Lee back at Saint Louis

After 13 seasons away, legendary Cal Lee is back at Saint Louis School.

Lee agreed to return to the program on Monday after months of speculation about who the new football coach would be.

"I’m just so happy to be able to coach with the school I started with in the beginning. Things have changed, but kids are still kids. You just work with them and help them out," Lee said by telephone late Monday afternoon.

Lee returns to a position that has gone through a musical chairs of sorts in recent years. In the meantime, Punahou ascended and was ILH champion the past three years, winning the state title last fall with an unbeaten record.

"I think it’s great for high school football, that someone who’s been so successful and influential is coming back," Punahou coach Kale Ane said. "It’s interesting. I think it’s great that someone who’s done so many amazing things, with the wins, the great kids, the tradition, he’s forced us all to be better coaches and better teachers. It’ll be fun to compete against each other with all the respect we have for each other."

Ane is also looking forward to talking story again with his friendly rival.

"It helps to have someone else with gray hair, too," he said. "Now I’m not the only one."

Time has passed, no doubt, but Lee’s enthusiasm and energy seem to be high.

"All we gotta do is make the kids as successful as they can be. I’m no miracle worker, but we’ll work with the kids and have them commit and work as hard as they can, and we’ll see what happens," he said. "It was the same thing at Kaiser (when Lee was an assistant)."

At Kalani last year, Lee and brother Ron were coordinators who helped the program reach the playoffs for the first time in the school’s 55-year existence last year.

"I totally enjoyed my two years at Kalani. They listen. Like everywhere else, they listen and they show that respect and they had fun," Lee said. "We had some success. They were committed to doing the things we had to do. I talked to a few of them when I left, hugged them. It was kind of sad, but you do the things you’ve got to do."

Lee, 67, will be joined at Saint Louis by Ron, who will be the offensive coordinator. Cal Lee will also become a post-graduate counselor at the school and is expected to begin at Saint Louis immediately.

"I’m looking forward to working with the kids, getting to know them, instilling discipline, respect, loyalty. When they come off the field, they know no one player wins a game. Be humble when you win and be very gracious when you lose. It’s just a game," Lee said. "It teaches you character. What you do on the field, you do off the field."

From 1982 to 2001, he guided the Crusaders to 14 Prep Bowl championships. He had a 240-32-5 career mark, including 18 ILH titles. When the HHSAA began state-tournament play in 1999, Saint Louis won the crown.

He was selected NFHS national football coach of the year in 2000. A similar honor was given to him by The Sporting News in ’95.

The Crusaders reached the state final two more times under Lee before he stepped down in ’01. Lee said he’s learned from his peers at the college level. The four-wide offense, or run-and-shoot, will still be in effect.

"We’ve added a little bit and tweaked the run-and-shoot a little bit, but we’ll throw the ball, a passing team that will throw the ball. We’re not going to fool anybody. We may not be as talented as we were before, but that’s where guys step up. Be committed to work and it’s already started. You can’t wait for June to start getting ready for football," Lee said. "We’ll line up in the 3-4 and have different packages, even 4-3, too. Look at Seattle, golly. That defense dominated. You watch these guys, defense is about reaction. You know what your assignment is, you gotta play without thinking. I’m antsy to meet the kids."

After leaving Saint Louis in ’01, Lee took a break before returning to coach the Hawaiian Islanders of the AFL2 for a season. In ’04, he joined June Jones’ staff at the University of Hawaii as a linebackers coach. He was UH’s defensive coordinator from ’08 to ’09.

Saint Louis was 11-8 the past two years under Matt Wright.

Before that, Delbert Tengan, a former assistant under Lee, led the team to a state-tournament title in 2002.

The Crusaders reached the final in ’03 under first-year coach Darnell Arceneaux.

Under Tengan, they got back to the title game in ’06 and ’07. The Crusaders won the state title in 2010 during Arceneaux’s second stint, with Marcus Mariota at quarterback. All that history built up expectations near and far for the team from Kalaepohaku. But in this era, Punahou has been the team to beat in the highly competitive ILH. The Buffanblu have many of the top players from the North Shore and Honolulu — the kind of athletes who used to commute to Saint Louis during Lee’s first reign.

Punahou went unbeaten in ’13 and won the state crown after reaching the title game in ’11 and ’12, losing both times to Kahuku.

When Lee stepped down at Saint Louis in ’01, his former player, Chris Fuamatu-Ma‘afala, called him legendary.

"He’s a great person in addition to being a legendary coach," Fuamatu-Ma‘afala said. "He doesn’t yell or scream. But he does have a little swagger that gave us confidence, that little edge. He doesn’t have to say much to have a big impact."

The hiring of Lee comes as the school undergoes major changes.

The alumni association recently co-signed on a $7 million loan for the school, and the athletic department recently broke ground on a new training facility. Brother Gerber Fieldhouse was finally shuttered — and removed. A new gymnasium is due for completion later this year.

Among the donors for the new facility is one of Lee’s former players, retired NFL lineman Olin Kreutz (Chicago Bears, New Orleans Saints). Other former Saint Louis players who went on to the NFL include Fuamatu-Ma‘afala (Pittsburgh Steelers) and Dominic Raiola (Detroit Lions).

Lee’s success with Saint Louis in his first go-round led to changes in the ILH. The league commissioned a panel to balance the competitiveness after a multitude of blowout wins by the Crusaders, including an 84-0 victory over Damien. Damien later forfeited a game against Saint Louis, citing safety concerns.

The ILH revamped the scheduling format and also instituted a 65-player limit on teams. Saint Louis (and Kamehameha) fielded more than 100 varsity players at that time.

Lee graduated from Kalani in 1964 after an All-ILH career as an offensive lineman and linebacker. He later became an NAIA All-American linebacker at Willamette University (Ore.). In ’71, he joined the faculty at Saint Louis as a physical education teacher, but while he taught there, he was an assistant coach at Kaiser under brother Ron. Kaiser won the ’79 Prep Bowl during their era.