ALLEN FOOTBALL COACH IS OUT

Chris Kinane stayed optimistic to the very end of his two-year tenure as Allen's football coach. I've heard others express emotional and mental fatigue from the gig, but Kinane remained rarin' to go.

He still believes things can be turned around with the Canary program.

He has thought that way for at least 10 years now as he worked for Kevin Ronalds and Andy Polony and then was in charge himself the last two years.

I continue to have major doubts about that, at least as long as Allen has to play in the Lehigh Valley Conference and play strong programs such as Easton, Liberty, Parkland, Emmaus and Whitehall every year. Allen didn't just lose 29 consecutive games, but most of those games were mercy-rule routs.

But I'm not going to pound away on that right now.

At least Allen is trying to do something.

I feel bad for Kinane, who is a well-meaning, hard-working young man who put his heart and soul into trying to turn things around. So did the young staff he put together. He wants to coach again, and Allen would be wise to keep him around in some capacity -- if he's willing to do that.

It's obvious Allen didn't think he was the guy who could get this thing back to a respectable level and the school and school district believe the program can get at least to a respectable level again.

I do know someone who Allen would be interested in to become its next head coach, but that person is not available right now. There's a chance he could be available soon, however.

Whoever gets the job, and Allen is hoping the new guy is in place by the time Santa does his thing, will inherit some talented players, but must continue to insist the kids do all of the right things away from the field as well.

Because Allen hasn't played competitive football in recent years, the Canaries haven't had many games covered,by the newspaper or TV.

There are, however, several talented players in the program who will be back next season.

Kinane was kind enough to list a few of them for me.

He talked about:

Runningback Joe Williams.

Linebacker/offensive lineman Glen Klein, Jr.

Wide receiver Marcellus Kyte

Wide receiver Angel Rosado

Wide receiver Alex Cruz

And, Kinane said almost the entire offensive line will be back.

So, there is hope for some more competitive games.

No one is talking championships, nor should they.

But it seems as though the adminstration is going to keep trying to make an intolerable situation more tolerable with some of the things they are doing.

Besides hiring a new football coach, they're also hiring an academic coach.

That shows that the school district still has its priorities in proper order.

Good luck to Chris Kinane on his future. And the same to who gets this job because he's going to need it.

Here's a recap of last two seasons:

8/29 @ Upper Perkiomen (5-7) Loss 7 - 42
9/6 @ Bethlehem Catholic (4-7) Loss 7 - 42
9/12 Nazareth (3-7) Loss 21 - 53
9/19 Bethlehem Liberty (15-1) Loss 0 - 65
9/26 @ Easton (7-6) Loss 0 - 48
10/3 Parkland (7-4) Loss 7 - 62
10/10 @ Emmaus (10-2) Loss 6 - 69
10/17 Allentown Central Catholic (4-6) Loss 7 - 53
10/24 @ Whitehall (4-6) Loss 13 - 45
11/1 @ Allentown Dieruff (2-8) Loss 0 - 53

9/4 Boyertown (6-5) Loss 15 - 41
9/11 Bethlehem Catholic (6-5) Loss 0 - 37
9/18 @ Nazareth (6-5) Loss 12 - 44
9/25 @ Bethlehem Liberty (6-5) Loss 0 - 42
10/2 Easton (10-1) Loss 0 - 68
10/9 @ Parkland (9-2) Loss 0 - 63
10/16 Emmaus (6-5) Loss 0 - 41
10/24 @ Allentown Central Catholic (10-1) Loss 8 - 56
10/30 Whitehall (6-5) Loss 14 - 46
11/7 @ Allentown Dieruff (0-10) Win 34 - 8