New Zealand
Coaches
-
Michael Mau’u
Head Coach
Michael Mau’u was introduced to American football while at school in New Zealand, and then he moved to Australia where his friends were playing the sport.
Once in Australia, he planned to play rugby but was too late to sign up for the new season and saw a gridiron poster in an Australian hairdresser’s window which was recruiting players. He joined his first team, the Fairfield Argonauts, in 1987 where he stayed to play for eight years. Mau’u then played for the Penrith Outlaws, still in Australia, for another four years.
In 1999, Mau’u played for the Australian senior national team in the first IFAF Senior World Championship in Palermo, Italy, helping the team to a fifth-place finish as Japan took home the championship.
Mau’u stayed in Australia until 2003 and during that time played against New Zealand twice in senior international games. In 2001, he won in Gold Coast, Australia, and again in Eden Park, the traditional home of New Zealand rugby, in 2003, which was his homecoming.
In 2004, he began his coaching career and guided the fortunes of the New Zealand seniors for two years then switched to coaching the junior Ironblacks in 2006.
Mau’u follows the USC Trojans and college football more than NFL. His favorite NFL team was the Philadelphia Eagles when Randal Cunningham was the quarterback because he was the only prominent minority quarterback in the league at that time.