Idaho transfers Paul Moala and Juliano Falaniko come from two sides of storied rivalry to team up on Vandals’ defense

MOSCOW, Idaho – The transfer portal offers fresh opportunity but can make for strange alliances.

Paul Moala and Juliano Falaniko graduated from their respective universities with football careers frustrated by injuries and with eligibility remaining. They come from opposite sides of a storied college football rivalry, Notre Dame and USC, where they played against each other in 2018 and 2019. But the next time they line up it will be as teammates, on defense, against Washington State with the Idaho Vandals.

Both began their college careers as three-star recruits.

Moala became a steady presence on special teams for the Fighting Irish and worked his way into becoming the second-string rover before tearing an Achilles tendon in the third game of the 2020 season and suffering the same injury in the first game in 2021.

Falaniko had a promising freshman year and appeared in 12 games as a linebacker in 2017. But the next year he missed four games with a shoulder injury and a concussion. He recovered to have a solid season as a backup linebacker and special teams stalwart in 2019 and figured to push for a starting role in 2020 before suffering an ankle injury that cost him the year.

When USC went through a coaching change, from Clay Helton to Lincoln Riley, Falaniko decided to go through graduation and head into the transfer portal to spend his final year of eligibility under a different sky.

“There are not a lot of distractions here in Idaho. That’s kind of what I needed,” he said.

Moala calls coming to Idaho “a blessing in disguise.”

Moscow is not Los Angeles nor even South Bend.

“But it’s kind of growing on me,” Moala said.

He was the first to arrive in Moscow. After he learned Falaniko was coming, he reached out to him, one player of Polynesian background to another.

“I told him, ‘Look, we could change this program, with the new coaching staff.’ ”

Vandals coach Jason Eck credits defensive coordinator Rob Aurich, linebackers coach Kapono Roy Asuega and defensive line coach David Lose with identifying Moala and Falaniko in the portal and pursuing them.

“We try to really do our research on transfers,” Eck said.

Eck got in touch with Vanderbilt coach Clark Lee, who was defensive coordinator at Notre Dame when Moala played there. According to Eck, Clark told him, “If I had a scholarship, I’d take him right now.”

At Idaho, Moala is a weakside linebacker.

“It’s nice to be involved with the run scheme,” he said.

Eck asked former Washington State linebacker and former Idaho assistant coach Johnny Nansen, who coached Falaniko at USC before moving on to become defensive coordinator at Arizona this year, if Falaniko would fit in as a Vandal.

“Originally, we were looking for somebody at inside linebacker, but Nansen said he would be better on the edge,” Eck said.

Nonetheless, the Vandals were impressed enough to offer Falaniko a chance to play at Idaho. He was originally slotted at outside linebacker but has been moved to a pass-rushing defensive end, a move Falaniko embraces.

“We could not be happier with these guys. They are great kids. They have great character,” Eck said. “We hit the jackpot with these two guys.”

Their first few months in Moscow this summer and in preseason camp have involved “a lot of team bonding,” Moala said. But their new teammates are aware of where Moala and Falaniko came from.

“They are always picking our brains,” Falaniko said.

“They want to know about guys (from Notre Dame and USC) who are playing in the (NFL). How were they in meeting rooms?” Moala added.

Learning the names of all their new teammates is still an ongoing job, and Moala is not sure of who brought it up.

“One of the young guys said he was at a Notre Dame game I was playing in,” Moala said.

At the same time, the Vandals were more than willing to let Moala and Falaniko know the Big Sky Conference plays football, too.

“I’m not going to lie. They gave it a few shots when we were in full pads. But I’m loving it here,” Falaniko said.

His sister attends Washington State, and he played against the Cougars while at USC. “That was always a fun game. There was always a lot of trash talking going on,” he said.

Falaniko, from American Samoa, said a lot of kids from the island played at Washington State. A large part of his family traveled from Samoa to Moscow to surprise him when he visited Moscow, according to Eck. Before the Idaho-WSU opening game on Sept. 3, Falaniko said he has not made a point of seeing his sister in Pullman.

“I try to stay away from that part of town,” he said.

For both of them, this year will be the first time they run onto a field as college players and hear the Vandal fight song instead of “Conquest” or the “Notre Dame Victory March.” While they seem to have put the white-hot rivalry of Notre Dame-USC in the past, they did, after all, have a hand in stoking that heat.

Moala had the best of it. In 2018, the Fighting Irish beat the Trojans 24-17 and backed that up a year later with a 30-27 win.

This year, Notre Dame and USC meet Nov. 26 in Los Angeles, a week after the Vandals conclude their regular season.

“I might be at that game,” Falaniko said.

“I might go down there, too,” Moala added.

Reminded that if they are successful in helping the Vandals to a winning season, they might be in a playoff game of their own that week, Falaniko said, “There has got to be a TV in the hotel.”