Damien's football team prayed for then-fired coach Eddie Klaneski on Friday.
(Photo courtesy of Shantel Mann)
Strange times, indeed, but this is a happy ending for Eddie Klaneski.
Damien has rehired the longtime football coach as of today. The new, interim school president, Dr. Kyle Abatay, met with Klaneski, this morning. Klaneski was an assistant athletic director and football coach until he was released last Thursday by then-school president Bro. Brian Walsh.
On Saturday, Walsh was released, as well. Atabay, then the school principal, became the interim president.
This morning, Klaneski met with Atabay at Damien. The news of his rehiring broke this afternoon on Ian Scheuring's Twitter page.
"It's out. I'm AD and reinstated as football coach, too," said Klaneski, who will enter his 10th season as head coach. "It was not his (Atabay's) decision to let me go and I am sure he didn't even know it that was going to happen. But he did tell me today that during last week, they really needed to focus on getting the school ready to open for classes. Now that most of that is starting to take shape, he was able to bring myself along with many others back to Damien. Something we were all hoping for with the change."
Damien has been in the midst of afternoon workouts recently, and they continued to work out with Klaneski and staff even after he was released. Klaneski, a Damien graduate and former player at Hawaii, guided Damien to a 6-2 regular-season mark and 8-3 overall record last fall. He is 47-43 overall.
"I like it. That's how it's supposed to be. He's the man for the job and when he got fired, he's still been there," Damien senior defensive back Anstyn "Bubba" Kauhi said.
Thursday's workout was normal. Then Coach Klaneski shared the bad news.
"He tried to keep a good mood. We knew something was wrong, but he didn't want us to get involved with his stuff," Kauhi said. "We prayed for him that day (Thursday) he told us."
Klaneski was there for Friday's workout. The Monarchs had Monday off, but have a workout scheduled this afternoon.
"It'll be the usual. Conditioning. Getting back into running and stuff," Kauhi said. "We'll probably cheer for him when he walks by, let him know that we've been praying for him."
The Monarchs have lived and learned through a strange time in this COVID-19 pandemic.
"Everything can change just like that, but I also think we've adapted to new stuff," Kauhi said. "Every few months there's something new."
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