Coffeyville coaches, impressed by Soliai's size, converted him from linebacker/fullback to offensive line.
"He had the funniest-looking stance," recalled Jeff Leiker, the Coffeyville athletic director who was Soliai's head coach. "I thought, 'This is going to be a long project.' And then we saw him in one-on-one drills and he was raw, strong, aggressive."
Soliai also had "anger issues," Leiker said. For example, if a defensive lineman beat him on a play, Soliai might go after him on the next, even if that meant abandoning his blocking assignment to get a good shot.
Still, that didn't prevent him from twice being named a junior college All-American. He then entered Utah, where he redshirted his first season and was converted back to defensive tackle to take advantage of his brutish, straight-ahead force and quick feet.
