Former St. Ignatius coach preps for De La Salle but keeps eye on previous team

Lenny Vandermade has been busy since leaving St. Ignatius in January.

The offensive coordinator and offensive line coach at Santa Margarita High has moved his family back down to his home of Southern California, built a new culture with head coach Carson Palmer and settled into his role with aplomb.

That success has led Santa Margarita to the CIF Open Division state championship game, where the Eagles will face De La Salle at 8 p.m. Saturday at Saddleback College in Mission Viejo.

But that doesn’t mean Vandermade hasn’t been keeping up with the Wildcats. Though his new job pulls him in a different direction, he’s stayed apprised of the latest at SI.

Under new coach JaJuan Lawson – Vandermade’s offensive coordinator during his tenure – the Wildcats won the Central Coast Section Division II championship and the NorCal 3-AA title this season.

They will face off against Ventura for the 3-AA state title on Friday at 8 p.m. at Fullerton Union High.

“That was exciting,” Vandermade said of SI winning the CCS title. “I’m excited for them. I got nothing but love and respect for the SI community, administration there, the coaches there. Obviously, Lawson and I and (defensive coordinator Myles) Holmes were all together for the last two years.

“We were able to build it a little bit and kind of have a winning culture there. At the very least competitive, right? That’s all we ask of the kids. And it’s great to see them go back to the championship and win it.”

Vandermade coached SI to an Open Division championship in 2024, and he said he plans to check in on the first half of the Cats’ state game on Friday.

Then, he’ll fully turn the page to the Open state title game, which Santa Margarita reached after beating Centennial-Corona 42-7 in the Southern Division Division I championship.

It’ll come against a De La Salle program he’s intimately familiar with. Vandermade played against the Spartans during his career at Mater Dei, losing 28-21 in Sept. 1998.

The game was played at what is now known as Angel Stadium of Anaheim in front of just over 20,000 fans.

“It was a good game,” Vandermade recalled. “Big crowd. Coach (Bob) Ladouceur did a heck of a job, and we fell short that night.”

The dirt infield at the baseball stadium posed a challenge for offensive linemen like Vandermade to find their footing.

“It’s like getting on skates being in that dirt,” Vandermade said.

The players won’t have to worry about that this time around.

Though Vandermade joked that his loss to De La Salle as a player wasn’t strong motivation for this year’s Santa Margarita team, he admitted it’s in the back of his mind.

The biggest factor for the Eagles will be trying to win their first state title since 2011 and their first Open Division championship ever.

De La Salle has won seven state titles all time but has not won one since the Open championship in 2015.

“Playing De La Salle, everybody knows who they are and the tradition up there, and the winning streak and all those types of things,” Vandermade said. “The movies that they make, you know about De La Salle. So we’re just excited for the opportunity to play that legacy that comes with playing De La Salle. And they’re a typical De La Salle team. They’re tough, they’re physical, and it’s going to be a good challenge.”

Off the field, it was a challenge for Vandermade to leave what he built in two seasons at SI and head back down south. But he couldn’t pass up the opportunity to work with head coach Carson Palmer, a former NFL All-Pro quarterback and Vandermade’s college roommate at USC.

“My kids are happy because all of my wife and I’s siblings are down here, my parents are down here,” Vandermade said. “It’s very bittersweet for my wife and I, just because of how much SI really took us in and supported us and believed in me, gave me my first (head coaching) opportunity.

“And to be honest with you, my wife and I kind of like the distance. We were just far enough. So that was tough. But working with Coach Palmer, our history together, great human being. Everybody knows about all the accolades, but gosh, he’s got a big heart and loves the kids, and anytime he can, he wants to reward them and just show his appreciation for them and the effort that they give and all they do for the football program.”

On Saturday night, Vandermade will likely call a number of plays for wide receiver Trent Mosley, a USC commit who had a performance for the ages in the Southern Section Division I championship.

The senior posted 292 receiving yards (208 in the first half) and scored four touchdowns to power Santa Margarita’s offense. He had 15 touches and got the ball on every SM offensive play in the first quarter.

“He’ll be a big part of our offense,” Vandermade laughed. “Get him the ball, right? He’s had a great season and great finals. Just feed the stud, man. Get the ball in his hands in space and let him do the rest. We all looked like geniuses. I look like an offensive guru when we get the ball to him in space.”

Vandermade knows Santa Margarita has a tall task ahead. But he’s hoping his first win over De La Salle – as a coach or player – will come on Saturday.

“Any competitive person, that’s definitely in the back of my head, get back and things like that,” he said. “I respect what they do over there. They’ve been doing it at a high level for a long time. So we got nothing but respect and admiration. That was my time, and it was a different time and place. And I’m just excited for our kids to get after it and see.”