With Cal Lee as coach, the Saint Louis Crusaders swept the 1990s; nine Prep Bowl wins and victory in the first state tournament, concluding 14 years of owning Hawaii high school football.

From 1991 to 1993, two-time All-State defensive lineman Vavae Tata was a big part of the domination. Saint Louis beat Kahuku 37-22 in the Prep Bowl his senior year. Tonight, Tata coaches the North Shore powerhouse against his alma mater and his high school coach.

"I’m glad he’s not playing. He would beat me up," deadpanned Lee, the winningest coach in Hawaii prep football history, who returned to Saint Louis last year after 12 years away and has the Crusaders at 9-1 this year. "He’s full of enthusiasm, passion."

Lee, 69, spoke from a rolling chair in the weight room attached to the new parking structure a few feet from the Saint Louis practice field. It’s plush compared to the facilities during the dynasty, but Lee claims he doesn’t have an office.

"This is it," he says. "I don’t sleep here anymore. Leave at 9, come in around 11 in the morning. It’s more delegating now."

Tata says he doesn’t have a traditional work space either. "My office? My office is 100 yards long and 53 yards wide," the first-year Kahuku coach says.

The facilities are not what Tata was used to as a player and coach at UCLA, as well as stints on the staffs at Vanderbilt and Stanford.

But, "football is football," he says, and he jumped at the job despite living away from Hawaii since high school graduation. "There’s so much talent here. And the families are so strong."

He made changes, he made cuts. "I told (the players) every day is (a job) interview. And effort is the price of admission."

He overhauled the staff, the biggest addition being Saint Louis All-State quarterback and former head coach John Hao. "Whenever you take over a program you need to surround yourself with people you trust."

He’s won over the doubters, never in short supply among the Kahuku fan base. "After a while they realized, ‘Hey, this guy knows his stuff.’ Winning solves everything."

Kahuku is 12-0, featuring a stifling defense. The offense is simple, but overpowering. "We model it after Stanford," says Tata, who considers Cardinal coach David Shaw a major influence.

Tata is a meticulous grinder, like Lee. What else has he learned from him?

"Always finding ways to put our students first. We’re teachers first, coaches second," says Tata, the first of Lee’s former players to meet him in a game as an opposing head coach. "Whenever you go up against the best, it’s always a great opportunity. But being that he coached me in high school, it adds a little sprinkle. At the end of the day, it’s the players who win the game. The coaches lose the game."

Sounds like something Lee would say. He doesn’t live at Saint Louis like the old days, but he still has that August-to-November look of concern.

Tata says he’s having fun. Lee says the weight is heavy.

Despite all his achievements, he has no feeling of playing with house money. It goes unsaid, but losing to a protege would be hard to accept.

"The pressure is still there," Cal Lee says from the rolling chair in the room full of weights. "It’s all about winning. Pressure’s part of the game."

Reach Dave Reardon at dreardon@staradvertiser.com or 529-4783. His blog is at Hawaiiwarriorworld.com/quick-reads