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SJSU defensive line coach, Al Lapuahu, CEFCU Stadium | photo courtesy of SJSU Athletics
Chapter seven of an ongoing summer series on the Spartans’ position groups. This week we examine San Jose State’s defensive line ahead of the 2026 season.
There’s no gentle way to frame it, so we’ll not try.
The San Jose State defensive line enters 2026 as the biggest question mark on a roster full of them…for now.
The 2025 numbers tell a blunt story: 17 sacks all season, barely four tackles for loss per game and a fourth-down defense that stopped opponents just six times in 29 tries; a figure that ranked among the very worst in the country. Then nearly all of that limited production walked out the door.
Defensive line coach Al Lapuaho doesn’t run from any of it and doesn’t avoid the tough questions. And like all of the assistant coaches under head coach Ken Niumatalolo, Lapuaho is transparent and forthcoming, as much as he could be.
“I feel like if I don’t do well as a coach and the D-line is not good, then the whole team will suffer,” said Lapuaho.
It’s the sound of a man carrying the weight of a room on his back and saying so out loud.
The weight Lapuaho carries
Context makes 2025 sting a lot.
Lapuaho’s first Spartan front in 2024 helped generate 93 tackles for loss, 16th nationally and second in the Mountain West, while holding opponents to 3.5 yards per carry.
One year later the bottom fell out; nearly 158 rushing yards allowed per game, 25 rushing touchdowns surrendered and a conference-worst 32.5 points per game.
Lapuaho’s film review verdict was unsparing. “We just gotta be disciplined,” said Lapuaho. “For me, that’s the pressure I carry. I wanna make sure that we are a disciplined defensive line with that ‘punch-you-in-the-face-and-help-you-up-after’ mentality.”
That last line is Lapuaho in one sentence.
The January staff shakeup that elevated Bojay Filimoeatu to defensive coordinator kept Lapuaho right where he was and the kinship between the two runs very deep. It’s a longtime brotherhood, history and loyalty built on shared roots and shared debts; the kind of loyalty where you pour everything into the people who believed in you.
That faith cuts both ways. Filimoeatu handed his old friend the run defense. Now, Lapuaho intends to repay that trust. Not because he has to; every DNA-string of his being naturally wants to. You can feel it in the reverberation of his voice.
But the outer framework that also profoundly factors into their reality as a G5 entity? The dreaded dynamics of the portal and NIL, of course.
The room as Lapuaho sees it
Ask Lapuaho about his 2026 group and the difference from last year comes fast.
“Yes, this year is different than last year. I had a few guys that I really trusted then,” Lapuaho said of 2025, “With everyone else “a year away or a spring ball away’ from breaking out.” Or a portal transfer away.
Now the 2026 names spill out.
Solomone Langi is set for “a huge role this year” at nose guard. Ian Shewell was a portal surprise in the best way.
“Ian was a shock, because he was listed at 6”1” on the transfer portal and then when he got here; he’s way taller at 6’3,” said Lapuaho. “He’s a dependable kid and I feel like he’s a steal.” Jayland McGlothen gets the same versatile billing: inside at tackle, outside at end, anywhere in the three-down front. You can hear Lapuaho’s excitement build.
The surprise of spring for Lapuaho was Jeremiah Tuiileila; the redshirt freshman who originally spurned SJSU for San Diego State before coming home.
“That guy’s been what we wanted in the first go-around,” said Lapuaho, penciling him in as the speed edge. And then there’s converted tight end Nate Lewis, whom Lapuaho calls the “most NFL body type on the defensive line” at 6’5” 255 lbs. with the highest ceiling in the room.
Lapuaho also doubles back on longtime Spartan DL Dejon Roney who is expected to surge this year by all accounts.
And then Lapuaho raises up a notch on two freshmen who excite him too.
Bronx Letuligasenoa arrived with a stack of Power Four offers before coming to the Spartans. Auma Jennings, a multi-time first-team all-league tackle in high school is his pick to challenge a vacated interior rotation spot.
“We got a lot of nameless, faceless guys that nobody really knows about,” said Lapuaho. “I’m hoping that we can really shock some people with who we got.”
The projected two-deep
Defensive end: Ian Shewell (RS Sr, 6’3, 290 lbs.) with Star Taimani (So, 265 lbs.) and Colton Thomas (RS Fr, 260 lbs.) behind him.
Nose tackle: Solomone Langi (Sr, 6’ 285 lbs.) with Auma Jennings (Fr, 290 lbs.) pushing him.
Defensive end: Dejon Roney (RS Sr, 6’1, 271 lbs) with Jayland McGlothen (Jr, 282 lbs.) rotating through.
Speed edge and rotation: Jeremiah Tuiileila (RS Fr, 255 lbs.), Nate Lewis (RS Sr, 254 lbs.), Justin Stearns (RS Sr, 250 lbs.), Etu Finau (RS Sr, 238 lbs.), Noa Siaosi (Jr, 268 lbs.) and Letuligasenoa (Fr, 250 lbs.).
The TFL north star
Ask Lapuaho for a benchmark indicator and he doesn’t hedge.
“My goal is to lead our conference and be the leader in TFLs,” said Lapuaho. Lapuaho’s seen the formula work before. As Utah State’s defensive line coach on the 2021 Mountain West championship team, his staff found that conference champions almost always led their league in tackles for loss, which is effectively equivalent to a sack.
Matching 2024’s numbers would satisfy most coaches coming off a season like this one, but not Lapuaho.
“If we can get to our benchmarks in ’24, that’d be awesome,” said Lapuaho. “With me also being stubborn, I’d like to do better than that and I feel like we can.”
Lapuaho’s philosophy also strips the game to its bones: “At the end of the day it’s a human versus a human. Whichever one has the better mentality is gonna win.”
Last year that mentality wasn’t enough. This year Lapuaho seemingly has the bodies, the brotherhood upstairs and a debt to pay.
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