San Diego State’s linebacker duo could anchor Aztecs defense in 2026
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The San Diego State Aztecs’ linebacking corps might not have gotten quite the same acclaim that the pass rushers and defensive backs did during the turnaround season of 2025, but it was every bit an integral part of the defense that gave the Aztecs a tough-nosed identity.
As the Aztecs enter the new Pac-12 Conference era, returning star Tano Letuli and newcomer Sione Hala will anchor the unit in the middle of the defense.
They’ll get their first taste of action together when the Aztecs open the season next Saturday by hosting Portland State. The Pac-12 lid-lifter will be Oct. 3 at home against Texas State. The Aztecs are looking to build on SDSU’s 9-4 finish last season, which included a bowl berth for the first time in three years.
Tano Letuli returns as the leader of San Diego State’s defense
Letuli is coming off a torn ACL but has already piled up plenty of preseason honors that illustrate how important he is to his hometown Aztecs.
Internally, the Aztecs players voted Letuli one of their five captains. It’s the third year he’s been voted a captain, marking the first time a player has achieved that status since quarterback Kevin O’Connell — now the head coach of the Minnesota Vikings — was a captain for four straight years from 2004-07.
Externally, Letuil was one of five Aztecs named to the Pac-12 Preseason Impact List and was a first-team All-Pac-12 pick by Athlon Sports, Lindy’s Sports and Phil Steele Magazine. He was also included on the Polynesian Player of the Year Watch List.
Letuli, who played at prep power Cathedral Catholic, is more interested in how the team does than in individual honors.
“Just excited to serve the guys like I do and get to show up and give my best every single day,” he said. “I want to just keep showing up every day for my city, and it's a logo and it's a brand that I've always wanted to be a part of and always looked up to. So now, leading the team, it's really special to me.”
Letuli played parts of just six games before he tore his right ACL in a home win against Wyoming, but he made an impact. He made 30 tackles, intercepted one pass and returned it for 31 yards, had four quarterback hurries and broke up two passes. He was an honorable mention All-Mountain West pick for the second straight year.
Sione Hala brings experience from two college stops
Hala started his career by playing three seasons at Boston College before having a breakout season with Weber State of the Big Sky Conference last fall. He piled up 64 tackles in 10 games with the Wildcats, as well as an interception and 1.5 sacks.
“I'm an older guy in the room,” Hala said. “Tano and I are the only seniors, so I knew what I was getting myself into as a leader. I love football. I love being high energy. I love making plays, and it's about spreading that energy. That's what I'm trying to deal with right now, spreading the energy and getting everybody on the same level I'm at every day.”
How San Diego State’s linebacker depth is shaping up
Two of the Aztecs’ top three tacklers were linebackers last year. Owen Chambliss led the team with an eye-popping 110 tackles before moving on to Nebraska and Mister Williams was third with 56. Overall, linebackers had four sacks, two interceptions — including a pick-6 — 13 tackles for loss and 10 pass breakups.
The linebackers will be under the direction of newcomer Scott White, who spent eight seasons total on UCLA’s staff, including the last two.
He’s looking to mold the linebacking core well beyond Letuli and Hala.
“Coming into this thing, it's all about developing the depth, and it's really coming together nicely,” White said. “You’ve got Dean Harrington, Cameron Cooper, those guys can get in there and really start for us. They're really reliable. We're going to ask a lot of Cooper. He's going to play a lot of different roles for us. He's going to play up on the EDGE some. He's going to play behind the ball some. He's going to play out at the big nickel. He's going to be a key cog. So overall, you need four to five really solid guys that you trust that you can put in the ball game and right now, it's coming together really nicely.”
The linebackers will look first to stop the run.
“You have to be able to run the football on offense and stop the run on defense,” White said. “That is required in any championship-level defense. So, the first thing is keeping the ball leveraged, keeping the formation leveraged. Second thing is layering. Third thing is pursuit. Fourth thing is tackling. When you watch elite run defense, you're going to see those things show up. When you watch really poor run defense, those things or the lack thereof will show up.”
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Bernie Wilson recently retired from The Associated Press after nearly 41 years, including stops in Spokane, Los Angeles and, for the final 33 years, San Diego. He grew up in Coeur d'Alene and graduated from the University of Idaho.