Kale Ane is the new football coach at McKinley High School.

“I talked to Bob (Morikuni) and he said, ‘Congratulations.’ We talked this afternoon. I’m excited, looking forward to the opportunity,” Ane said of his new athletic director.

Ane has been with the Tigers for roughly a week in conditioning workouts while the school finalized details. He has around 40 players, varsity and junior varsity combined, training every day.

“We’re in conditioning mode, so I’m enjoying working with the kids. I got to meet and talk with families. It’s definitely different, but it’s fun working with kids, teaching them fundamentals,” he said.

Ane officially retired from his position as a Punahou co-athletic director and football head coach in late May. He was head coach of the Buffanblu for 21 seasons. Since Ane took over the football program in 1999, Punahou reached the state tournament final six times and won the championship twice. The Buffanblu defeated Leilehua 38-7 in the 2008 final and edged Mililani 28-22 in the 2013 title tilt.

There was also controversy. Punahou is embroiled in an ongoing lawsuit involving allegations of sexual abuse by a former assistant basketball coach under Ane’s watch as co-AD.

Leonard Lau was named interim head coach in 2020 and Nate Kia was announced as head coach recently. Word circulated earlier in the year that Ane had applied for the football position at McKinley. He said he is prepared to face public scrutiny.

“You can’t try to disappear. You can’t just hide. That’s not something I want to do,” Ane said. “I can’t speak for other people, I can just talk with them. But the way you behave says a lot about a person. How you deal with adversity is something we always talk about. That’s important, so we’ll approach it as it happens. I’ve shared that with people who need to know. It’s an ongoing process, so we’ll see.”

The Division II Tigers were 1-9 overall in 2019 under previous coach Pat Silva, who stepped down in 2020. In ’18, Silva led McKinley to a 4-5 overall mark. The Tigers were 6-21 in three seasons under Silva.

Stepping back into coaching came with no hesitation for Ane.

“My dad (Charlie) is my hero and there are so many things I wanted to follow his footsteps in. He coached a small school, St. Anthony, on Maui. The year before he took over, they didn’t score a point. I was worried for him. He just loved it. He had a great time. He enjoyed working with the boys and with the families. I always thought that would be something I’d love to do when I retired and had the time,” Ane said.

“I learned a lot about McKinley in the process. My grandfather was a coach there in the 1920s. Neal Blaisdell is my grandfather. He won ILH championships in football and basketball. My sister, Malia, told me that. I said, where did that come from? I love challenges, so we’ll see.”