FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM
New Hawaii linebackers coach Cal Lee is enjoying getting back to one-on-one coaching, as he talked to Chad Kapanui.
Legendary Lee
‘ankle deep’ in
new UH jobAfter 14 Prep Bowl wins and
a state title, the timing was
right to join the UH staff
It was just a short move physically, less than a mile. But going from Saint Louis School to the University of Hawaii was a long journey, chronologically and emotionally, for Cal Lee.
At some point, he will take a deep breath and think about all the good things that happened during his 30 years at Saint Louis, where he coached the Crusaders to a 241-32-5 record, 14 Prep Bowl championships and the first Hawaii state championship in 1999. But right now, he's simply too busy. Less than two days before his first game as a UH assistant football coach, Lee said he is still learning the nuances of his new job. And loving it.
"This is so time-consuming and mind-consuming that I don't have time to go back and think about what I miss yet. It's so much to do here that I don't think about it," Lee said. "I'm like everybody else here, happy and excited the season is starting."
Still, Lee is making his transition slowly, getting to know the players he coaches, some of his fellow assistants (he was already close to receivers coach Ron Lee, his brother, head coach June Jones and secondary coach Rich Miano, whom he coached at Kaiser High School), and UH's defensive playbook.
"I'm just starting to get my feet wet, I'm about ankle deep now," said Lee, 56, who has been on the job since July 1. "I'm just trying to help."
Lee's primary responsibility now is working with the strongside, or "stub" linebackers. They include, in order on the depth chart, senior Keani Alapa, junior Chad Kapanui, junior Patrick Harley and sophomore Pati Mailo. Mailo was recently moved over from middle, or "mike" linebacker, and junior Lincoln Manutai was moved from strongside to middle.
GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM
Coach Cal Lee talked with Hawaii quarterback Tim Chang during practice. Lee coached Chang at Saint Louis.
Alapa said Lee's coaching has already benefited him.
"He's still learning the defense, as we are. The more he learns, the more he can teach us," said Alapa, who is in his second season at strongside after moving over from weakside, or "will" linebacker. "He gives us pointers on different ways to look at plays, especially in dealing with reading the tight end."
The past couple of days, Lee has also begun assisting with the weakside linebackers. The more responsibility he takes with the linebackers, the more time defensive coordinator George Lumpkin (who also coaches linebackers) has for working on the overall defensive package.
He enjoys the one-on-one work with the players, something he didn't do that much of his last years at Saint Louis.
Lee also works with the punt and punt return units. It is expected that he will play a huge role in local recruiting, also.
Jones, who has known Lee more than 20 years, encourages him to expand his role.
"It's good. He's finding his niche and I think the more confident he gets with everything we're doing, he'll step up even more. He's comfortable, I think he's happy with the decision to come join us, I think he feels good about it," Jones said.
Lee was considered a candidate for jobs on the UH football staff, including head coach, for more than 10 years. He was offered assistant coach positions by two other coaches, but did not want to leave Saint Louis for less than a coordinator's job at the time.
When Jones came aboard, with his run-and-shoot offense and Ron Lee as the receivers coach, it just seemed it would be a matter of time before Cal came along, too.
Lee stepped down as Saint Louis coach two years ago, but remained as athletic director. Speculation was rampant in 2001 and 2002 that Lee was joining the UH staff.
This year, after defensive coordinator Kevin Lempa left for Boston College and Lumpkin was promoted to defensive coordinator, the timing was finally right.
Lee already had two jobs, as Saint Louis athletic director and head coach of the Hawaiian Islanders arena team. He retired from Saint Louis, but stayed on with the Islanders. He hopes to continue with the Islanders next season after leading them to the playoffs two months ago.
Lee said coaching college and pro players is much easier than high school players.
"No question," he said. "More mature, more responsible. They know it's more of a business kind of thing. The thing I expect is they've got to be ready. Know their assignments. They understand that."
Lee knows there is one thing he won't miss about his job as Saint Louis athletic director: the administrative duties.
"The best thing is not having to worry about things not having to do with football," Lee said. "Some of this job is off the field, too, but it's all football-related. To me that's fun."
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