MORGANTOWN, W. Va. — Before West Virginia long snapper Rex Sunahara realized he had a realistic shot of moving on to the professional ranks, he thought he was going to be a different kind of pro — in the classroom.
As a major history buff, watching old Westerns or World War II documentaries and movies with his grandfather, Sunahara wanted to teach high school history. His favorite era is 20th-century, which he feels helped shape the society we live in today.
“My grandfather was always into history, and he was always the biggest influence to me,” Sunahara said. “When I was in high school, my history teachers were always the ones who took their jobs the most serious. They always said the old phrase, ‘If you don’t learn history, you’re bound to repeat it.’ That’s something that’s been really, really important to me.”
Sunahara’s majored in multidisciplinary studies with a focus in scholastic teaching, history and communications, but what he learned in the classroom may have to be put on hold, according to coach Neal Brown.
“He’s one of our top pro prospects,” Brown said. “He’s been a weapon. We’ve used him in a different role than most long snappers. He’s been part of our coverage team. He will be missed. You want guys to play at a high level and he’s done that consistently.”
As a finalist for the Pat Mannelly Long Snapper of the Year Award, Sunahara, a senior, has done more than just get the ball to the holder or punter on special teams — he’s been a major factor in the punt coverage unit. At 6-foot-6 and 242 pounds, Sunahara is much bigger than a typical long snapper, and he is athletic, playing basketball and football at Rhode Island before becoming a walk on at WVU.
His father, Reed, is the head volleyball coach for the Mountaineers.
But with the body of a linebacker and a will to stick his nose in to make tackles, Sunahara is doing something even Brown hadn’t seen before.
“That’s unheard of,” Brown said of Sunahara tallying four tackles this year on special teams. “That speaks to his athleticism. We’re able to do some things on our punt team because of his athleticism that other teams can’t do. He’s been extremely consistent. He’s going to play in an offseason all-star game. He’s got a chance, even though there are only 32 of them in the NFL, to do it post-college. We’ve used him in a different role than people traditionally use their center on the punt team. People are now trying to block him. He’s been a weapon for us. He will be missed.”
About 10 years ago, Sunahara saw someone else long snapping and simply thought it was cool, so he wanted to give it a shot. Trying to perfect the craft, he continued to do it throughout high school and during college.
After coming to West Virginia, he backed up Nick Meadows for a season before winning the job ahead of the 2018 season.
Long snapping is meticulous, and any successful long snapper needs to be perfect it on every rep.
“There’s a definite science to it,” Sunahara said. “There’s the swinging motion of the ball when you snap it. You are core engaged so you can get a more advantageous angle when you are snapping. There’s a lot of moving parts of everything. If you just bend and snap the football, you aren’t going to be able to do it. But if you put everything into it and understand, it comes easier.”
As for tackling, Sunahara just wanted to help the team out any way he could. With the emphasis on special teams this coaching staff puts out there — Brown said he wants to lead the nation in few punt return yards allowed — Sunahara knew he could help by getting down the field and making the stop.
“I wanted to show the team I could do what they’re doing too,” Sunahara said. “Specialists are kept in the dark a lot. We don’t get our names called a lot. We probably do 30-40 full-cover punts each week. We put a huge emphasis on special teams here, and I think it’s showed this year. All these coaches are really into it.”
With Sunahara departing, there will be a competition during the spring between junior Kyle Poland and redshirt freshman J.P. Hadley. Poland, a 2016 Morgantown High grad, has been with the team for the last four seasons.
“You guys are going to be in great hands,” Sunahara said. “Nick Meadows did a great job leading it in for me and I hope I’m doing just as good to lead it on for Kyle and J.P. It’s going to be a really good competition. Those two are going to go at it.”
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