Penn State football defensive tackle Siale Taupaki played his first game in blue and white on Saturday.

The East Oakland, California, native is entering his eighth year of college football, yet he feels like he can do something special at Penn State. The journey to Happy Valley hasn’t been easy, however.

Taupaki joined the Nittany Lions after calling UCLA home for seven years. His time as a Bruin was riddled with injuries and uncertainty, which allowed him to transition to Penn State in search of a clean slate.

Taupaki spoke previously about the role defensive line coach Ikaika Malloe had in landing Taupaki in the transfer portal. Malloe coached at UCLA from 2022 to 2025. The pair were already familiar with one another, which made the decision much easier for Taupaki.

Malloe may have made the decision easier, but Matt Campbell really drove the idea home for him.

“When I got to be on the phone with coach Campbell, the first thing he did was ask about my family. He didn’t ask about me. He asked [about] my family,” Tuapaki said Tuesday. “And with that, I was sold … He asked specifically, how’s my mom, how’s my dad. With that, I knew he was a family man; then he was a football coach. So from there, I knew I could come to him about anything.”

Tuapaki has also been very vocal that his parents don’t really go to his games. He likes to keep his football life and family life apart, and while he has his parents’ support, they usually aren’t around on gameday.

His parents only saw his first and last game at UCLA live, but he doesn’t take it negatively. He’ll call them and talk about the team’s result before switching to other topics. At the end of the day, he’s their son, not their football player.

The 6-foot-4, 326-pound run stopper notched one assisted tackle in his Penn State debut. He called his parents after the game, but didn’t talk much about football.

“My parents, they already at an age where traveling is not even in their books anymore,” Taupaki said. “But I do talk to them about what I experienced. Like Saturday, I told them I see horses and cows and stuff. You don’t see that a lot on the West Coast, just being around people. I always try and stand on that and be a man of the people, because it’s bigger than me.”

What he did mention about his Nittany Lion debut was that it was “bigger and better.”

Taupaki’s father said he got chills visualizing it, and Taupaki revealed that he pays for his parents’ internet so they can watch him play.

“My parents still struggling. I’m broke. While everybody else still trying to buy their next pendant or buy their next car, I’m really just trying to fill in all the holes that I have back at home, understanding the platform that I’m having. Just seeing all of that stuff and understanding how far I came,” Taupaki said. “I really try to take full advantage of the opportunity I can with the platform, because I come from nothing.”

Taupaki emphasized just how much family means to him and why his brain is so hardwired in that way. He said 22 people lived in his two-bedroom house at one point growing up. Some had to sleep outside.

Nevertheless, he said some of his distant family and cousins will definitely make the flight to State College at some point this season.

For now, he’s going to maintain his process and keep developing his relationships with his teammates, including redshirt sophomore defensive tackle De’Andre Cook.

Taupaki said the two’s relationship started off questionably. Cook was quiet inside the Lasch Building and mostly kept to himself. Malloe told Taupaki he needed him to be a leader, which led Taupaki to take Cook under his wing.

“I always make sure guys feel accepted, immediately. Within our group, no one gets left behind. That’s not just a football thing, that’s a family thing,” Taupaki said. “To be able to see him come out on Saturday and join us, it made my heart even happier because he’s been through a lot … Be able to sit down and break bread with somebody and understand where they came from.”

Even with his extensive college football career before ever setting foot in Happy Valley, Taupaki is excited to get the rest of the season rolling. He doesn’t care too much about UCLA’s season-derailing win over Penn State in 2025, either.

“That was that. Now we’re here. That’s the past. I’m at Penn State for life,” Tuapaki said.