Cal Lee considering job offer from UH
By Stephen Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer
BOISE, Idaho — University of Hawai'i football coach June Jones yesterday confirmed that St. Louis School athletic director Cal Lee has been offered an administrative job in the Warrior program.
Richard Ambo • The Honolulu Advertiser
Jones said he hoped Lee would decide whether to accept the job by Aug. 26, the first day of UH's fall semester.
UH football coach June Jones, left, is awaiting Cal Lee's decision as to whether he will accept the new position.
Lee is the most successful high school coach in Hawai'i football history, winning 14 O'ahu Prep Bowl titles and a state championship. He retired as the Crusaders' head coach in November, but remains as the school's athletic director and manager of the St. Louis Alumni Association clubhouse.
Lee has repeatedly declined to comment on the situation.
Lee has been offered the job of recruiting coordinator, a newly created non-coaching position that pays an estimated $60,000 annually. Na Koa, the football program's booster club, is expected to finance the position. Na Koa already pays a portion of Jones' $320,000 annual salary.
Lee is looking into whether he can accept the UH job and still remain at St. Louis, where he earns more than $100,000 annually.
He also has been offered a head coaching job with an arena football team.
In announcing his decision to retire as St. Louis' coach last year, Lee said he would not rule out coaching at the college level. Lee was offered a job on the UH coaching staff last year when Dennis McKnight resigned as the Warriors' special teams coach. He turned down that offer because of his commitment to coaching last year's St. Louis seniors.
Jones and Lee have been friends for more than two decades. Lee's brother, Ron, is UH's wide receivers coach. Lee also coached Rich Miano, now a UH assistant coach in charge of defensive backs, and advised Dan Morrison to accept the job as UH's quarterbacks coach in 1999.
Jones helped implement the run-and-shoot offense that Lee ran at St. Louis.
NCAA Division I teams are limited to nine fulltime on-field coaches. There are no openings on the UH coaching staff.
Meanwhile, Mel Purcell Jr., a 6-foot-5, 230-pound defensive lineman from American Samoa, has not met the requirements to play as a college freshman. Purcell, who has a 3.6 grade-point average but did not score high enough on the standardized test, still wants to play for UH. He likely will sit out during the fall semester while retaking the SAT, then try to enroll at UH in January.
Purcell turned down offers from Fresno State, Oregon and Western Kentucky to sign with the Warriors in February.
