When Sean Saturnio took over as head coach for Waipahu High School’s football program six years ago, he had a long-term vision that went beyond winning a championship.

A title or two would be nice, of course, but Saturnio — who already had been a full-time teacher at Waipahu Intermediate before joining the high school faculty — saw football as a vehicle to make a positive difference on individual students, the campus in general and even the community as a whole.

A worthy goal, but the task was not easy.

There were times when a lesser coach might have given up. In 2005, numbers were slim, victories weren’t coming and the critics were howling. The biggest test came when Saturnio suspended over half the team for disciplinary reasons, causing the Marauders to forfeit their homecoming game against Kalani. It was a rock-bottom moment in a 1-7 season full of challenges.

But instead of quitting, Saturnio stayed true to his vision and finally saw it bear fruit in 2006. Waipahu won the OIA White Conference title, the players fully bought into the family-oriented philosophy and the public took notice of the team’s model behavior on and off the field.

The Marauders had another successful season last year, resulting in a promotion this season to the rugged Red Conference Western Division. That means games against Leilehua, Wai‘anae, Kapolei, Mililani. But the players are up to the challenge, and proved it by working harder than ever during offseason conditioning.

“We had the greatest turnout since I’ve been here, and attendance was fantastic,” Saturnio said Friday. “They’ve worked hard all year, and they’re excited about moving up.”

The players are not the only ones excited.

“The more you win, the more people are interested,” said offensive guard Craig Masaniai. “They (other students) look up to us now.”

But as Saturnio designed it, people in Waipahu are starting to look up to the Marauders not just because they are winning football games. Today (Saturday), in the middle of fall training, the players will hold a canned food drive to help the hungry.

“We try to do a lot for the school, a lot for the community,” said quarterback/fullback Troy Matautia. “Coach is teaching us how to become a man, how to be a winner not just in football but how to be one in life — how to be better husbands, better fathers, better sons.”

Sounds like Saturnio’s grand plan is working.

And the season opener is still two weeks away.

Ever get that feeling of deja vu? Of history repeating itself?

The names and details have changed, but what is unfolding at Saint Louis School right now seems hauntingly familiar to the bizarre turn of events exactly five years ago upon Kalaepohaku’s rugged slope.

Anyone remember? Here’s a refresher for those who don’t:

1. The football coaching job was open, since Delbert Tengan had stepped down in April.

2. A list of 12 coaching candidates was pared down, and former Crusaders quarterback John Hao was approached about the job but turned it down. Next, an offer was made to former Waiakea coach Tim Lino, a school principal in Kona.

3. Cal Lee accepted an assistant coach job at the University of Hawai‘i around June 20, stepping down as Saint Louis athletic director effective June 30.

4. Todd Los Banos, who had stepped down as wrestling coach in March, was named athletic director effective July 1.

5. Lino, after several rounds of negotiations with school president Father Allen DeLong, turned down the football coach offer after DeLong was unable to offer an adequate full-time faculty position.

6. Hours later, 25-year-old Darnell Arceneaux — whose name never really surfaced as a candidate since he was not one of the 12 original applicants — was hired as head football coach.

I don’t know exactly how this athletic director hiring will shake out or what the aftermath will be, but as usual it’s pretty darn interesting right now. As leading candidate Ulima Afoa stated in today’s article, “What makes Saint Louis unique is it’s such a high-profile school.”

He’s right.

I don’t know if there is another school out there in Hawai‘i where there is so much buzz any time a football coach or athletic director job is open, except for maybe Kahuku. That’s saying something, considering Saint Louis has the nation’s mythical No. 1 athletic program barely a mile away.

Rumors have swirled for the past two weeks, and probably will continue to until the hiring is officially announced, whomever it turns out to be.

The thing I would recommend right now from the public is just to wait and let the events unfold, before trying to figure out what is going to happen next.

The players involved have changed — instead of Lee, DeLong, Hao, Lino, Los Banos and Arceneaux, now we have principal Russell Valente, Afoa, Tengan. But it’s still anyone’s guess to see what will happen next.

Because if history has taught us anything, it’s that Saint Louis can be full of surprises.