Snelick wrote:

That's the correct way to answer that question hahaha

Some folks in the media think they're funny! Hahahah

Coach Uati Mulipola met with the press after the Salt Lake Trappers first home win as they defeated the Oakland Icons, 22-16.

Don Papanikolaou from the Salt Lake Morning Press started the questioning by asking,

"Coach Uati, why did you decide to go with white at home? Were you trying to ward off bad mojo, or what?"

"Well, Don. We needed to change things up. We've played well on the road and had some good games against really good teams. We've also not played up to our potential in our games at home. I felt we should try to continue that magic we found on the road here at the Picnic Basket."

Marjorie Littlepatrick from the Wasatch Republican was next.

"Coach, were you surprised by how your players played last week and this week?"

"Marjorie, that's a loaded question! [laughter] To me, surprised means you might underestimate the capabilities of your players. Was I disappointed in those loses? Yes. Was I impressed by our wins? Yes. They rallied, made things happen, and stayed the course. So surprised? No. I was not."

Jose de la Garza from El Telegrafo asked,

"Coach Mulipola, you closed off practices this week from the press, why did you do that?"

Coach Mulipola scratched his chin for a few seconds and then responded, "Family business sometimes needs to be handled in house. Davis [Four Feathers] showed a lot of leadership this past week. He chartered two buses and took the team into the mountains for a practice. He started things off by saying that we should not talk on our way to our destination and focus on our surroundings. He said his grandfather did this for him when he was having a hard time in school and getting into fights. When we got to the field that we were allowed to use by a local rancher, and I'm not going to mention any names, Davis told everyone that they did this exercise so they'd focus on something bigger than them. He felt that we were too focused on little things during games and not focusing on the bigger picture. He brought some of his family from the Reservation to the ranch and they cooked a great meal for us all. We try to allow our captains to take the reigns when they see something off or notice one of our players is struggling to put their arms around them and try to guide them. Davis, Tyre [Knaresborough], Henrik [Yttrvik], and Winston [Haturini] each stepped up in their captains roles this week to make sure our team had their heads right. That's why we did it."

Daniel Timmidore from SportsTalk1900 asked,

"Coach, you had a solid start and sputtered in the second half. What do you think helped in your win and things you need to work on before you head to Toronto next week?"

"We still need to work on playing four quarters, or more sometimes, of football. Of SOLID football. We'll get back on that horse this week. Our Defense, over the past few weeks and even in loses, has been on the plus side in takeaways. True North, and Isakaya Farmerly have been helping us get interceptions and True sealed the game up in the last seconds by being the natural ball hawk he is. Joan [Weller] has been playing sideline to sideline each and every week and today he tallied quite a few tick marks on the stat sheet. On the Offensive side of the ball: the Bigs up front. They were able to get the push when we needed it and help open up holes for our backs to run through. Davis ran the offense well for what we needed to do. He passed, ran, and blocked well for his teammates. Also, give credit to Alex [Hammerly] and Sione [Tu'ikolovatu] for taking contact and still kept running. Also, can't take anything away from our wide receivers for making plays when called upon."

Coach Mulipola talked with the media after their 44-9 shellacking from the Las Vegas Outlaws.

Wilburn Christensen from the Wasatch Republican started things off.

"Coach. What happened out there? What do you plan to do to help get the squad prepared for the Samurais when they come to town?"

"What happened? We got our butts kicked, that's what happened. We got out coached and we got out hustled. I'm saying this right now: Every position is up for grabs. I want players who want to play. Davis has so much potential but these past two weeks have been bad. The O-Line needs to get their feet back under them. We've got two weeks to get ready and we're going to have competitions at every spot. Brexon Jorgensen will be getting snaps with the first team. I'm going to try [Reese] Ka'ana'ana at left tackle to see if we can get some protection. On the defensive side, it's Akeakamai [Faieseame'a'apua'aelo] at Right Defensive End. This is just unacceptable. Our fans deserve more than one win at home. We're going white at home for the foreseeable future. They're going to have to earn their greens back again. The Coppers will only be brought out if we have to."

Lyla Miyasaki from the Salt Lake Morning News:

"Isn't that a bit extreme, making everyone compete for starting position this far in the season?"

"Yes. It is. But we should be doing better than what we're doing right now. We're not talking playoffs. We're talking finishing strong. Right now, we're not even starting strong. You wanna play, you gotta prove it."

Santos de la Norte from El Telegrafo,

"Coach, will you close practice off to the press again?"

"Yes. For the foreseeable future."

Looks like a supposed leak may have been shared on the Salt Lake Morning News twitter account this morning.

The Trappers front office could not be reached for comment.

Coach Uati Mulipola was asked whom he thought was the MVP of the past few weeks and he said:

"Without a question it has to be Taevon Newsome. He has pushed both Davis and Brexon to the point of exhaustion. He huddled them two in after our devestating loss and challenged them both. In fact, he even found himself taking snaps with the first team and did well. He has shown you do not have to be the #1 to be a leader. He has personally challenged folks and taken them under his wing. Love his energy, love his positive attitude, and I love him as a person.

"On the defensive side of things: Akeakamai Faieseame'a'apua'aelo. Kamai has been a national champion with Alabama and has proven his worth on the field. He has started a Trapper haka with all of the Poly players and whomever wants to join in. He's a 330 lbs ball of energy and I hope he stays with us for years."

Kingsley McKay from the Salt Lake Morning News asked, "Coach, why didn't you name any starters as MVPs?"

"Because they've been great, but these two players have been outstanding. You DON'T have to be a starter in order to be a leader. When I coached at Joseph Young Tech, I constantly had players who showed leadership without ever touching the field. It's a fallacy to think only starters can be the only leaders. They can be, but not always."

Before any reporters could ask any questions, Coach Mulipola starts off the press conference by saying,

"I'm proud of the guys this season for fighting to the bitter end and I'm disappointed that we did not take care of business. We couldn't get the stop at the end of the game to beat San Diego and we also should have taken care of business earlier in the season against a few teams that would have secured our playoff spot more. We only have ourselves to blame. We'll regroup as a coaching staff. We'll regroup as a team. We'll regroup as an organization and come back next season stronger. That's all I've got to say."

The coach walks out to a stunned group of reporters who had questions to ask him.