Armed with a GPS, football coach Keith Buckley is hitting the recruiting trail an ocean and thousands of miles away from his Oregon campus.

He's ventured into the North Shore to visit Kahuku High School and drove up the hills and through the gates of Kamehameha Schools. There's been stops at Punahou, Saint Louis, and a dozen public and private schools. By the time Buckley leaves Honolulu on Sunday, he hopes to have seen 10 games this weekend and hopes players will have an inkling they can play at the next level.

Next fall, Pacific University, an NCAA Division III school located in Forest Grove, Ore., will field its first football team since 1991. It'll be the 100th year of football at the small, liberal arts school located outside of Portland. The football program and the school has a deep history with Hawai'i students, who have been a strong presence on campus, and currently make up 25 percent of the student population.

To revive and build his program, it only seemed only appropriate for Buckley to start recruiting at "home."

"As I got to know Pacific University through the interview process and ultimately accepting the job, it was clear there is a strong tradition of Hawaiian Island kids going to Pacific University," Buckley said. "There's a tremendous support mechanism on campus to allow students to succeed there and thrive there and come out of college prepared to enter the real world.

"It's been such a long tradition at Pacific, it was natural to make this the first stop."

HAWAI'I IS FIRST STOP

Pacific's Board of Trustees voted on May 22 to reinstate the football program. The move followed four years of discussion and research. Buckley was hired on July 31 and will spend this season on the recruiting trail. Pacific is one of several schools that have added sports to boost enrollment, and the school's strategic plan wants enrollment to top 4,000.

Buckley arrived in Honolulu on Monday with athletic director Ken Schumann. The trip's focus is building relationships with coaches and letting them know his program is a viable option for their players. Buckley will then spend several weeks in Oregon and California before returning again to Hawai'i in October to meet with specific players.

It's not an unfamiliar role for Buckley, who was the recruiting coordinator and assistant head coach at UC Davis before he was lured to the challenge at Pacific.

"Hawai'i has very, very good football, this is a proud football state and both coaches and kids pride themselves on playing a high level of football," Buckley said. "You look at the number of kids who come out of the Islands and play at all levels. I think this is one of the more talent-rich states in the country."

Division III schools don't give out athletic scholarships. But there are financial aid packages and merit-based scholarships, options that make tuition affordable. Division III athletes range from star high school players who couldn't get a Division I scholarship, to those looking to play sports while still having the time for academics and campus life.

Schumann, Pacific's former men's basketball coach, recalled the common theme among his players: They "really loved the sport and they wanted to go somewhere where they could get a great education."

"It's a very high level of football, but one that is part of the academic experience, not the entire," Buckley said. "(You) also get to be the true college student and have the opportunity to do other things like internships, clubs, programs that Division I athletes might not have the time to participate in."

STRONG LOCAL TIES

Pacific competes in the Northwest Conference, where schools like Linfield (Ore.), Willamette (Ore.) and Whitworth (Wash.) have a strong local connection.

"It is a great educational institution. Football can give players the opportunity to play ball, live their dream and get a high quality education," said Kahuku football coach Reggie Torres, whose son Reggie (track) and daughter Kapua (wrestling) played sports and graduated from Pacific. "It's so family-oriented there, the kids feel right at home."

GREAT OPPORTUNITY

The collegiate athletic experience was invaluable for Mike McCartney. He ran for Pacific's track team, but had always wanted to try football. Except he never played football at Castle High School, thinking he was too small.

"When I went to Pacific, it gave me the opportunity that 'I go try' and they let me on the team," said McCartney, president and chief executive officer of the Hawai'i Tourism Authority.

McCartney played football as a junior and senior in 1981 and 1982, and the lessons learned from the field carried him into positions as CEO of PBS Hawai'i, executive director of the Hawai'i State Teachers Association and as a state senator.

McCartney wasn't the only one who benefitted from Pacific athletics. Teammate Henry Kaulia was an All-State lineman who went to Pacific with seven other Wai'anae High players to play football in 1978. Kaulia saw it as an opportunity to better his life after sports.

McCartney remembers the day when it all came together for Kaulia, who graduated from Pacific and spent more two decades teaching and coaching multiple sports in the area.

He died in a car accident on April 9, 2006. More than 800 attended a memorial service at Gaston Jr./Sr. High, and folks around town sported aloha shirts in his honor.

"He said to me that he used to think because he came from Wai'anae, a public school, that he wasn't as good as everyone else," McCartney said. "I remember the day he said, 'I just as good as everybody else, I can do this.' "

With the university's local connections, selling Pacific hasn't been hard.

"Coaches are very welcoming," Buckley said. "Every one of the coaches had a cousin, nephew, niece, somebody who went to Pacific and had a great experience. It's not difficult to promote a university when the alumni had a great experience there."

RECRUITING IS KEY

Current Pacific athletes have expressed interest in the football team, as have local students on campus. Pacific's plan calls for building a program that can be competitive in Division III. Buckley's first recruiting class will play a big part in that role, and few freshmen get the opportunity to start on a college team. Now he hopes to locate those current high school seniors in the coming weeks.

"As I mapped out my master calendar for the fall, it was can I get to Hawai'i as soon as I can, when's the first opportunity that I can get over here, and can Ken get over here with us to meet with some of the alumni and continue to build that side of it, too," Buckley said. "For me, getting here to start the ball rolling recruiting wise was imperative to the success of the program."