Saint Louis
assistants
looking West
At least one cornerstone of the Saint Louis School football dynasty has been offered a position as an assistant coach at Kapolei High School.
Sam Downey has coached Crusaders defensive linemen -- including nearly 20 all-staters -- since 1979. He was a major but relatively unnoticed cog of 15 Prep Bowl or state championship teams.
Downey said he probably would have accepted the Hurricanes defensive line coach position offered him by head coach Darren Hernandez already, if not for his job as Saint Louis athletic department facility manager.
"Unless I get another job where it's flexible enough for me to coach, it might be unfeasible to drive all the way out to Kapolei and back every day," said the retired HPD officer who lives in Ahuimanu.
Downey and several other Saint Louis assistants, including John Hao (quarterbacks), Jeff Matsuzaki (receivers), Pulou Tata (running backs), Frank Pahia and John Naipo (both offensive line), have attended Kapolei spring practices.
"I can't speak for anyone else, but if I wasn't considering joining their staff, I wouldn't be going all the way out there to watch practice," Downey said. "And we weren't just watching, we were kind of helping with drills."
Many current coaches and staff at Saint Louis will likely leave because of major changes in the athletic department. It's no secret many of the football assistants are looking for other opportunities or will retire to spend more time with their families.
Cal Lee, St. Louis' coach from 1982 through 2001, is resigning as Crusaders athletic director to become the University of Hawaii linebackers coach. The Saint Louis coaching staff is incredibly close, and a mass exodus is likely unless the new head coach comes from within the ranks of the current staff. But there have been no takers, and Saint Louis has been without a head coach since Delbert Tengan stepped down in April after taking the Crusaders to the state championship last December in his one season. A coaching candidate from outside, former Waiakea High School head coach Tim Lino, is meeting with school president Father Allen DeLong tomorrow.
Downey said he doesn't know how it will all shake out, but also said St. Louis won't be the same without Lee's presence -- and that of other football coaches who were together for so long.
"We all love the school because we put in so much time there," he said. "We all enjoyed being at the school, but we were especially there for each other and of course the boys."
Lee is the head coach of the Hawaiian Islanders arenafootball2 team and Hernandez is on his staff. They were at a game in San Diego last night and unavailable for comment.