Poncho Laloulu became Oregon’s rock long before anyone called him one

I first met Iapani “Poncho” Laloulu in Honolulu in January 2023, when almost everything that defines him to Oregon fans today was still somewhere in the future. We were overlooking the city during Polynesian Bowl week, talking about family, culture, Oregon and the enormous transition awaiting him. At one point, Laloulu pointed toward a pair of buildings below us and said simply, “That’s where I live.” Home was right there within sight, while Eugene and everything that came with college football existed mostly as an idea.

There was something else about that week that has stayed with me, and three and a half years later it feels considerably more important than it did at the time. Laloulu had injured his knee during his senior season and could not participate in the Polynesian Bowl practices or game. For one of the best offensive linemen in the country, it would have been understandable to spend the week frustrated by the opportunity he was missing. Instead, he kept finding other things to do.

He helped the coaches track periods during practice. He organized things for the staff and worked with teammates on technique. When I was trying to gather Oregon’s signees for a group photograph, Laloulu helped me find everybody and bring them together. None of it was particularly dramatic, and nobody was going to evaluate his recruiting ranking based on how useful he could make himself while injured, but looking back now, that might have been the earliest glimpse of the player Oregon believes it has entering his final season.

Drew Mehringer described that player after Oregon’s third practice of fall camp this August. He was asked about the value of having an experienced center surrounded by an offensive line still sorting through several starting positions, and Mehringer struggled to quantify it.

“I don’t think that you could ever really put a value on having a great player with a ton of experience that’s also a phenomenal leader,” Mehringer said. “Those people are invaluable.”

Then he found a description that fit.

“Poncho is the rock, the apex in there.”

The more I have thought about Mehringer’s words, the more they have taken me back to Honolulu. Oregon did not turn Laloulu into someone who instinctively looks for ways to help the people around him. That part appears to have traveled with him.