Bishop Montgomery (Calif.) president steps down days after high school football debacle

The dominos keep falling at Bishop Montgomery (Calif.) as another figurehead at the school is now gone.

According to a report by High School On SI’s Tarek Fattal, Bishop Montgomery president Patrick Lee has resigned effective immediately on Wednesday evening. Lee’s resignation comes on the heels of the high school football program’s 2025 season debacle, which has included the arrival of numerous transfers during the off-season that were deemed ineligible by the CIF Southern Section and the team also canceling multiple football games as well.

In Fattal’s report was the very letter sent out to families from the Catholic Archdiocese and down below is the note in its entirety:

Dear Bishop Montgomery High School Community,
I pray this correspondence finds you well. I am writing on behalf of the Department of Catholic Schools to share that Mr. Patrick Lee has resigned as president of Bishop Montgomery High School effective today. We thank Mr. Lee for his ministry in Catholic education and pray for God’s divine providence to lead him and his family forward.

In the coming days, we will be sharing an interim leadership plan with the school community.
We will continue to work closely with Dr. Starkey and the school administration to ensure Bishop Montgomery students are engaged, supported and successful in their education and formation as disciples of Christ.

Bishop Montgomery High School has a strong legacy of excellence in the South Bay and is vital to the advancement of Catholic education in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. We are committed to supporting Bishop’s stated mission of providing a diverse student body with a college-preparatory education rooted in Catholic identity. Bishop challenges its students to reach their potential through a rigorous academic program and participation in faith formation. It is a community that nourishes the faith life of the students, parents, and staff through prayer, worship, and commitment to service. Bishop Montgomery forms leaders and critical thinkers who are prepared to integrate world knowledge with Catholic beliefs and values, ensuring a strong, faith-filled future for its students.

Let us keep our school community in prayer as we seek to further Bishop Montgomery’s honorable mission. Thank you.

Bishop Montgomery is technically 0-1 on the season and has canceled games against No. 1 Mater Dei and Leuzinger most recently. The Knights have been faced with a handful of problems, including having several incoming transfers ruled ineligible by the CIF Southern Section for breaking Bylaw 202, which is listed by the association as ‘Penalty for Providing Incorrect, Inaccurate, Incomplete or False Information.’

The Knights were short-handed to start the 2025 season, with Bishop Montgomery still making the travel out to the Hawaiian Islands to face powerhouse St. Louis, the top-ranked team in Hawaii. During the contest a few weeks ago between the two clubs, tempers flared on each side throughout the game, eventually leading to a bench-clearing confrontation in the final seconds of the matchup.

CIF Southern Section rules require an automatic one-game suspension for players that leave the sideline, which added insult to injury with the Knights already down over a dozen players due to the ineligible transfer players.

Things got from bad to worse after the Mater Dei cancelation as the school decided to make a change at the top of the football program.

Then on the final day of August, the school announced that they had fired longtime head coach Ed Hodgkiss, who had been the Knights’ lead man since Feb. 2010. Hodgkiss was in his 16th campaign as the Knights head coach, compiling an overall record of 84-69-1. He led the Knights to league titles in 2010, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2018.

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