![\"San](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/SUT-L-azfoot-0816-002.jpg\")
San Diego State linebacker Sione Hala runs through drills during scrimmage at Snapdragon Stadium on Saturday, Aug. 15, 2026 in San Diego, California. (Meg McLaughlin \/ The San Diego Union-Tribune)<\/p>\nSan Diego State linebackers coach Scott White has a mantra with the players in his position room.<\/p>\n
Heart. Mind. Fist.<\/p>\n
\u201cHeart is how much you love to play the game, love the program and how connected we are,\u201d White said. \u201cThe mind is being smart, dependable, making great decisions on and off the field. The leadership and communication. And then fist is, obviously, go be violent, go be physical.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen people see that on tape, they\u2019re going to be like, \u2018Damn, these guys play hard, they play smart and they play physically.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
White has embraced such an approach since his playing days at Mission Bay High School, where he helped the Buccaneers to back-to-back CIF championships during the 2000-01 seasons.<\/p>\n
White now channels that passion into his coaching, where he has a pair of high-energy starters in seniors Tano Letuli and Sione Hala. Letuli is a returner, while Hala is a transfer from Weber State who established himself during spring practice. Hala\u2019s impact was further cemented last week, when SDSU coach Sean Lewis awarded him one of the coveted single-digit numbers. Hala swapped No. 56 for No. 0.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt comes with a lot of responsibility,\u201d said Hala, a 6-1, 225-pound Los Angeles native who embraces being a leader on a defense with nine new starters. \u201cTano and I are the only seniors (in the linebackers room), so I kind of knew what I was getting myself into. I love football. I love being high energy. I love making plays. I\u2019ve got to spread it. That\u2019s what I\u2019m trying to deal with right now, spreading the energy.\u201d<\/p>\n
San Diego State linebacker Sione Hala runs through drills during scrimmage at Snapdragon Stadium on Saturday, Aug. 15, 2026 in San Diego, California. (Meg McLaughlin \/ The San Diego Union-Tribune)<\/p>\n
Letuli is fully recovered now from a torn ACL suffered midway through the 2025 season. His practice time has been managed during camp while ramping up for the season.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe did a really good job working with the training staff and the strength staff,\u201d said Letuli, a 6-2, 240-pound Cathedral Catholic High School graduate. \u201cAll the coaches really supported me through the process of getting back to football. I\u2019m excited.\u201d<\/p>\n
Earlier this week, Letuli was selected as a team captain for the third straight season. That\u2019s the first time that has happened since quarterback Kevin O\u2019Connell was a four-time captain (2004-07).<\/p>\n
\u201cHe looks good, and having him out here really helps us because he\u2019s a real commander,\u201d White said. \u201cHe helps with communication. He knows what we\u2019re doing at a very high level.\u201d<\/p>\n
Letuli calls the defense, a responsibility left to Hala when Letuli is on the sideline.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen (Letuli) is out there, I notice that (Hala) starts playing better,\u201d White said. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of stress off him to make calls and do stuff because Tano controls everything. So having Tano out there is a calming presence. He really helps make everyone better.\u201d<\/p>\n
Apparently, there will be no easing Letuli back into the lineup when the season starts.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet him hunt,\u201d White said. \u201cThat\u2019s why you\u2019ve got to develop depth, right? So if something does happen, you\u2019ve got capable and able bodies that can go in there. There\u2019s no crazy dropoff. \u2026 The key thing coming into this thing was developing the depth. You need four to five solid guys that you trust that you can put in the ballgame, and right now it is coming together nicely.\u201d<\/p>\n
White said sophomore Dean Harrington and junior transfer Cameron Cooper (Western Colorado) are reliable backups who could start if needed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re going to ask a lot of Cam Cooper,\u201d White said. \u201cHe\u2019s going to play a lot of different roles for us. He\u2019s going to play up on the edge some. He\u2019s going to play behind the ball some. He\u2019s going to play out at the big nickel. He\u2019s going to be a key cog.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sophomore transfer Jeramiah Lewis (College of San Mateo) also could contribute, and true freshmen Javari Nash and Alijah Lash have made an impression.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"San Diego State linebackers coach Scott White has a mantra with the players in his position room. Heart.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":444558,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[1327,181,74,76,75,305,127],"class_list":["post-444557","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-diego","tag-college-sports","tag-latest-headlines","tag-san-diego","tag-san-diego-headlines","tag-san-diego-news","tag-sdsu-aztecs","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/444557","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=444557"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/444557\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/444558"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=444557"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=444557"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=444557"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}