First of the last

Eldred’s Frank Kean feels the love as his final year of coaching begins

By RICHARD A. ROSS

GLEN SPEY, NY—“It’s always been about the love of working with kids. My primary objective has been to teach them,” says Eldred football coach Frank Kean.

Kean’s final season at the gridiron helm, his 36th, began in August as his entourage of returning players and a few rookies enthusiastically joined their beloved coach for one final charge toward hoped-for glory.

With one of the best teams he’s had in his storied career and the bittersweet knowledge of this as his swan song, Kean is savoring every teaching moment that will end in June with his retirement. He will have coached 108 seasons since he arrived at Eldred in 1972.

That run includes 34 years of girls basketball, 36 years of baseball and two of seventh and eighth grade basketball. Kean’s tenure as head gridiron coach spans from 1975-1995 when he left to coach Pop Warner football. He returned in 2000 and the run over this past decade has been nothing short of astounding, highlighted by a pair of Section Nine Class D titles in 2005 and 2007. Eldred and Chester have taken turns winning that title. Needless to say, Kean and company want it back. But to come home with that prize, they have to reckon with Chester and a feisty LMR squad that has designs on it as well.

Add to Kean’s résumé, 32 years as a referee of seventh and eighth grade basketball, two years as a Little League baseball travel team coach, two years as a coach of the junior and senior Pop Warner football teams, three years as a coach for the girls basketball summer league, 26 years as an Honor Roll adviser, 10 years as the senior trip and prom adviser, 10 years as a senior class adviser, two years as ski coach and, oh yes, 21 years as Section Nine Football Chairman.

Kean’s impact on his charges, both in the classroom and on the athletic fields and courts, is the stuff of legend. Inspired by his style, manner and his devotion, 38 of his former students have gone on to become teachers. Before this year is out, there will be more lengthy tributes to the man who has left an indelible mark on countless lives and who has earned an enduring place in the heart of his school and community.

That Eldred’s first football game resulted in a commanding 56-3 win over non-league rival Tri-Valley was a fitting opening salvo. Always about the kids, Kean was overwhelmed by the performance of senior Ian Halloran, whose mom, Darlene, suffered a brain aneurism a week prior and was still recuperating in Westchester Medical Center. Halloran dedicated the game to her and played with an intensity and fervor that far exceeded former standout efforts. By day’s end, he had scored four touchdowns, three of them as part of his 8/191 yards of rushing and a fourth on a 30-yard interception return.

The team gave Halloran a signed game ball and heartfelt wishes for his mom’s speedy recovery. Halloran was not alone in rendering a herculean effort. The team looked sharp and seasoned and not at all as if they were playing in the season’s first game.

When it comes to listening to words of praise, Kean immediately deflects kudos to his players and coaching staff that includes long-time friend John LiGreci and Kean’s son Patrick.