In January 1949, Lula signed his first contract with Santos FC, being the subdirector of the club's amateur sides.

[2] Lula acted as an interim manager for two matches in 1952, as Aymoré Moreira was in charge of the São Paulo official team.

[2] He later became Moreira's assistant while he was also in charge of the club's amateur sides, and on 2 June 1954, he replaced Italian Giuseppe Ottina as the first team manager.

[1] Lula's first match in charge occurred three days later, a 3–2 win against Botafogo at the Maracanã Stadium.

Lula was often described as the responsible for bringing together the team who was known as Os Santásticos; he made Pelé a regular starter from 1957, promoted Pagão and Pepe from the youth setup, brought Coutinho from lowly XV de Piracicaba and approved Dorval on a trial, after the latter was rejected by a number of clubs.