Joe Wong has experienced a lot in the world of football, including a Super Bowl, but there's no place he would rather be now than back at his alma mater.

Wong, a 1994 graduate of Kailua who went on to play collegiately and in the NFL, saw his dream become a reality Wednesday when it was announced he was hired as head football coach.

"I got the opportunity, after leaving Kailua, to go onto college, played college ball and then went to the pros, but I think it's every local boys' dream to go back to his alma mater and take over the reins," said Wong, who has four children with his wife Celeste. "When the opportunity arose for me, I applied for the job and I'm honored and blessed to be chosen to lead the Surfriders into the future."

After finishing up his prep career, the Waimanalo native played at the University of Hawaii before transferring to BYU, where he played under then-Cougars' offensive coordinator Norm Chow. Wong was drafted in the seventh round of the 1999 NFL Draft by the Miami Dolphins. He was also a member of the Philadelphia Eagles, Amsterdam Admirals of NFL Europe and the Oakland Raiders.

"When my playing days were done, I had the opportunity to go coach in the NFL, but I wanted to come home to Hawaii," said the 37-year old Wong. "Maybe I didn't play as long as I would have liked to, but I got to experience a Super Bowl and I felt like it was enough for me and I wanted to come home."

Wong joined Gary Rosolowich's coaching staff at Kailua in 2005 and has been with the Surfriders for the past nine seasons coaching both the offensive and defensive lines. He replaces Rosolowich, who resigned after 10 seasons at the helm of the program. Wong is already in the process of filling out his coaching staff.

"I have some really good guys on the staff, but I also will be bringing in some new blood into the program," Wong said. "I can't say which positions yet, but there will be a change and we will have a new outlook. Whichever direction we decide to go in, it will be for the better."

Wong said he plans to utilize a multitude of formations and schemes both offensively and defensively.

"I'm a firm believer that you can't only have one thing in your pocket, you should be well-rounded," Wong said. "We will have different variations of everything. The coaching style that I have is a combination of all the coaches that I played for from coach (Alex) Kane, my coach at Kailua, all the way up to Norv Turner, my last coach in Oakland. As a player you absorb everything that was taught to you — whether it was good or bad. In order for you to be the best coach, you have to take all those teaching points that were taught to you and apply them to what fits for your team."

Wong hopes that his experience as a player will serve as an inspiration of sorts for his own players.

"I played with the likes of Jerry Rice and Tim Brown and I watched how they practiced, how they played, how they took reps, how they prepared and for them it wasn't just a game, it was their life," Wong said. "My players ask me about those guys and I can share those things with them and they can learn from it. Not everybody will go on to play in the NFL, but like I mentioned to them, Hawaii has the most players in the NFL per capita, so despite Hawaii being so small, there's so much talent so it's possible."

He refuses to measure the success of his team by wins and losses, but rather by the way it plays on the field.

"We were a young team last year, but we had a lot of real young talent and now they'll be veterans and I'll expect them to step up as great players for us this upcoming year. I like us being under the radar, but we're going to work hard and we're going to be disciplined. I don't like penalties and I don't like celebrating. They have to act like they've been there before and that's my mentality. I want them to be the most disciplined team on the field and that's what I'm going to bring. Penalties and turnovers kill you and that all comes with discipline."

The former offensive lineman says that he isn't going to be content with the notion of 2014 being a rebuilding year for the Surfriders.

"I'm never one that is going to predict the outcome of what we're going to do," Wong said. "I don't want to say we'll have more wins than losses, but like anything else, although this is my first year, I'm never going to sell myself short and say that we will be good next year. We want to be good now, we're not building or waiting for next year."

"To me, with the hard work and discipline the wins are going to come. I'm never one that is going to predict the outcome of what we're going to do. don't want to say more wins than losses, but like anything else, this is my first year, never sell myself short and say we will be good next year. want to be good now. we're not building or learning or waiting for next year, has to be now.

So far, Wong has heard nothing but positive reaction to his hiring.

"I know the players are excited and I'm excited," Wong said. "They know that I'm a true blue alumni through and through. They know that when they lose, I lose — that's part of being an alumni. I know a lot of people in the community are excited and I'm going to give my best effort."

Kailua posted a 2-7 record and fifth-place finish in the Red East Conference of the Oahu Interscholastic Association in 2013. The Surfriders' season ended with a first-round loss at Kapolei in the league tournament.