Hairy situations used to be part of the football game plans at Lompoc High. The long, flowing locks that billowed out the back of Ainuu Taua’s helmet and down the back of his jersey were essential.
Wearing his hair in braids, as Taua occasionally did, would get him upbraided.
“You intimidate everybody,” Coach Andrew Jones told his star defensive lineman of the look Jones preferred with his hair down. “We’re already up 7-0 with you walking on the field with your hair flying around.”
UCLA might feel similarly about Taua after converting him to fullback. The redshirt sophomore made the first memorable play of training camp when he caught a short pass and leveled a defensive back who ripped off Taua’s helmet, giving onlookers a full view of all that hair flapping in the breeze as Taua charged downfield.