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Times-Herald Record selects Eldred’s Frank Kean as

Football Coach of the Year; affirms retiring icon’s impact on a generation

By RICHARD A. ROSS

rross@sportsinsightsny.com

ELDRED, NY — The telephone rang early as a dear friend called with some exciting news. “Rich, I just wanted to let you know first, before you found out from anyone else, that I was chosen as the Football Coach of the Year by the Times-Herald Record,” said Eldred’s Frank Kean. “You know you’ve been there and written so many wonderful words about me and the kids, I thought you’d like to know,” he said.

Humbly, Kean attributed the honor to the uncanny effort delivered by student athletes, which propelled Eldred to its best football season in school history, depositing themselves and their coach, literally, on the doorstep of a state championship.

That Kean, from tiny Eldred, had been chosen for the award was extremely noteworthy. Class D football is often relegated to the shadows, as the bright lights shine on the successes of the larger schools, most notably Monroe-Woodbury’s unimaginable string of successful seasons and state championship contention, which netted the Crusaders that lauded crown in 2005 and has propelled them back to the title game three times since.

But for me, a sportswriter/photographer who has stood by Kean on the sidelines of countless Eldred football games over the past eight years, narrating and affirming the efforts of his teams in all kinds of weather, both literally and figuratively, there could be no one more deserving of this honor as Frank Kean.

At the season’s beginning in August, one of the first things I wrote was a profile of Kean, entitled, “The First of the Last.” The title referenced what was to be the first of many things I anticipated would be written about Kean in his last year at Eldred that was just beginning, with his 36th and final football campaign.

I knew then, in the heat of late summer, that this season was going to be special and that his team, led by its cadre of seniors, would deliver every ounce of heart, soul and mettle to ensure that its coach went out in the only way he deserved, as a winner. That the team won 10 games for the first time in school history, and that it demolished nemesis Chester 45-6 to reclaim the Section Nine title, its third in the past five years, was already a fitting swan song for the man who has been so much more than a coach.

I asked Kean if he thought his team was still hungry and he unhesitatingly answered that they were. An unprecedented regional championship win over Tuckahoe followed suit and, hampered by debilitating injuries to key players, Eldred gave its last full measure of devotion in its state semifinal loss to Moriah.

Evincing equal grace in defeat, as they had in countless victories, they reflected the ethic and class of the coach the players revered and loved. Their tears, shed for the end of this memorable time of their lives, were for the end of an era of playing for a man they will hold dear.

Father figure, mentor, youth advocate, sterling teacher and a role model for youth, Kean is, indeed, first in my book. I can only pray for the countless kids who will never experience him as their teacher or coach, and that he won’t be the last to provide the much-needed guidance and character building so needed in these turbulent and troubled times.

Had Eldred not had its fine season, chances are that Kean would not have been accorded this honor by the media, often not present to bear witness to what I have seen. But for me, no matter what the final ledger noted, there could have been no other more worthy.

The mold was broken when he was forged and I am privileged and enriched by watching him work and teach. He knows that these sports games are the very theatre of life and that they offer enormous lessons for those who face the challenges provided therein.

Kean has left an indelible legacy behind and, before this year is over, I’m sure I’ll add a few more words to further celebrate the man and his work. His girls basketball team is undefeated at present and his baseball legions can’t wait to don their gloves and wield their bats to punctuate his departure.

Our community has been blessed by his decades of fine service. Congratulations, Coach Kean. It is fitting in this holiday season that you have been celebrated by this gifted honor. For myself and for all of the other people whose lives you’ve touched, this news was indeed good tidings.