POLE ENJOYS REMARKABLE RISE

By Matt Schwab

 

When former Chabot College offensive lineman Esa Pole signed with the Kansas City Chiefs as an undrafted free agent last week, the news made Eric Fanene smile.

Fanene was Pole's very first football coach after the former Mt. Eden High basketball player gave the sport a go at Chabot, in 2021-2022.

Talk about a storybook rise. If he makes the roster, Pole, a 6-foot-7, 320-pound tackle, could soon be protecting Chiefs superstar quarterback Patrick Mahomes' blindside.

"Esa's story — a young man who had never played organized football, now competing at a high level — is nothing short of a fairy tale. I'm incredibly grateful to be a part of it and look forward to supporting him every step of the way," Fanene said.

Fanene headed the Chabot football program from 2017-2024 and has maintained a close bond with Pole.

"The Pole family holds a very special place in my heart," Fanene said. "Over the years, we've become more than just coach and player — we've become family. Meeting Toni Pole, Esa's older brother, and later hiring him as our Defensive Line Coach, Strength & Conditioning Coach, and Assistant Head Coach, was one of the best things that ever happened to me both personally and professionally. That bond naturally extended to the rest of the Pole family — including Esa."

As a raw talent with tremendous upside, Esa Pole developed rapidly for two years at Chabot before transferring to Washington State. He had an immediate impact at WSU, starting eight games in 2023, and then all 13 of WSU's 2024 games. 

Last season, Pole did not allow a sack in 498 pass blocking snaps and had the second-best pass block grade by a tackle in the country (86.7), according to PFF College. He went unselected in the 2025 NFL Draft, but made a mark in his Pro Day with 23 reps on the bench press, a 29 inch vertical leap, and a 5.21 40-yard dash.

Pole appears to have found a great landing spot with the Chiefs' Air Raid offense. He played in the Air Raid at Chabot College and WSU. NFL rookie camps will start in early May.

Pole sees his relative football inexperience as an asset.

"A lot of people might see that as a deficit of mine, being new to the game," Pole said on the "Bootleg Football" podcast. "But being able to learn a sport at the college level, you don't develop a lot of bad habits that you might develop in high school, or in middle school, like some nicks and knacks you have to rip over just to fix it."

After graduating from Mt. Eden in 2019, Pole entered his freshman year at Cal State East Bay planning to play basketball as a walk-on, but that never happened.

"The idea of me playing football dawned on me," Pole said during an interview his sophomore year at Chabot. "I asked (my brother Kalafitoni) 'what do you think of me playing football?'"

Kalafitoni (Toni), a former professional football player, loved the idea.

"Football in a way has given me another chance and to make something out of my name," Esa said at the time. "My older brother did a good job holding that name up and my siblings hold up that name."

He was a captain and a team leader at Chabot. His connection with Fanene epitomized the Gladiator way, in which Chabot coaches put the athletes' goals first and loyalty runs deep in the athletic program. Esa Pole proved a perfect fit, on and off the field.

"Esa has been especially close with my family," Fanene said. "He's like an older brother to my  sons but particularly to my 6-year-old daughter, Zuleica, and shared a unique connection with my younger brother (Pate Haunga), who was also his teammate at Chabot. "Watching those relationships grow has been incredibly meaningful.

"I had the honor of being Esa's first football coach — his first offensive line coach, head coach, and really, his first coach in the sport altogether. That's something I take tremendous pride in when I reflect on my time at Chabot College," Fanene continued.

Fanene gave him high marks for his natural ability at the position. Pole's footwork was excellent from his basketball background.

To think he might have taken a different path in the program, if Fanene hadn't stepped in.

"During our COVID-era training sessions, Esa was originally slotted to play defensive line. It made perfect sense — his older brother Toni was an elite college defensive lineman and had a stint in the NFL," Fanene recalled. "Naturally, Toni hoped Esa would follow that same path. At the time, Toni wasn't yet on staff, but he was at every single workout and practice — first watching from the stands, then gradually making his way to the sidelines."

From the beginning, Fanene saw something different in Esa Pole.

"Sure, he had the athleticism and size to be a successful defensive lineman. But I truly believed he had the potential to be an elite offensive lineman. It wasn't an easy call to make — not with his brother's legacy in mind. But I trusted what I saw. So I called Toni and Esa into my office for what we now refer to as "The Talk."

"It was one of the toughest conversations I've had. Toni was confident — even adamant — that Esa could become a standout defensive end. When I shared my honest opinion, that Esa's future was brightest on the offensive line, I could tell it hit them hard. Other colleges would have gladly taken Esa as a defensive lineman — and he could have left us then and there — but I had to speak from the heart."

Fanene told them that even if he left, those same programs would eventually move him to offensive line too. 

"I just happened to see it first," Fanene said.

Now the Chiefs can see that too.