After graduation from high school, Gary Rosolowich had to choose between football
and hockey.
His native Winnipeg
is recognized as a gateway to the National Hockey League.
“I knew that college would give me an education, so I chose
football,”
Gary
said. Rosolowich earned a
scholarship to
Boise
State
.
Rosolowich played at
Boise
State
for some of the top teams in school history.
They were the only Broncos to win three consecutive conference
championships until 2004. Rosolowich
helped
Boise
State
to a 10-3 record (6-0 in the Big Sky) in 1973, 10-2 and 6-0 in 1974 and
9-2-1
and 5-0-1 in 1975.
Boise
State
reached the national semifinals in Division II in 1973 and made the
quarterfinals in both 1974 and 1975. "Rosol"
and the Bronco defense allowed just a paltry 87 completions for the entire
season in 1975.
Rosolowich was an All-Big Sky and Honorable Mention All-American in both 1975
and 1976. He is tied for ninth in school history with
six interceptions in 1975 and he is tied for 11th for career
interceptions with 11. He is #3
all-time in kickoff returns at
Boise
State
with a 25.3 average (58-1,465). Rosolowich
has the seventh longest kickoff return in school history (93 yards for a
touchdown) against
Nevada
in 1976 and the ninth longest (90 for a TD vs. Cal Poly-SLO) in 1975.
He ranks fourth in school history with 58 career kickoff returns and
sixth for most kickoff returns in a season with 25 in 1975.Gary is also #10 with
29 punt returns in 1976.
After his All-American performance at
Boise
State
, Rosolowich was signed by the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian
Football League. Rosolowich played
five seasons for
Winnipeg
. In 1977, he had 60 punt returns
for 590 yards (9.8 average) and 13 kickoff returns for 286 yards (22.0) and also
was credited with a fumble recovery on defense.
The following year, he played extensively in the Bombers' secondary and
was seventh in the CFL with five interceptions for 74 yards and had one fumble
recovery. He also had 22 punt returns
for 140 yards (6.4). In 1979,
Rosolowich had two interceptions, one fumble recovery for 13 yards and 19 punt
returns for 52 yards. In 1980, he
had four interceptions and one fumble recovery.
Rosolowich coached in Canadian junior football from 1982-1984 following his
five years in the CFL.
Gary and his family moved to
Hawai’i
in 1986 and
Gary
worked as an independent Microsoft implementation project manager.
They have lived in
Hawai’i
for 23 years, including 19 in
Kailua
. He and his wife Darlene have seven
children between them.
In 2004, 20 years after his last coaching experience in
Canada
,
Gary
applied for and was named head coach of
Kailua
High School
. Darlene serves as administrative
assistant for the program and had been encouraging
Gary
to get back into coaching. Athletic
Director Mel Imai said “Besides his pro football experience, we were impressed
with the manner in which he goes about things, his organizational and managerial
skills.”
Rosolowich and
Kailua
have had a tough time. The
“Surfriders” went 4-6-1 in Gary’s initial season, when his son Sean Forges
played for him, then 3-6 in 2005, 4-5 in ’06, 3-6 and 2-7 last year.
Gary
has been successful at every endeavor he’s attempted and given his past
history, it is reasonable to believe he will turn his team’s fortunes around.