A two-year mission reshaped Kahanu Kia's outlook, now fueling his drive to excel and contribute to Notre Dame's championship aspirations.
We talk a lot at Irish Breakdown about a player's contributions on the field and their impact on Notre Dame winning it's 12th National Championship. We talk about their playmaking ability, their athleticism, their size and a player's experience. For linebacker Kahanu Kia, his experience has less to do with the football field and more with his life experience.
Kia was a recruit in the 2021 recruiting class, and he committed back in November of 2020, but he's primed and ready for the 2026 season. Early in his collegiate career, Kia took a two-year mission trip for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The 6-2, 225-pound linebacker took a leave of absence from the football program to serve in the Raleigh, North Carolina mission.
The Hawaii native returned to the program in 2024 where he was an early standout in the spring. Unfortunately, a knee injury sidelined him for the 2024 season. Despite only playing 44 career defensive snaps since his freshman season in 2021, Kia brings a lot of experience and a different perspective to the linebacking corps this fall.
"I think on my mission, you go from you're a college football player at Notre Dame to a guy trying to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ," Kia shared. "Seeing the circumstances that other people were in and just seeing the day to day of strangers and seeing what they have and what they don't have was impactful. I think coming back here I've realized what a blessing it is to, not just play football here, but to have the education, the experience and everything that comes with being a student athlete at Notre Dame."
His time in North Carolina changed his perspective on how he views day to day life. In the ever-changing world of collegiate athletics, at the time, it can be the only thing that matters on a day to day basis. But Kia learned that there's other things in life to be thankful for and to be aware of.
"Your mindset changes and your perspective changes," Kia explained. "I think your priorities change as well. And you realize there's bigger things out there than worldly things. And then just taking that mindset here and just recognizing, man, this is just a blessing and making the most of it."
Now, the 23 year old is back in South Bend and is fully removed from his knee injury that he suffered a couple of years ago. The experience changed him for the better, but now he's back to focus on football and help this team compete for a national title.
"I just want to reach my full potential," Kia said when asked about his goals for this season. "I love what Coach [Marcus] Freeman says and that takes work. It takes extra time and commitment, but I think as long as I'm just being the best player I can be for this team and maximizing my role, whatever that is every given week, then I can help this team be the best it can be and reach our full potential, which I think is a national championship."
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