Lee, 56, was the most tenured and winningest active football coach in the state.

"I've always taken responsibility for what goes on," said Lee, who will continue to teach physical education at Maui High. "We had a bad season. We were terrible, but I'm responsible for that. I'm satisfied with my career, but not satisfied with what happened (this past season). I want to give somebody else a chance, maybe rejuvenate the program before it gets too bad."

Maui (3-6 overall) finished 2-6 in the MIL's Division I, its only wins coming against Division II Pac-Three and Kamehameha. It was unfamiliar territory for the Sabers, who suffered through only one other losing MIL season (1997, 4-5-1) since Lee took over in 1984.

"It was a combination of things," Lee said of the team's 2004 record. "There's a lot of pride in the program and I don't want to see that go away."

The memories will stay. After graduating from Maui High in 1966, Lee went on to Kansas State, where he played running back and linebacker. He transferred to the University of Hawai'i for the 1968 and 1969 seasons, playing under coach Dave Holmes.

After about seven seasons as an assistant at Baldwin, Lee returned to his alma mater as head coach. In his first four seasons, the Sabers won four consecutive MIL titles. Along the way, he led the Sabers to four Neighbor Island Championship Series titles; the NICS was a postseason tournament among champions of Maui, Kaua'i and the Big Island that ran from 1986-1997.

Lee's winningest season was 2000, when the Sabers had an overall record of 10-1-1, its only blemish coming against Wai'anae in the quarterfinals of the school's only state tournament appearance. His overall career record at Maui is 129-69-7.

Lee, a standout tailback when he played for the Sabers, said he was proud of the program's monicker —"Tailback High" — because of the number of tailbacks who finished as the MIL's rushing leader during his tenure. True to form, Maui's Jonathan Los Banos was the MIL's rushing leader with 739 yards this season.

"I've had a lot of great kids and a lot of them came out for the last game," Lee said of Saturday night's season finale against Baldwin.

Lee added support from his family enabled him to coach as long as he did.

"I can honestly say I picked the time when I was ready (to leave coaching)," he said. "I don't have any regrets for what I'm doing, but I need to do this for the program. That's my main motivating factor."